Customer Reviews

Warlord

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The bulk of this book is made up of the story "Jane's Warlord" about a newspaper reporter, Jane Colby, who finds her life suddenly becoming a great deal more complicated than normal when she discovers a large man with a tame wolf in her house. Baran explains that he is a time traveller from the future sent to deal with a psychopathic criminal from his own time who is preying on women in Jane's town - and Jane will be one of his victims. Baran and his talking wolf, Freika, have to convince Jane that she needs their help and also prepare for the unexpected appearance of the murderer, Druas. Jane wants to continue her life, though, although it's rather difficult with a huge warrior and a giant wolf constantly with her.

The plot of this story was very good with the time-travelling aspects adding interest and the historical references to Jack the Ripper giving a fascinating angle on other past crimes. Jane is a feisty heroine and Baran has more to him than just a thick-skulled warrior; both Jane and Baran have to overcome events in their past that could cause them to fail in their missions. As with other Angela Knight books there is a lot of sex in this book, sometimes distracting the reader from the plot a little, but the overall story was a good read.

The three short stories also bundled in this collection are less satisfying, mainly because the bulk of the stories seem to be based on the sexual exploits of the heroines, not actual plot, at least in the last two stories. "Warfem", the longest of the short stories, is rather better than the other two as it contains a decent plot. Alina is a female warrior, a Warfem, who has been bound as a slave to a woman for twenty years, having had to give up her lover Baird. When she bumps into Baird again the old resentments and sadnesses are stirred up but Alina is as firmly bound to her master as before - the reason soon becomes apparent. Baird is gathering evidence of treason and it seems like his former love is knee-deep in it. Can Alina and Baird sort out their joint history and rescue a young boy at the same time? This story was well written and the underlying concept was very good.

Unfortunately the same can't be said for "The Warlord and the Fem" which, although including an interesting premise (a Warlord has to work to prove to a Warfem that she will enjoy his mastery of her), is rather short on action apart from sexual action with the notable exception of the fight scene at the beginning. The entire story seems to be constructed around their sexual needs - that Baird (the hero has the same name as in the previous story) and Kyna have to come to terms with a dominant relationship. Baird wears Kyna down with chess games (unusual seduction method, that) and with a mock-fight. The story isn't bad, it just seems to peter out rather and the sex in this story is more graphic than in the earlier elements to this book.

The fourth story, "Baby You've Changed", has almost nothing to it apart from a sex scene which many people would probably find offensive. Tamir had a love affair with a human years ago but as she's a Warfem the human wasn't powerful enough for her and she humiliated him and let him go. Now he has reappeared in her life but Gage Deauxville is now a vampire, extremely powerful and is after Tamir, needing to show his dominance and mastery of her in the traditional Warlord way. The scene is set in the first two pages and the rest of this story is all about the sex that they have and the description of this event is one that many people may find distasteful, and it's described in great detail too.

The last two stories were apparently written for an internet newsgroup by Angela Knight and are rather more explicit than her novels and for me I think the book would have been more acceptable overall if it just contained the first two stories. The last two, being more about sex and less about plot, reduced the impact of the earlier stories and may also cause many readers to be uncomfortable with what they are reading. The world of the Warlord and Warfems that Angela Knight has created is an interesting one and she is good at writing action and plot; however when the stories become just about sex they are less successful and a little disappointing.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, [...]. © Helen Hancox 2007

I read WARRIOR first (though it is book two), so I had a basis in this world from that. I like Angela's vampires, but this is my favorite of her series, by far, and ENFORCER and future books are auto-buys for me.

WARLORD is made up of four distinct stories, and I was glad to have the chance to read all of them!

JANE'S WARLORD is the novel centerpiece of the omnibus. It's the story of Riane Arvid's parents. Jane runs a newspaper in the 21st Century. Baran Arvid is dropped in her time by the rather villainous Temporal Enforcement officer who seems to follow all of the Time Hunter books. Baran's mission? Try to keep the time traveler who committed the Jack The Ripper murders and is currently picking up the trail in 21stC America from killing Jane...and kill the criminal, while he's at it. The TE is armed with all sorts of information that prove the criminal and Baran went head to head in our time, but aside from the basic information on the criminal's identity, they give Baran nothing to work with, believing he'll cause a paradox, if given too much information.

WARFEM also has ties to WARRIOR. In this case, it's the story of Galar Arvid's parents. Alina Kasi and Baird Arvid were childhood sweethearts, parted twenty years earlier. After their success in driving the Xer from their homeworld, they were supposed to be freed from their contracts. But, Alina's company president had other plans. Using Alina's (at their parting) unborn son to Baird as a hostage (a son Baird never knew existed), they succeeded in forcing her to remain in their service for another twenty years. If Alina balks them, their son's tampered implants will kill him. It's up to Baird to find out what Alina is hiding from him...and prove she's innocent of treason.

THE WARLORD AND THE FEM takes place long after the time line of the other stories (about 100 years, by the hints given), in a future where the Femmats have driven the genetically-engineered Warlords and Warfems from their homeworld and scattered them across the universe to avoid a war with them. Baird Airell is a Warlord in search of a mate, and he's found Kyna, a mercenary Warfem who wasn't raised in the colonies but rather in the merc fleet. She's not sure she can submit to Baird, as a Warlord requires.

BABY, YOU'VE CHANGED is the shortest story. It is the story of Tamir, a Warfem merc, and Gage Deauxville, a former lover she dumped because he was incapable of dominating her as a Warlord would...being nothing more than a human. When her team is captured by his ship, Tamir has a surprise in store for her. Gage isn't just a human anymore. He's a dominant vampire, and he's studied precisely how a Warlord would have dominated her.

Okay...I've said it before and I'll say it again. Angela is a wonderful world-builder and her characterization ROCKS! I can't wait to read more from this series. I love that she shows how generations evolve and change within the world framework. I love that she keeps adding in more and more races and fleshing them out. This series has endless possibilities.

Complaints? Only one. I can honestly say that WARRIOR was MUCH better edited than WARLORD was. Since WARRIOR is the second book in the series, that bodes well for future books, thank goodness. This book would have been darned near perfect, if I hadn't found the editing errors I did. It's not enough to kill what Angela has going right for it, but it was a distraction that didn't need to be.

KUDOS to Angela!

Her later books are better. I ordered this as background; the main story and the novella are the stories of parents of later characters. Let's just say the kids are more likeable than their parents.

I loved Jane's Warlord, the main novella in this book. It was my intorduction to Angela Knight and I couldn't put it down. The science behind the science-fiction plot may not be perfect but who cares when you have a hero as hot and brooding and hunky as Baran. Time travel, Jack the Ripper (Jack the Ripper!! In a contemporary erotic romance!) and a talking wolf! Love it!

(I am inclined to remove a star for the shorter novellas following Jane's Warlord, but the main story is too enjoyable. If I could give half a star, I would)

For a steamy "military futuristic romance" this is quite a good read and tons of fun. The incredible genre (I am a huge fan of military, commando SF but my tastes run usually to Gordon Dickson and Richard Morgan) makes one assume the writing quality would be atrocious - but it happened to be decent.
Of course, asking for mucho logic (military or otherwise) would be stupid but in its own niche, this is a pleasant book.
Warning: if you do like "pink erotica" with lots of tender scenes, sensitive heroes and gentle sex in front of a fireplace or at sunset beach, Knight's books are most definitely not for you :)

I really loved the story of this book as well as the steamy scenes. Very good descriptions and the author really brings you into the book. I am already ordering her other books from this author.

I loved this series by Angela Knight! I think that anyone who enjoys adventure and fantasy with have fun reading this book.

Jane's Warlord

As the newspaper reporter at a crime scene, Jane Colby can only imagine how horrible the crime scene must be if the lead detective comes out and "tosses his cookies". Upon arriving home, she faces a rather large man and what looks like a rather large wolf who broke into her home. But Baran and his partner, Freika, convince her that their there to save her, to protect her, from the murderer. Traveled back in time, Baran and his partner sent to stop the murderer and he needs Jane. Only, Jane isn't meek. Strong, self-reliant, with a past that haunts her, she wants to fight and to use herself as bait, regardless of her fear. But not only does she accept that he's from three hundred years into the future, she's afraid she's losing her heart to him, and worried about how much she'll have changed once he goes back, for she's losing her heart to him..

**Incredible as only Angela Knight can make it. With believable details, you really like Baran and Freika right from the start. What I liked was how Jane stood up to him even knowing that he could overpower her. I loved their banter, especially with Freika. Action was great, love scenes superb that make you squirm in your seat. Excellent plot well carried out. A truly fine story.

Warfem

Warfem Alina is carrying a file for the one she serves. She is to deliver the file, on the promise that her mistress, Rajin, would finally release her from duty and give her back her son. Baird is investigating a case of treason, afraid that his ex-lover, the woman he loved, is knee-deep in it. And while he doesn't want to believe it, extenuating circumstances forced her to do as her mistress bid. But no more. Alina is tired of the threat Rajin holds over her son and will do whatever is necessary to get her son out of harms way. What Baird doesn't know is that, even after twenty years, Alina still loves him, had been forced to leave him. Question is, will he understand and believe when the truth stands in front of him in the form of a ten-year-old boy?

**I liked this one. The action was great, the plot well done, even if it was small. I think Ms. Knight could have actually made this one into a novel instead of a novella, adding more to the story. I think my fave part is of the boy taking down the one person who could destroy them all. Perfect ending!

The Warlord and the Fem

Apparently, these last two first appeared on a yahoo group and added them to the book. Truthfully, I think they could have stayed out of the book. I won't go really into deal, cause there isn't much to begin with. Baird, a Warlord (not to be confused with Baird from Warfem - this Baird is a different character,) fights to become part of a mercenary group because of Kyna. Kyna is a Warfem, and Baird wasn't her as his mate. But Kyna refuses, for she remembers spying on an "episode" with her sister and her Warlord, and it freaked her out. She swore to herself she would never be with a Warlord, would never play the submissive to their dominant ways in the bedroom. But Baird is determined. What I liked was that he did his damndest to "court" her, playing chess, talking, taking walks, all in the name of having her as his mate. I think, though, that Kyna could have fought him a little harder in the last scene, and while their lovemaking was great, it was short of spectacular. Could have been better - the whole story could have been.

Baby, You've Changed

Did not like - not one bit. There was nothing to it. Warfem Tamir and her ship, the Xe'vit, fight and lose the battle to Captain Gage Deauxville and his ship, the Intrepid. But he's not after her ship - he's after her. Years ago, as teens, Tamir had humiliated him, for humans aren't strong enough to play the dominant, as Warfems need. But now Gage isn't just merely human anymore, but a vampire, strong enough if not stronger, than Tamir. He intends to take his revenge on her in the way of how Warlord do. What I didn't like was how. Until she submitted to him, what he was going to do was rape, and that left a sour taste in my mouth. Yes, I know that some have that fantasy, of being taken against their will. This was so not for me. Period. `Nough said.

Overall, I really liked the book and recommend it to any sci-fi, paranormal fan.

I really love Angela Knight's style of writing. I've enjoyed all her books so far and they have all gone on my keeper shelves. Jane's Warlord is probably one of my favorites so far. I also highly recommend her Magaverse series.

"Jane's Warlord". Three hundred years from now the Temporal Enforcement sends warlord Baran Arvid and his genetically engineered wolf Freika back to the twenty-first century to protect reporter Jane Colby from a murderous time traveler Kalag Druss. Baran is to kill Kalag before the jump killer murders Jane. Jane covers a particular brutal murder nearby her home. When she returns to her house, she finds Baran and the talkative Freika waiting for her. Escape is impossible and soon she figures out that her warden and his sidekick come from the future. The worst that could happen to Baran is that he falls in love which distracts him from his mission and places his beloved in peril from the deadly time traveler.

"Warfem". Her enemy captured WarFem Alina, who would prefer to die, but fears that her foes will use her as a hostage to betray her people and her beloved Baird.

"The Warlord and the Fem". Kyne hides on the ship Drunna's Victory from the Warlord Baird Airell who she met while on R&R on the planet Verton. She is a Fem, a genetically engineered soldier which make her subject to any demands in the bedroom from a Warlord; that scares her when it comes to Baird. She has to confront her fears because Baird gains the crew's respect as he tries to bond with her.

"Baby, You've Changed". When the ship Intrepid defeated the ship that Fem Tamin was on, she was reunited with her first lover Gage Deauxville. She rejected him because he was human, but now he is a vampire who claims he is her master.

JANE'S WARLORD is a reprint of the same title novel while "Warfem" was first published as part of the Kick Ass novellas anthology; the two short stories are new. WARLORD provides fans of Angela Knight, an omnibus collection of this entertaining outer space fantasy saga.

Harriet Klausner