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bekah_beks's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
tarawe's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book much better than the first in the series. The author seemed to hit a good stride in this book and maybe I just became used to the unfortunate fantasy names that slowed my reading of the first.
beautiful_chaos1's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
mamap's review against another edition
3.0
priests of the "one" god are a representation of evil...hey..wait. it does make one think a little about our need to label everything good or bad. except ... that there is good and bad. the princess adrina keeps the story interesting. not everything is good and not everyone makes it.
everlaerian's review against another edition
2.0
After reading the Wolfblade Chronicles first instead of Demon Child, I can see the difference and the evolution Jennifer Fallon went through.
Although a good story, Demon Child fails to captivate me, as I find it messy at best, and the lack of characters and multiple harmonious plots compared to the intricate universe in it's prequel (written a few years later) makes me hunger for so much (so many characters were left at the end of Warlord, as complexe network surrounding the Wolfblades) and yet most are silent if not even existing...
Although a good story, Demon Child fails to captivate me, as I find it messy at best, and the lack of characters and multiple harmonious plots compared to the intricate universe in it's prequel (written a few years later) makes me hunger for so much (so many characters were left at the end of Warlord, as complexe network surrounding the Wolfblades) and yet most are silent if not even existing...
lclowe's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
bb_83's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
alfierose66's review against another edition
4.0
I love this series so much. The only issue I have - which I believe is in this book (I read them all at once so discerning between them can be difficult) - is the kind-of-but-not-really incest that happens. Yes I know they're not technically related, but they thought they were for a long time. And only one of them was under a spell so... Yeah. That's the only part that gets iffy for me.
thewashouts's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tita_noir's review against another edition
3.0
....Aaaand she's back!
Yes. After the disappointment that was Medalon I was nervous that the Jennifer Fallon I had come to quickly enjoy was a fluke. She wasn't. This book had more of the verve and humor that I had become accustomed to in her Wolfblade trilogy. It is probably no coincidence that the writing crackles when she is writing about the Wolfblade characters, namely Damin and Adrina. I get the impression that she had a rollicking good time writing about them in this series so that is what they merited their own trilogy later.
In this book we pick up where we left off in Medalon, R'shiel has been mortally wounded and spirited away by Brak to the Harshini sanctuary. He bargains with a God to save her life. Death doesn't want to give her up, so he'll only be appeased with the soul of equal value. We never find out who that soul is in this book, I have a suspicion we will in the next book.
The power hungry First Sister, Joyhinia has been made into a lack-wit by the God Dacendarian so the Defenders, amply aided by Tarja and Damin Wolfblade, enter into an elaborate ruse where they attempt to undo some of the damage she has done in her overweening grasp for power.
In the meantime we meet Her Royal Highness the Princess Adrina of Fardonhya. Adrina is smart, sexy (as is the custom of her country she has been trained by a male cour'tesa, a sort of Geisha class of slaves who excel in courtly arts including mostly sex)and headstrong. She has been spoiled by her father and, having been involved in an expensive scrape, he arranges her marriage to the Prince of Karien. The Kariens are a fanatically religious people who view the Fardonhyans as sexually deviant heathens. But they want the war lore that King Hablet, Adrina's father has promised.
What follows is an endlessly entertaining story of Adrina's clash with the Kariens, R'Sheil's slow acceptance of her fate as the Demon Child, manipulations and interferences by the Gods, war, betrayal and romance.
R'shiel and Tarja remain somewhat dreary and they are still the absolute worst plotters in all of this series. The two of them truly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This is ostensibly their trilogy but thankfully this book doesn't have to rely on them totally like the last book did. Adrina and Damon jump to the fore here and simply jump off the page. She is a fabulous creation. I got such a giggle from the fact that she insisted on referring to her despised new husband as 'Cretin' (his name is Craytin).
And I am impressed by the continuity from this first trilogy to the second one. In the second trilogy she goes backward to when Damin is born and explores his growing up and becoming Warlord. She must have had an explicit idea of his personality while she was writing this one because it is extremely consistent.
I had idly thought of Damin and Adrina as a couple in that series, never dreaming that it would actually happen because the two never actually come close to meeting. Boy am I glad it did. They are perfect for each other. And I look forward to the final book.
Yes. After the disappointment that was Medalon I was nervous that the Jennifer Fallon I had come to quickly enjoy was a fluke. She wasn't. This book had more of the verve and humor that I had become accustomed to in her Wolfblade trilogy. It is probably no coincidence that the writing crackles when she is writing about the Wolfblade characters, namely Damin and Adrina. I get the impression that she had a rollicking good time writing about them in this series so that is what they merited their own trilogy later.
In this book we pick up where we left off in Medalon, R'shiel has been mortally wounded and spirited away by Brak to the Harshini sanctuary. He bargains with a God to save her life. Death doesn't want to give her up, so he'll only be appeased with the soul of equal value. We never find out who that soul is in this book, I have a suspicion we will in the next book.
The power hungry First Sister, Joyhinia has been made into a lack-wit by the God Dacendarian so the Defenders, amply aided by Tarja and Damin Wolfblade, enter into an elaborate ruse where they attempt to undo some of the damage she has done in her overweening grasp for power.
In the meantime we meet Her Royal Highness the Princess Adrina of Fardonhya. Adrina is smart, sexy (as is the custom of her country she has been trained by a male cour'tesa, a sort of Geisha class of slaves who excel in courtly arts including mostly sex)and headstrong. She has been spoiled by her father and, having been involved in an expensive scrape, he arranges her marriage to the Prince of Karien. The Kariens are a fanatically religious people who view the Fardonhyans as sexually deviant heathens. But they want the war lore that King Hablet, Adrina's father has promised.
What follows is an endlessly entertaining story of Adrina's clash with the Kariens, R'Sheil's slow acceptance of her fate as the Demon Child, manipulations and interferences by the Gods, war, betrayal and romance.
R'shiel and Tarja remain somewhat dreary and they are still the absolute worst plotters in all of this series. The two of them truly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. This is ostensibly their trilogy but thankfully this book doesn't have to rely on them totally like the last book did. Adrina and Damon jump to the fore here and simply jump off the page. She is a fabulous creation. I got such a giggle from the fact that she insisted on referring to her despised new husband as 'Cretin' (his name is Craytin).
And I am impressed by the continuity from this first trilogy to the second one. In the second trilogy she goes backward to when Damin is born and explores his growing up and becoming Warlord. She must have had an explicit idea of his personality while she was writing this one because it is extremely consistent.
I had idly thought of Damin and Adrina as a couple in that series, never dreaming that it would actually happen because the two never actually come close to meeting. Boy am I glad it did. They are perfect for each other. And I look forward to the final book.