Armed & Magical

Raine Benaris: 2

ISBN: 0-441-01587-5 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com

This fantasy is a good combination of conventional fantasy elements, with a strong heroine, several engaging characters and full of action, with a twisty plot that feels rushed.

Reviewed by David on July 07, 2008

Genre: Fantasy (Sword and Sorcery, Romance, Politics, Magic, Elves)

Synopsis: This is the sequel to Magic Lost, Trouble Found, which introduces Raine Benares, an elf living in a world of multiple races, often deadly politics, and some notorious criminal families, including Benares. Raine, a sorceress of modest power, makes her mostly honest living by Seeking, finding lost objects and occasional persons using her talent supplemented by knowledge of human nature, keen observation, and willingness to take on adversaries with her knives and bravado—that is if she can't run away.

Alas, one of the things she found was Saghred, an exceptionally powerful stone with a deservedly evil reputation. Saghred gives its "owners" immense power, usually at immense cost.

Raine reluctantly comes to Mid, the home of the Magical Conclave and the best school of magic in the world. There, she hopes to get rid of her connection to Saghred. There, along with immensely learned, and immensely arrogant mages, Raine finds immense ambitions that are determined to use Saghred.

Full Review: Raine is an appealing heroine—strong and courageous, while not overly arrogant. Loyal to her friends, and willing to help others in distress, she respects the law, but not above breaking it in a good cause. Several of the supporting characters are colorful if rather predictable.

The world in which action takes place—and the novel is almost non-stop action—is complex with inter- and intra-species politics, with most parties having more than one motivation. Somewhat refreshingly, the elves are not universally good, nor are the goblins universally bad. Not that the book is short on villains.

The major problem of this generally enjoyable book is the rapid, even rushed pace. The conventional elements of a swords and sorcery fantasy, along with conventional touches of romantic involvement are handled well, but there is little time to develop relationship or situations before the next twist takes place.

While posessing an above-average first-person protagonist and enjoyable bits of humor, this rushed quality limits the novel's appeal somewhat.

Overall: 6; Plot: 5; Characters: 6.5; Style: 6; World-building: 6.5; Originality: 4.5;

ISBN: 0-441-01587-5 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com