Did not finish so not giving a star rating; didn't care for story, characters, writing, or even the world building.

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: A novel of adversity overcome, and of happiness found. Oh and there are some demons, and witches and magic swords in there too.

Opening Sentence: The steady drip, drip, drip and the soft hum of overtaxed air purifiers were the only sounds Selyn heard as she cautiously pushed herself away from the cavern wall and moved silently through the darkness to the sleeping quarters.

The Review:

In the world of Lemuria, the battle against demon kind still rages there and on Earth, and our trusty band of supernatural demon killers is ever at the ready. This time the battle occurs in Lemuria itself, as one of the Lemurian leaders lets them in. You see, apparently for the last few millenia or so, the ruling body of Lemuria has been possessed by demons, and committing acts of treachery all over the place. The worst of which seems to be their many crimes against their females. Especially those warriors that once fought in the Demon Wars. These brave ladies were captured then forced into slavery in the crystal mines, several levels beneath where the light shines in Lemuria. They were then tortured and raped, each consequently becoming pregnant. Those who had sons were forced to give up their babies, those who bore daughters were forced to raise them as slaves, teach them how to work the mines, know that their children would forever be entombed like them. After raising their children to adult hood, each and every one of them chose to end their existence, leaving behind their daughters to toil in the mines. Their daughters still live in the mines to this day, and no one knows anything about them or their slavery, and they thus choose to call themselves, The Forgotten Ones.

Our heroine Selyn is one of these women. Caught by a guard walking where she didn’t belong, she is beaten within an inch of her life. When another guard, Roland who is loyal to the cause against demons, takes her to Earth in hopes that she can be saved. The only person that they can trust not to betray their secrets is Dawson, a veterinarian we met in book two. Dawson tirelessly works to save her, and accomplishes the task, with a little help from a friend, and a sprite named Willow.

After her healing, Selyn helps to unearth another treacherous scheme in Lemuria, the kidnapping and exile of the true King, Artigos the Just, father of the man who is currently running things under the influence of the demon that has taken his soul. When his existence is uncovered by the group, efforts are made to free him, along with the continuing efforts to save the Forgotten Ones, begun previously in book two. Selyn and Dawson eventually accomplish this feat, and also the release of every other member of their crew who have been taken, again, by guards still following their inner demon.

Together, our demon slaying band of misfits, now including a rather powerful witch, along with some other loyal Lemurians, Artigos the Just and the whole legion of Forgotten Ones, fight the good fight against a huge number of demons including the supreme badass we have seen throughout the whole series. Will they never be allowed to finish him off for good? Geez, I’m tired just reading about it. These poor people must truly be exhausted. This book, as the last two, end with another temporary victory over the bad guy, and with the promise of more fun to come. Oh, and some love between our hero and heroine duo.

The story arc continues in book three, just as superb as the first two, and leaves you waiting for the next book. Seriously, these books must be good to keep us all reading after three books with no actual good guy victory dance. Though, one almost hopes that they don’t get him in the end, because that might mean the end of the series. And wouldn’t that just be awful?

Notable Scene:

Dawson had never, not in his wildest dreams, imagined that his training with a rapier in college would ever come in handy, but as he slashed and lunged and thrust with his ruby blade, he felt the moves coming back as if he’d never left his training in all the years since his studies at UC Davis.

He glanced at Selyn and had to force himself to look away. She was truly a warrior with her flashing eyes and her look of grim determination. She fought her opponent with grace and style, and it was obvious the man hadn’t expected a woman of such beauty to show so much skill.

Taron shouted, and Dawson saw one of the big Lemurian’s opponents go down. Demonic mist burst from the fallen guard, and Taron caught it with crystal. The second guard lunged forward, and Dawson lost them in his peripheral vision. Only Taron had faced two, and from what little he knew of the man, Dawson could already hear the tales he and Alton would be telling when this was over.

Dawson’s opponent was growing desperate, thrusting awkwardly now, breathing hard, and going for the kill with more force than skill. Dawson eluded the man’s blade as he spun on the balls of his feet and twisted away, first to the right, then to the left.

He suddenly realized he was actually grinning. He hadn’t had this much fun in years, and he wanted to shout with the of of the battle, that knowledge that he fought beside a woman he loved, that he fought for a world that had been nothing more than myth and legend.

He, Dawson Buck, small town veterinarian, was fighting demons with a magical sword in another dimension. Damn. Aunt Fiona would love this!

He parries a strong blow and went in for the kill just as Taron’s final opponent went down. The huge guard Taron had fought was mortally wounded, but he managed a powerful kick as he fell, catching Dawson behind his left knee. The force of the blow buckled Dawson’s leg. It folded beneath him just as his opponent slashed wildly at his chest.

Dawson felt the burn of the obsidian blade as it pierced his side, heard the scrape of obsidian against bone, and felt a rush of anger from his sword, that any demon should have harmed the one who wielded this blade.

Vaguely, he heard Selyn’s scream and Alton’s curse, but pain engulfed him and weakness drove him to him to his knees. His sword leapt from his nerveless fingers and impaled itself in the one who’d stabbed him.

Dawson stared, fascinated as his amazing ruby blade just flew out of his hand, all on its own, and avenged his death. For that was what it was, he realized. His death.

He gazed into the growing darkness and saw his Aunt Fiona smile.

The DemonSlayers Series:

1. DemonFire

2. HellFire

3. StarFire

4. CrystalFire

FTC Advisory: Kensington/Zebra provided me with a copy of StarFire. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

deleting reviews if you want to take a look at them you can do so on my blog, link on my profile ( )