Summary:
Rikard was taken into Alterra, a different dimension, for 30 years to aid the Alterrans in their war. He has been returned, not aged a day, but with no idea as to how much his home has changed since he's been gone. So much so that he doesn't see how resentful his wife is at his return and what it means for the politics of the empire. Thainna is a Talon, a thief for the House of Five Dragons, trying to buy her brother a seat at the Crest of the House in the hopes that he can make everyone's life better. When she gets assigned to keep an eye on Rikard, she has no idea how to even start. But she must, if she wants to keep her brother alive.
Review:
I absolutely loved this book. It was such a delight to read! Don't get me wrong, I had predicted the big twist long before I could prove it, but I was still so drawn into this book, it's world and characters, that I almost cried while reading it. It may be a little simplistic, the good characters are good, the bad characters are bad, etc. but sometimes you really need a story like that. And the mechanics of the world this book takes place in are fascinating!
The VEIL Knights have a kind of blood magic that they can use to call upon the Alterrans to help them. The Alterrans live in a world without physical form; it's all emotions, memories and other thoughts. They literally use fear as a weapon, and a painful one at that. So when the VEIL Knights set up these deals using their blood, the Alterrans generally take emotion filled memories that they can use to fight off their enemies or create new forms. When Rikard, 30 years ago, agreed to whatever the Alterrans wanted in exchange for saving his men, he became the first Terran (physical) person to be taken into the Alterran realm.
I love the authors' attention to the problems Rikard had coming back to the world of the physical after 30 years. He'd forgotten how to eat and drink. He'd forgotten what sleep was. He didn't know no one else could read thoughts like him. Thainna has to explain things to him like he was a child because he simply forgot, after three decades, some things that are so basic we don't even think about them anymore.
I'm not a fan of political maneuvering and whatnot, but I do like how the authors handle it. When Rikard, who has been celebrated as a self-sacrificing hero for 30 years suddenly shows up, he stirs up the muddy waters that has become the Empire. The Emperor dare not make him mad for the people love Rikard more than him. The House of Five Dragons needs to try to get him under control or risk their hold on so many political and military officials. The VEIL Knights themselves, whom he leads, need to purge themselves of their bad element and show the people of the empire they are there to protect them.
That being said, I really don't blame Rikard's wife, Laurael, for putting their son's political status above her husband. She, herself, said that the first day she met Rikard was their wedding day and were only together two years before he disappeared. I'm actually quite understanding of her desire to kill her husband to assure her son, Gaius, his spot as the Emperor's heir. The only thing I do fault her for is having an affair with the Emperor in the first place. The rest of the "bad guy" characters, though, they had it coming.
To reiterate, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were enjoyable (I absolutely loved Stumble). The world has some very interesting mechanics that I'd love to see more of. Ultimately, this was a very good read. 4.5 hoots!
Hoot!
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