A review by cassiecollins
Blood of the Orc Prince by Lionel Hart

emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

I think my main concern with this series so far is that I'm just not sure what it's meant to be. The plot seems to lean more toward epic fantasy—war, magic, all that good stuff. But, then there's so much focus on minutiae and tedium that the pacing absolutely drags. I feel like this could still work okay—I've seen plenty of cozy fantasy books pull it off just fine—but there's nothing of real interest going on in the day-to-day events to maintain momentum in the actual narrative. The romance is by far the big selling point for this, but this middle book didn't really focus on it enough to carry it. The ending was pretty dramatic, so I guess we'll see if that kicks up the pacing at all.