Conquest (Unicorn and Dragon, Vol II)

As with the first volume, it is slow to get going though eventually there is a lot of violence and gore, a lot of it centred around a new villain who is introduced in this book but should at least have been mentioned in the first volume since he is such a threat to Stephen, the romantic lead of this series.

Some of the violence is in a fantasy context as magic figures far more strongly in the second half of this book than previously. Also, Wildecent finally discovers who her parents are (at least, we think she does - the revelation is made while she is sent out of the room, but hopefully Ambrose tells her 'off stage') but it doesn't lead to anything significant as, when he offers to escort her to France to try to track them down, she show more refuses. Possibly this was meant to be followed up in the planned extra 3 volumes which were never published, but as it is, this comes across as a damp squib after the build up over the previous volume as well.

I'm not sure how this story would spin out to five in all, although the pacing is always very slow until a violent episode occurs at the end of each book, so maybe that's how it would've been handled (that is, dragged out very slowly). As it is, we are left with an unresolved question at the end because Wildecent goes off thinking Ambrose betrayed her and Alison. I don't find it convincing that Wildecent believes that Ambrose sent men to drag off her and Alison to be raped - a fate Wildecent manages to escape - and that Alison has been murdered (she is rescued by Stephen and Ambrose) all on the basis that the kitchen woman heard the two men go past in the night, as even Wildecent realises this was some time after the abduction. Especially since the new villain, the illegitmate son of Stephen's uncle, has already attempted to rape Alison not long before. At the very least, the new villain is a far more likely culprit for what has gone on and the misunderstanding seems very artificial.

As with the first book, I think it would've benefited with taking out all the fantasy and making it a straight historical about the clash between Saxon and Norman cultures, and the effect on women in particular. There is more than enough material for that, and it would have been more convincing, plus I think such a judicious rewrite could have condensed the whole thing into one novel and we could have had a resolution for the characters. show less

UNICORN AND DRAGON