Post by Ailenia on Mar 1, 2006 8:58:59 GMT -5
I found this review of the first book of the LoA series and thought it might be of interest.
SWORD OF DARKNESS – Kinley MacGregor
Lords of Avalon, Book 1
A Perfect 10
Avon
ISBN: 0-06-056544-6
April 2006
Fantasy Historical Romance
Once upon a time, there was a great king who brought peace to his kingdom and ruled with kindness. Known throughout the land as honorable and chivalrous, his knights of the round table were legends in their own time…
However, as in all good fairytales, there was a worm in the apple that was Camelot -- and that worm devoured it until it was nothing but a great, dark place of evil and hatred. That worm was Morgen Le Fey.
Now Morgen will stop at nothing to ensure that the power of Camelot remains hers, and that she rules the next Merlin and, therefore, the entire world. But the knights of Avalon will do what they must to stop the rot of Morgen’s Camelot from encompassing the whole world, and that brings us to today, to a small English village, and a young woman with a great power inside her…
Seren is content with her life, but dreams of one day being invited into the guild of weavers where she can ply her trade and earn her own way, as opposed to serving as an apprentice and living in poverty. She has scrimped, saved, and worked long into the night on the most beautiful red cloth she has ever created. She is sure when she presents it to the guild that they will allow her to become a member. But alas, her hopes are dashed when the guild master ridicules her cloth. Seren does not think life can get worse, until it suddenly does. Approached in the street by two noblemen dressed as knights, Seren is at first incredulous and then terrified when Gawain tells her they have come to fetch her to Avalon where she will be the mother of the next Merlin. Avalon? Merlin? Gawain? Wait, what story is this? Seren flees from the knights, sure they mean to ravish her, only to be swept up by a handsome dark-haired knight and rescued, or perhaps captured?
The Kerrigan -- ruler of Camelot -- wears armor as black as his evil heart. He has gone out of Camelot into the world to find Seren, the woman who will bear the next Merlin. After having her practically fall into his lap, he takes her through the veil back to Camelot where he plans to hold her captive until the Merlin of Avalon sends the round table back to Camelot where it belongs. Then, of course, he will kill the girl to prevent the birth of the next Merlin. The Kerrigan fears nothing. With his sword Caliburn at his side no one can kill him, not even the wicked Morgen Le Fey, who also resides at Camelot. But something happens to Kerrigan the longer he is around Seren -- the evil and hatred that have inhabited his heart for so long begin to lose their power over him. But despite his softer feelings for Seren, Kerrigan is determined to remain ruler of Camelot and invincible to his enemies in Avalon, until it comes down to a choice between ruling as a king and loving Seren as a man. What can a dark demon King do when a woman of goodness and light takes over his heart?
SWORD OF DARKNESS is a novel filled to the brim with fascinating characters. Some of those characters carry familiar names, such as the knight Gawain, and the evil Morgen Le Fey. But there are captivating new characters as well, such as the Kerrigan, the dark ruler of Camelot; Blaise, the Kerrigan’s servant who is also a dragon; Garafyn, a former Knight of Arthur’s round table, now cursed to be a gargoyle -- and a host of other fantastical creatures. Even the Merlin of Avalon is not quite what the reader expects. Seren is a heroine truly worthy of the title; she’s smart, strong and resilient. The dialogue is witty and often had me laughing aloud. The interactions between the characters are realistic (okay, realistic in that, hello, this is major fantasy here, way <G>, and the romance between the Kerrigan and Seren is heart wrenching. Unlike many “anti-heroes” Kerrigan truly has been evil for hundreds of years, and really has killed a lot of people and other creatures just because he can. However, I still liked him, almost from the first page. Go figure. I have always been a sucker for the bad boy.
The world building in SWORD OF DARKNESS is superb. It is just real enough to make the reader believe that perhaps Camelot and Avalon really do exist just beyond what mortal man may see. And as with any story centering around the legend of Camelot, the pageantry and magic that surround the legend are alive -- and perhaps even more fascinating in the hands of Kinley MacGregor.
Light and darkness, love and hatred, good and evil; all of these battles are fought in the pages of SWORD OF DARKNESS. A captivating and gripping story that is at once familiar and eerily new, SWORD OF DARKNESS blends all of the elements of fantasy, fairytale, romance, and suspense into a unique and spellbinding reading experience. A fabulous read and a Perfect 10, SWORD OF DARKNESS is just the first book in what promises to be one of the most fascinating Arthurian legend tales ever told, from the deft imagination of one of the best writers of our time.
Terrie Figueroa
Romance Reviews Today
SWORD OF DARKNESS – Kinley MacGregor
Lords of Avalon, Book 1
A Perfect 10
Avon
ISBN: 0-06-056544-6
April 2006
Fantasy Historical Romance
Once upon a time, there was a great king who brought peace to his kingdom and ruled with kindness. Known throughout the land as honorable and chivalrous, his knights of the round table were legends in their own time…
However, as in all good fairytales, there was a worm in the apple that was Camelot -- and that worm devoured it until it was nothing but a great, dark place of evil and hatred. That worm was Morgen Le Fey.
Now Morgen will stop at nothing to ensure that the power of Camelot remains hers, and that she rules the next Merlin and, therefore, the entire world. But the knights of Avalon will do what they must to stop the rot of Morgen’s Camelot from encompassing the whole world, and that brings us to today, to a small English village, and a young woman with a great power inside her…
Seren is content with her life, but dreams of one day being invited into the guild of weavers where she can ply her trade and earn her own way, as opposed to serving as an apprentice and living in poverty. She has scrimped, saved, and worked long into the night on the most beautiful red cloth she has ever created. She is sure when she presents it to the guild that they will allow her to become a member. But alas, her hopes are dashed when the guild master ridicules her cloth. Seren does not think life can get worse, until it suddenly does. Approached in the street by two noblemen dressed as knights, Seren is at first incredulous and then terrified when Gawain tells her they have come to fetch her to Avalon where she will be the mother of the next Merlin. Avalon? Merlin? Gawain? Wait, what story is this? Seren flees from the knights, sure they mean to ravish her, only to be swept up by a handsome dark-haired knight and rescued, or perhaps captured?
The Kerrigan -- ruler of Camelot -- wears armor as black as his evil heart. He has gone out of Camelot into the world to find Seren, the woman who will bear the next Merlin. After having her practically fall into his lap, he takes her through the veil back to Camelot where he plans to hold her captive until the Merlin of Avalon sends the round table back to Camelot where it belongs. Then, of course, he will kill the girl to prevent the birth of the next Merlin. The Kerrigan fears nothing. With his sword Caliburn at his side no one can kill him, not even the wicked Morgen Le Fey, who also resides at Camelot. But something happens to Kerrigan the longer he is around Seren -- the evil and hatred that have inhabited his heart for so long begin to lose their power over him. But despite his softer feelings for Seren, Kerrigan is determined to remain ruler of Camelot and invincible to his enemies in Avalon, until it comes down to a choice between ruling as a king and loving Seren as a man. What can a dark demon King do when a woman of goodness and light takes over his heart?
SWORD OF DARKNESS is a novel filled to the brim with fascinating characters. Some of those characters carry familiar names, such as the knight Gawain, and the evil Morgen Le Fey. But there are captivating new characters as well, such as the Kerrigan, the dark ruler of Camelot; Blaise, the Kerrigan’s servant who is also a dragon; Garafyn, a former Knight of Arthur’s round table, now cursed to be a gargoyle -- and a host of other fantastical creatures. Even the Merlin of Avalon is not quite what the reader expects. Seren is a heroine truly worthy of the title; she’s smart, strong and resilient. The dialogue is witty and often had me laughing aloud. The interactions between the characters are realistic (okay, realistic in that, hello, this is major fantasy here, way <G>, and the romance between the Kerrigan and Seren is heart wrenching. Unlike many “anti-heroes” Kerrigan truly has been evil for hundreds of years, and really has killed a lot of people and other creatures just because he can. However, I still liked him, almost from the first page. Go figure. I have always been a sucker for the bad boy.
The world building in SWORD OF DARKNESS is superb. It is just real enough to make the reader believe that perhaps Camelot and Avalon really do exist just beyond what mortal man may see. And as with any story centering around the legend of Camelot, the pageantry and magic that surround the legend are alive -- and perhaps even more fascinating in the hands of Kinley MacGregor.
Light and darkness, love and hatred, good and evil; all of these battles are fought in the pages of SWORD OF DARKNESS. A captivating and gripping story that is at once familiar and eerily new, SWORD OF DARKNESS blends all of the elements of fantasy, fairytale, romance, and suspense into a unique and spellbinding reading experience. A fabulous read and a Perfect 10, SWORD OF DARKNESS is just the first book in what promises to be one of the most fascinating Arthurian legend tales ever told, from the deft imagination of one of the best writers of our time.
Terrie Figueroa
Romance Reviews Today
