Genre:
Fantasy/LBGT/Myths
Description:
“You
are invited to enter Ar’rothi, a world as vividly realized as
Narnia or Middle Earth, a world where animal spirits guide humans
towards enlightenment, and in which an orphaned girl and a warrior
duchess must join forces against an evil that threatens everything
they have learned to love.
…Stormy
clouds of war are moving against Anacafria on two fronts; the
Tevaiedin, the dark spirits of the Seven Realms, and Desdamea, the
cruel and grasping queen of the neighboring country of Organdy, are
both gathering their forces in a bid to dominate and destroy the
kingdom. The Duchess finds her loyalties divided between her adopted
daughter, who is the only one who can lead a defense against the
Tevaiedin and her king, who needs her skills as a warrior and as one
of the commanders of his elite troops.”
Author:
Alison
Naomi Holt grew up on a working cattle ranch in Arizona where she
inherited her greatest passion, the love of animals, from her
grandmother. After earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree in writing at
the University of Arizona she joined the police force where she
worked every possible job that became available, changing assignments
every few years just because she could. She has been a patrol
officer, a detective, a hostage negotiator, commanded Undercover
Units and Riot Control Squads, and became the Sergeant/Supervisor for
the 11 man K9 squad. Ms. Holt hopes to share her passions and
experiences through her writing. Learn more about her other stories
at her website or follow her on Facebook.
Appraisal:
It has
been about two and half years since I read Spirit
Child, so I was a little
concerned about picking up Duchess
Rising cold, without at
least skimming the last half of the first book. However, I didn’t.
Partly because I wanted to know how long it takes me to get back into
a story that I haven’t thought about for a long period of time.
Yeah, occasionally I would see Spirit Child’s book cover, which I
love, and I would remember I really liked that story. I think it
speaks a lot to the author’s talent if I don’t need an in-depth
recap to get back into their fantasy world. Ms. Holt’s must have
really impressed me because I didn’t have any trouble getting back
in tune with the story. Some names may have escaped my memory but the
author has a glossary of names and terms at the end of the book.
The
way this story starts, drops the reader right in the midst of the
action as Kaiti stalks up on King Leopold, in the midst of camp, to
test the guards’ readiness for an assassination attempt. King
Leopold and Commander Jathez become fully developed characters as the
plot progresses. As well as several other secondary characters that I
suspect will play major parts as this series continues. The author
does an extraordinary job with her Spirit Guides as well. Each has
their own personality and can be very outspoken. It’s a good thing
the King has not become enlightened enough to hear or see them yet. I
am a little surprised that Kaiti has not started picking up some of
the language spoken by Bree so far. And Bree doesn’t seem to be
making an effort to learn Kaiti’s language either. I would think
since Prince Darius and Kaiti are the same age they would try harder
to communicate as well.
King
Leopold and his imperial guard are on their trek back to King’s
City after gathering fighting troops from the outer lying dioceses of
the kingdom to prepare for war. He also would like to enlist the
Natives from the Shona tribe for assistance as well as repair
diplomatic relations between their nations that had been destroyed
through one of his dioceses warring. There are several plot twists as
treachery, and treasonous acts erupt within camp when the Tevaiedin,
the dark spirits, find black hearts to latch onto within some of the
troops in camp at a very bad time. The conclusion comes to a somewhat
satisfying end, however, with a nefarious note. I am anxious to see
what will happen now, I hope it doesn’t take another two years to
find out. I am a bit disappointed they all didn’t make it back to
Kings City before the story ended.
FYI:
“Duchess
Rising is the second book
in a powerful and moving fantasy series by Alison Naomi Holt that
will appeal to fans of Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey — one
that blends the lyrical and mystical with pulse-pounding action.” I
would also recommend reading Spirit
Child first before
reading book 2. I should also mention there is a short sexy scene
between Healer Becca and her lover Nashotah, a female Shona healer."
Format/Typo
Issues:
I
found no significant issues with proofing or formatting.
Rating:
***** Five Stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Approximate word count:
60-65,000 words
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