The last book of the series is probably the worst of them all. The romance has moved from shrill to grating. The fantasy is non-existent. Woman gets captured, falls in love with the man who bought her. What kind of second-rate harem fantasy is that? There's even the mysterious enigmatic sand people who hate women (dingdingding stereotype lotto winner!) ( )

The Night Bird is the first book I’ve read by Catherine Asaro, despite being the most recent addition to her Lost Continent series. All in all, I really enjoyed it. There were a few times when I felt like I should know more about some of the secondary characters – people who have starred in other installments of the series – but it was a great introduction to this world.

The story is told from the point of view of Allegra, a young girl who’s kidnapped from her homeland and sold to Markus, the leader of a rebel army. The Night Bird tells the tale of their relationship, which starts off extremely rocky – understandable given the circumstances of their meeting – and also of Allegra’s growth as a mage.

The author does a great job of world crafting and also of making her characters interesting. I found Markus a bit one-dimensional but I thought Allegra was a good protagonist and Ozi an excellent supporting character. I also liked how Allegra was faced with complicated decisions and that her decision making really reflected the conflict one would face in her situation.

I’m giving serious thought to getting the first book in the series, to see how this all began…

Originally published at http://ireadgood.wordpress.com ( )

Liked it well enough that if I see any others from the series I will read them.

captive,Amazon received,headless woman cover

I need to rub Purell into my brain. ( )