Winter Lost
Mercy Thompson, Book 14
by Patricia Briggs
Genre: Sci-fi and fantasy
I've been with this series since book one, and each story stays as fresh as that first one. Mercy though, has come such a long way. Its been interesting seeing her grow in confidence along the way, and of course seeing Adam totally confused by her, having to fight his instinct to wrap her up and protect her because he knows, he knows that she needs her independence.
Along the way there have been so many characters, so many changes of place and plot, and this time its mainly Adam and Mercy and a host of new people/supernaturals. I'll be honest, when I got to the end I felt a bit – well, Winter lost I guess 😉 I felt I'd not properly connected with the story. I remember feeling this way about River Marked though, and after Nth re-readings of the series that's now one of my favourites. So I went back to beginning and read the story again, and this time, with a bit of foreknowledge about who fit where and what they could do I loved it, felt much more satisfied, got so much more from the book.
Its a fascinating blend of the magics we know in this world and a few new ones. Interesting story-line too, I love the way that the Fae, and it seems Norse divinities ( are they Fae too? I don't know), are ruled by words. Reminded me of Zee saying Mercy needed to pay him back for the shop in ( I think) Iron Crossed, when it had to be done because he had said it must, but they settled by him loaning her the money at xx interest etc to pay him...
As usual there more than just one thing going on, and we learn more about familiar characters through events. Sherwood is proving to be an incredibly interesting person, and the details about his past are coming out little by little. I love that, where we don;t get one big reveal but little drips along the way, spread over books. The Bonarata stuff is similar, we know he's furious with mercy for besting him, and its taking a few books for us to see just How Angry he is. Who knows what the guy is plotting next. I kind of hope Wulfe is on the case here, another character who's more than the bloodthirsty weirdo he first seemed. Though who knows what he will do to help and whether it will actually help.
Anyway, back to this books main story, and of course its not as simple as Hrmnir and getting back the stolen artifact, there's hoops to jump, puzzled to solve and as ever, blood to be shed. We know who took the artifact but not where it is, or who has it now, Hrmnir knows where it is but cannot retrieve it and he doesn't know who has it either. Me? I hadn't a clue, there are dislikable characters here but does it mean they are the responsible ones? Or irresponsible and not getting it back in time means the possible end of the world....
Its a fabulous read, though if you're like me you might need to read it twice to fully understand and enjoy it 😉 Its Mercy though, that's no hardship!
I love the way Mercy always thinks aloud about what has, or may have happened, that lets me bring things together ad understand how and why events worked as they did.
Stars: Five, all the way. Another great read, giving me lots to think about while trying to work who was responsible. It ties up some loose ends from other books, and brings in new suggestions for future ones.
ARC supplied by Netgally and publishers
No comments:
Post a Comment