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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Read, July 23, 2004
This review is from: The Wizard's Ward (Luna) (Paperback)
I enjoyed this book! The setting was pretty standard romantic fantasy fare; there was nothing too surprising or unusual. But I loved the characters, and I cared about their situation, and I always wanted to know what happened next!
The plot was a fairly typical heroic quest, but it kept me entertained, with plenty of action, adventure, and romance. I actually found Rath's emotional and spiritual journey to be just as interesting and compelling as the physical journey our two protagionists were taking. This book is a fun fantasy/romance/adventure novel, yes, but it is also ultimately a novel about faith -- the power of faith, living with faith, and finding faith -- not necessarily in God in the Christian sense (although strong parallels can be drawn between the Christian concept of God and the Giver of the novel), but in the idea that there is a benevolent spiritual force at work in the universe, and in the transformative power it can have in your life if you let it. Interesting.
Also, it was just plain fun. Lots of derring-do and so on. A good read, on whatever level you want to look at it!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Promising, but has problems, June 29, 2004
This review is from: The Wizard's Ward (Luna) (Paperback)
This is another pleasant addition to the new fanstasy line from Luna. Maura Woodbury has lived a quiet, domestic life of learning magic with her guardian, the wizard Langbard. Then all is turned upsidedown by Langbards's revelation that she is the Destined Queen of the downtrodden land of Umbria, who must awaken the Waiting King who will ultimately save the country from its evil oppressors - the Han. At the same time, she inexplicably helps save the outlaw Rath who literally comes crashing into her life. She dislikes everything about him. The scene is set for a 'quest' tale, with the Maura and Rath struggling alone to fulfill her task. They are pursued by the evil magicians of the Han throughout. The pair of course are irresistibly attracted to each other, but are firmly kept apart by Maura's strong devotion to her Waiting King. This was an enjoyable read, the story easily kept the reader's interest. However the plot itself suffered from being continually bogged down by the 'saving' of hero and heroine by each other. Maura get captured by thieves. Rath is captured by the Han. It clogged the pace. Both Rath and Maura were believable and the chemistry between them was well done. This contributed to the feeling that the love story was much more to the fore than the fantasy elements. The background of Umbria was very lightly sketched in indeed, and in places became mere wallpaper. There are really no secondary characters at all, Langbard is ruthlessly eliminated very early in the tale. This made the hero and heroine carry a far too heavy burden, as almost every other character was merely a name and a few cardboard virtues or vices. Still, I would like to know what happens next, as there is very obviously more in this saga
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad for a first Fantasy attempt, May 17, 2004
This review is from: The Wizard's Ward (Luna) (Paperback)
I've been a huge fan of Deborah Hale's romances for quite some time, as well as an avid reader of the lighter forms of fantasy. This book highlights Hale's wonderful ability to create characters who are overall realistic, with just a hint of melodrama to elevate their plight to the level required for romantic fiction. Both the hero and heroine of the Wizard's Ward captured my interest and sympathy, right from the beginning. In addition, the elements of a midieval-type culture were obviously well-researched, just as they were in Elusive Bride and Border Bride--they were presented matter of factly and in appropriate detail, which lent the setting of the narrative a comforting degree of familiarity despite the fact that the story takes place in a completely different universe. However, the fantasy element is a bit weak, as is the plot. Maura learns of her destiny within the space of a few pages, right at the beginning of the book. We don't really get to see the opression of the Umbrians or the cruelty of the Han, and there's almost no time to learn about Maura herself before she goes tearing off on her quest. Maura's arsinal of magic seems pitifully small, judging by the number of times she resorts to the same four or five spells--in the follo-up story, due out sometime next year I hope to see a bit more diversity. That being said, the action scenes do get better as the novel progresses and there are several all-around great scenes--specifically I'm thinking of the chimoney clogging episode. If I were to offer one criticism overall, it would be that the entire story from start to finish could have used about seventy-odd more pages of detail, filling in the gaps in the narrative and acquainting the reader a bit better with the circumstances that serve as the background to the plot. Overall though, it's a fun read if one is willing to use one's imagination to fill in the gaps, and I would encourage fans of Hale's romances to give it a try. Don't expect hard-core fantasy though, or even something as detail and plot oriented as the Elizabeth Hayden series. Perhaps the second book will do more for the fantasy lovers.
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