The lovely Marie Bilodeau released the second of her Destiny series and I was lucky enough to snag a copy at Ad Astra. Between working on my own writing and fighting a nasty case of con-crud I was finally able to finish it today.
So what do I think of it?
Destiny's Fall is good continuation of the series. I can see a greater maturity in Marie's writing style while it still retains her storytelling voice, and I can see growth in how the characters are portrayed. They're more vibrant in this book, have more of an individual voice rather than just being swept along in the admirably done narrative. This is especially true of Avienne, who is now definitely my favorite character of the series. (What can I say, I have a weakness for redheads.)
The issue I noticed in Destiny's Blood is still present in Destiny's Fall. It's far too short. The book just seems to be ramping up when it comes to a conclusion. Also, there were some things mentioned but characters, told to the reader, that I would have loved to have seen played out on the page. One part in particular is the implantation of a magic jewel that sounds like it would have been an awesome scene but we only get told about it later rather than actually seeing it happen.
There are so many tumultuous events this book that happen one after another that I was exhausted by the end. I'd love to see the characters having a chance to talk more, to have a chance to truly digest what just happened to them.
Based on what I've seen, I think Destiny's Fall could easily have been twice its current length without losing any of its impact. As I said about Destiny's Blood, if the worst thing I can say about a book is that it's too short then it can't be all that bad.
(Yes, I've ready some really long books/series that should have ended pages ago... cough... Wheel Of Time... cough)
Go check out Marie's site and look into getting a copy of your own.
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