Lord of Eternal Night
Ratings20
Average rating3.3
Like many other reviewers, I couldn't stand the over-saturated prose and poor characterizations. How can someone be so prolific at writing and yet be so bad at it? This makes me especially disappointed because everything Alderson writes is related to my interests.
This is the second Ben Alderson book I've read and I gave that three stars too. I think I might just be a personal taste issue with the author. One of the big issues I had with this book, was it was too short for the story. I feel like a lot of it was underdeveloped and rushed because of the word count. Even a hundred or so more words would have developed it more. And (spoilers) but I kinda got the ick from the Jak having the same name as the deceased lover of the Marius. Especially because the LI is three hundred years older. I had a hard time believing that the Marius would have loved Jak if he had a different name. And then the sudden switch up at the end where they both have the urge to rain terror onto the town despite Marius spending the book hating his “monstrous” side. I feel like I would have enjoyed this more if it had been more fleshed out.
I don't know why ...but i couldn't relate....much to the story...I mean it was not bad ....but while reading i kind of felt like....it could have been more....
There are way worse books that I have read. Books that made my skin crawl with disgust or made my pulse quicken in rage.
The worst thing this book has commited was that it was so utterly boring that I could not finish it. The tropes are usually ones I really enjoy but the writing style made it about as interesting as a textbook.
I'm somewhere between like and love for this book. The pacing was a bit slow in some parts and fast in others but overall a good read and had me holding back tears when the emotion snuck up on me
Look, is this the best book ever written? No.
Are there editing mistakes all over the place? Yes.
Did I still enjoy reading it? Absolutely.
Sometimes, you just want to read something that's light and easy; something that can pass the time when you're sitting on a plane or in an airport lounge. This is that kind of book.
Lord of Eternal Night is a cross between Bram Stoker's Dracula and de Villeneuve's classic fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. Even though the themes between these works and LEN are similar, the quality of this book is no where near them, but it still reads as a fun romp around a dark, haunted castle. The comparison between this book and Armentrout's From Blood and Ash series is also unfair, in my opinion, because they are as similar to one another as day and night. However, despite this disclaimer, LEN is just fun.
It's a simple story; Jak, a magician, is sent to a mansion on the outskirts of town as a “Claim,” an offering for a bloodthirsty beast that dwells in the mansion. The beast, Marius, is a gracious host to his hostage despite Jak's resistance, and slowly, Jak realises that “the beast” is not as evil as what he was taught to believe.
If you're familiar with both Dracula and Beauty and the Beast, then there is very little mystery in how the plot in LEN will enfold. The Claim falling in love with the Beast is a given, but add to that the element of vampirism, ghosts, and elemental magic (and smut—a fair amount of it).
Overall, if you have a penchant for retellings, vampires, and low-effort reading, this is for you. I think it would be even better to read this during spooky season to fully enjoy the atmospheric setting of the story.
4.5 stars
I was honestly expecting this to suck (no pun intended) based on the cover, but I was actually very pleasantly surprised! The story was so good, the writing was excellent, and it even managed to tug on my heartstrings once or twice.