Lynn Flewelling

I am completely and irrevocably hooked on this series. I did love the first one, but this one put me over the edge into fanatical territory.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that when Alec and Seregil are separated about two-thirds of the way through the novel, I absolutely did not put it down until the end. I like both of the main characters so much that I obsessively had to make sure they were okay, even though I knew there were 5 novels after this and they both came out all right.

I was a show more little surprised to see that the entire Necromancer plot was dealt with here. I assumed that would be the overarching story of the series, after it was set aside in the first novel to focus on Alec's training. I figured Stalking Darkness would be more stories of the Rhiminee Cat and Alec's training, which it was, and those parts were great. But it also moves quickly to explain everything that was hinted at in the first book, then just wraps everything up. There's still plenty to explore in the next book, but that part of the story is done. It was excellent, by the way.

I liked the world the story is set in, I liked the light emphasis on magic (neither of the main characters uses it, but a secondary character is their powerful wizard), and I have an affinity for thief-ish characters and how they operate. I also just really like the master/student relationship between Seregil and Alec, and I definitely liked when it moved past that towards the end.

I cannot wait to read the next one. show less

A very solid early book from Flewelling, which I enjoyed very much after a bit of trouble getting into it. It's relatively simple stuff compared to her Tamir Triad, lacking the underlying darkness of that series (so far, at any rate), but it was very interesting to visit the world of those books at a later stage of its development. I liked all of the main characters, appreciated the gender politics of her world and the open homosexuality (bisexuality?) of one of those leads (still such a show more rarity in fantasy), and I think the author mostly struck a good balance between the needs of the overarching plot for this trilogy and telling a self-contained tale in this first volume (the balance may have wobbled a little far in favour of the latter by the end, but that's not a huge criticism). I'm looking forward to reading the next book! show less

Shards of Time by Lynn Flewelling is the final book in the Nightrunner series, following Thero, Alec, Seregil and Micum as they investigate the murder of a nobleman in a locked room.

I really enjoyed this as a close to the series. The broader cast helps the world feel settled rather than narrowing, and Klia’s presence as a central character shifts the balance in a way that feels overdue rather than corrective. That is echoed again in the inclusion of the female doctor, which quietly expands show more who is allowed authority within the story.

What stayed with me most is how the different strands are allowed to sit alongside the central mystery without feeling like distractions. Mika’s role as Thero’s apprentice, Seregil beginning to build something more permanent, and Klia’s pregnancy all carry a sense of continuation rather than interruption. Alec’s experience of death, and the unique role it allows him to inhabit this novel, feels like a thread the series has been working toward, and it lands here will in giving him opportunity to really stretch his wings independent of Seregil.

The ending moves through the expected large scale confrontation, but what lingers is the gentler sense of what comes next. It reads less like a final full stop and more like a widening out, a suggestion that these lives continue beyond the page. show less

I found The White Road a definite step up from book four. After so much of the previous volume being shaped by captivity and the upheaval of Sebrahn entering Alec and Seregil’s lives, this one has much more momentum. The journey structure helps a lot, and it gives the characters room to feel more like themselves again.

What worked best for me was the shift in Alec and Seregil’s dynamic. There was less emphasis on jealousy, and more sense of two people trying to maturely talk through what show more this strange new responsibility means. That made the relationship feel easier and more settled, even while the situation itself remained unsettling. I also appreciated the way the book used that search for answers to open out more of Seregil’s past and Alec’s heritage, while giving a little more insight into Sebrahn and his bond with Alec, though not enough for everything to fully click into place.

The audiobook continued to be a mixed experience for me. I still found the narrator a bit difficult, particularly where mispronunciations kept pulling me out of the story, and some of the voice choices did not suggest much confidence with different accents.

I did still have some of the same reservations from book 4: I would have liked more female characters in the mix, and I wanted a stronger sense of interiority or specificity from some of the antagonists. In particular, Seregil’s ex felt a little too close to caricature on reappearance.

My main issue was with the ending, which felt as though it fizzled rather than landed. There is a lot of build-up, but the final stretch came across less as revelation than as a sequence of events, and I almost missed the point where the company parted. I am not sure whether that is because the finale is intentionally muted, or because several close calls in quick succession started to cancel each other out and reduce the impact. Either way, I was left feeling that the novel had assembled a good deal of tension without quite converting it into a memorable close.

Even so, I enjoyed this more than the previous book. The increased pace helped, Alec and Seregil felt more recognisably themselves, and the broader excavation of past and heritage gave the story something worthwhile to chew on. It is not quite up there with the first three for me, but I already have the next two and I am still happy to keep going. show less