Dragonmark

I have this say, this book is by far the farthest from Sherrilyn Kenyon's norm. I'm not saying that it was incredibly horrible compared to the other stupendous books she'd written. However, it does break a certain pattern she'd developed in her writing. At first, I wasn't very disgruntled by how Kenyon replayed the whole Cadegan and Jo adventure and put it in Illarion's point of view. After all, I hadn't read that book in a while and it was certainly entertaining and likeable. However, by the time Maxis (Illarion's brother, for any of you who don't remember, not that I blame you since there's so many different characters and it's been a while since the last book came out) entered the story, I felt somewhat annoyed. After all, this book is supposed to be about Illarion and his lost love, which was mentioned in Cadegan and Jo's book, so no this is not a spoiler. However, vast portions of it didn't even star Illarion and his love, Edilyn. In fact, Edilyn wasn't in barely half of the book! At this point, I'm just ambivalent to how Kenyon skimmed over numerous portions. On one hand, of course I'd want to get to the point quickly and see what happens next in the plot. On the other hand, the details. The DETAILS. I'm so conflicted. And on the other OTHER hand (aye, I need a third hand to make my point; I need an extra limb!), the way Kenyon told Illarion and Edilyn's story was somewhat satisfying...in a way. Oh the conflicted emotions that swirl within me, and in other fans of Kenyon.

I never thought I would rate one of Kenyon's books below three stars. While this wasn't horrible, it just wasn't what I expect from her.

In all, or most, of the dark hunter books there has been great character development. I really felt as if the characters could have been real living people. Not this one. There was a lack of passion, personality, and individuality that this author normally aces in every book. The humor that these characters normally have was missing too.

The world that these books are set in is extremely complex. Kenyon normally conveys it in a way where it is expanding not just dumped all at once. There is a lot of world dumping in this. Some of it is told through dialogue, and not in a good way. It felt at times like the characters were reading from textbook or something. Does that make sense?

Parts of this confused me. There were characters that I either don't remember, or maybe new to the stories.

I feel this was wrote to expand the amount of characters and create a way for this series to continue to grow. After as many books that there is, mid twenties I think, Kenyon is running out of ways for the stories to grow. I fear that the world I have grown to love is starting to become something else. Hopefully there is good to come, but it will amaze me if it does. I miss the old dark hunters that patrolled the streets of New Orleans. The ones who fought the bad vampires.

If you read this series I think this is a crucial book that must be read in order to continue what is to come. Just be prepared to be confused. If I didn't see the cover, I would probably think this was fanfic. If this is a new series to you, this is not a good book to start with. Go to the beginning.