The Twilight Lord by Bertrice Small

First and last foray...

Despite the author's well-recognized name and long, award-filled career, I had never actually read one of Ms Small's books. I received The Twilight Lord (World of Hetar, Book 3) as a freebie and decided to give this author a try, even though I'd essentially be starting in the middle of an established series.

Given Ms Small's many, many awards for her historical fiction stories, I'll have to assume that she is truly a wonderful writer. Unfortunately, I only have The Twilight Lord to judge by, and it was not what I would have expected given the author's reputation.

No doubt someone will point out that it's hardly fair to judge Ms Small based on one book, and that one not the first book in a series. I can only point out the following issues do not rely on a book's order in a series:

- The author and editor should have cut out the numerous, numerous repetition and redundancies in the book, especially in those instances where the characters themselves were already aware of X, Y, and Z.

- There were several instances of rape, which, inconceivably, were portrayed for the most part as being pleasurable for the women involved. Not only was this offensive and cavalier, it didn't even serve the purpose of making the villains out to be more villainous.

- Several of the plot points didn't make internal story sense.

- The characterizations of the main characters were unlikable. They were by turns self-centered, cruel, and immature. It was hard to imagine what redeeming characters they had.

- Despite the big "Lara has a Destiny" plot line and the constant avowal of her powers, the only powers you really see her evince is transporting herself from place to place.

- Many of the sex scenes were repetitive and served no real purpose. Sex in a story is great, but only if it furthers the plot. The only sex that furthered the story in this book was the one that involved the prophecy of the Twilight Lord.


Sometimes, when I start a series in the middle, I'm intrigued enough to want to read the entire series and try other books by the same author. Alas, neither is the case here.

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