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.
Buy now
from: Amazon US Amazon UK
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.
Original review posted February 18, 2016
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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