Customer Reviews

Dark Lady's Chosen

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the first page of book one I have been hooked on this series. I couldn't put the first 3 books down and it was a long, grueling wait for The Dark Lady's Chosen. The character development is phenomenal, you truly despise the villains and can't help but feel likes the heroes and heroins become a part on you. My stomach was in knots during the intense parts of the story, but the story flows so well that it feels like the whole story is flying by and before you know it you are done. This is one series that I could read over and over, this book being no exception to that. For anyone wanting to jump in on this book without reading the first 3, the author makes it easier by recapping everything that has already happened at the beginning of the book, but I would still read the others first because they are so much fun to read!

Dark Lady's Chosen, by Gail Z. Martin, is the fourth book of the Chronicles of the Necromancer series. In book three, Dark Haven, Gail left the readers with a rather painful cliffhanger, a full novel left nearly unresolved. The Dark Lady's Chosen finalizes this. Gail graciously, and with a flare for storytelling, brings together the wild threads of the entire series. With skill, she creates a delightful tale that stretches across all four books without falling short. In this book, she closes the story with all the flourish and natural ease of a master.

King Martris Drayke continues the siege at Lochlanimar against Lord Curane and his Loyalists to the usurper king, Jared Drayke, Martris' older brother. Tris, as Martris is known, must also fight wicked blood mages whose power is derived from the chaos that has gripped the magical force that spans their world, all the while leaving his new bride and unborn son to rule in his absence. Kiara is finding herself slowly losing her friends and benefactors to plots within the royal court and has suffered assassination attempts that have been closer to being successful than not. She has little time to find the traitor and is having a hard enough time keeping herself alive.

While this alone makes for a decent story, Gail weaves in the saga of Jonmarc Vahanian, the new roguish lord of Dark Haven. A group of Vayash Moru, or vampires, have broken the truce between mortals and undead, and Jonmarc must confront the leader of this coup, a young vampire named Malesh who has gone beyond the control of his undead master. In a plot to lift himself to godhood, Malesh has broken the truce, forcing humans to once again hunt the undead. He's taken everything away from Jonmarc, including his bride-to-be Carina and forced the Dark Haven lord's hand at vengeance. Carina, whose time is limited by her condition, finds that she may be able to heal the Flow and help balance the magical forces that threaten to cause so much devastation. But at what cost?

Also, King Donelan of Isencroft must thwart an uprising of divisionists who feel Donelan has sacrificed the throne by marrying Kiara, the king's daughter and heir, to Martris Drayke. Cam of Cairnrach has been captured by the divisionists and only he knows enough information to help Donelan stop the revolt. Gail keeps the reader on the edge of their seats with Cam's fate alone, not to mention the rest of the novel.

The characters, built over the first three books, stay true to their form. Gail has a firm hold over the voice and tone of the story while keeping the reader's interested in each the character's plights. Her settings are well thought out and described with utmost care, never bogging the reader down with too much information or leaving them wondering. The dialogue is meaningful and fun at the same time. She throws bits of humor through her characters and even their situations at just the right time. The tale itself is mostly a gloomy, against-all-odds kind of tale but she sprinkles in the right amount of mood in perfect order.

Dark Lady's Chosen is well written and brings the reader fully into the universe. I had a hard time putting the book down and found myself perfectly satisfied against the cliffhanger of the third book. I'm anxious to read more from Gail and can't wait to see what's on the horizon for Tris, Jonmarc, and friends. For fantasy lovers and those who just love a damn good story, the Dark Lady's Chosen and the Chronicles of the Necromancer are the perfect read.

King Martis "Tris" Drayke has wed Princess Kiara, daughter of King Donelan and successor to the throne of Isencroft. The marriage joins the crowns of Isencroft and Margolan until heirs can be born to place the kingdoms under separate rule once more. Now Queen Kiara is pregnant. Succession is assured. The time has come for Tris and his army to lay siege to Lord Curane's stronghold. The great energy river called the Flow is unstable, making it much more difficult for Tris and his mages to counter Curane's blood magic. The siege is going badly. Winter storms are fierce, food is scarce, and plague has broken out.

As Tris fights in the south, Kiara is in danger. A traitor hides within Shekerishet and several assassination attempts have been made against Kiara. Corruption within the Council of Nobles has cast suspicions on old friends, such as Master Bard Riordan Carroway, who now waits for his death.

Cam of Cairnrach, King Donelan's Champion, has been taken hostage to force Donelan into war. Cam has discovered the identity of the traitor whose actions betray both King Donelan and King Drayke (Tris). However, it looks as though Cam will die before he can send warning.

In Dark Haven, Lord Jonmarc Vahanian must deal with chaos caused by Malesh of Tremont. Malesh tried to change Lady Carina into one of the vayash moru (vampire). But her healer magic battled the Dark Gift, leaving Carina between - not alive, but not undead either. Now Malesh is leading rogue vayash moru and slaughtering entire villages of mortals. Unless Jonmarc can quickly stop Malesh's group, the future of the entire Winter Kingdoms will be full of blood.

***** FIVE STARS! Gail Z. Martin brings together all the places and characters from the previous stories and escalates this fantastic drama to new heights. The author helps refresh readers' memories by giving a few summary pages at the beginning of the book. As with the previous titles, this story overflows with suspense, intrigue, betrayals, and court dramas. Every time I pick up a novel by Gail Z. Martin, she takes my breath away! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Without spoiling the fun of reading the book for those whom have not read Gail's last release "Dark Lady's Chosen", all of the chilling cliffhangers are coming to full tilt in the well written book. You don't know whom to trust and where the direction of the main characters are heading, but truth be told, the book is not as "predicatable" as other books of similar ilk, which makes Gail's "Dark Lady's Chosen" one of the best releases to close out the decade.

The ebook formatting and proof reading for grammar has significantly improved, since the second book. The story line continues to build nicely into a fascinating epic.

Still has a tendency to repeat verbatim, description of an event multiple when describing simultaneous events happening at different places. This throws off the fluency in reading, as you get a deja vu experience. This prevents me from giving a 5-star.

I enjoyed this book just as much as any in the series however the story overall in Dark Lady's Chosen felt some what shorter and simpler by comparison to the other books in this series and seemed to lack further character development. While the characters are already well developed such development was done in the previous books and I didn't seem much gain much insight into any of them here that wasn't already established.

I've already fallen in love with all the characters and so will read any book in this series but most of that attachment was from their history in the first 2 books, as a standalone I doubt this book would interest me at all.

The book as a whole, seemed to do nothing but wrap up lose ends and prep for a new climax that remained unrevealed. It almost felt as if I was reading a 400 page epilogue.

For writing these amazing books!
This is the fourth book in the Necromancer-series. I picked up "The Summoner" (The first book in this cycle) in the book store because it sounded a little interesting when I read the description.
I couldn't be more wrong! Its not interesting, it is totally consuming!

This is one of those series where you expect the same story in an new package (and yes, some parts of the plot is a bit clichee-like, but tell me, honestly: which book doesn't contain some clichees?), and then you're swept away on a new, fantastic journey with twist and turns you did not expect!
I love the characters, they all learn and grows as the story unfolds thorough the books! (Can I please have Lady Eadoin as a spare Grandmother?)
Every detail is well thought out, and written very, very well! The author develops as well, from the very good, but a bit easy-going first book, to this amazing, plot-filled book with depts and more darkness!

I'm the kind of girl who loves long series, magic, strong female characters (not sheltered and frail princesses in towers), heroism, and new twists on old myths and beliefs, and Gail manges to give me everything I want!
I can't wait for The Dread!
Meanwhile, I've re-read the entire series for the third or fourth time..
Gail is now on my top 10 favourite authors.

Unputdownable!

So thank you gail!

This was the best book in the series and the other books were terrific. This series has really great characters. I think Jonmarc Vahanian is my favorite. He's got the most baggage which only adds to his appeal. The world was easy to grasp and hold on to, the writing was excellent and the various storylines were gripping. I couldn't put the books down and I'm going to continue with The Sworn.

I just want to keep reading these books and never stop. And when I'm not reading them I'm thinking about them. Gail Z. Martin is one of my new favorite authors. This series is a nice balance of fantasy and character and plot development without ranchy or boring lags.

Dark Lady's Chosen is the culmination of all the story arcs and characterization from the past three novels. Author Gail Z Martin wraps up her saga in a nicely woven web of intrigue with excellent pacing, bringing together all the characters and development into one final chapter. Or at least until you read her next series that features the same world and characters.

The reason I refer to Dark Lady's Chosen as "Dark Haven Part 2", is because that's exactly what it is. Every major story arc was left unresolved in the previous novel, which made Dark Haven feel more like a prologue to this novel.

Martris Drayke's siege against Lord Curane, Jonmarc Vahanian attempting to govern Dark Haven and fight a war against the undead, Cam's imprisonment by the revolutionaries, and Kiara trying her best to avoid assassination from a traitor.

That being said, it does annoy me to a mild degree that this isn't a new chapter in the series. Rather it's the second half of a book that would have been way to big for its own good (roughly 1200 combined pages). Like its predecessor, Dark Lady's Chosen shares the same issue with having an over abundance of throw away minor characters. They're so easily forgettable that I had a hard time remembering who is who.

If there is one large complaint that I have with Dark Lady's Chosen, it would be that Jonmarc Vahanian felt like the central protagonist instead of Tris. Despite the series being called "Chronicles of the Necromancer." The ending (while satisfying) felt more like a proper conclusion to Jonmarc rather than Tris, who is supposed to be the main character of the series.

Despite the lackluster second novel I enjoyed Gail Z Martin's Chronicles of the Necromancer series and look forward to her future work.