Stevie‘s review of Ward Against Disaster (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer, Book 3) by Melanie Card
Young Adult Fantasy Romance published by Entangled: Teen 19 Jan 15
In my quest to find new-to-me authors across the full range of genres I read, I’ve found myself jumping into the middle of a few series recently. Fortunately, although I’d no knowledge of either of the two preceding stories, this book worked well for me as an introduction to the characters and their world. Equally fortunately, I found that the setting felt fresh and original, which is a difficult accomplishment in the world of Young Adult fantasy at the moment. Sadly, I did find the characters a little too angsty for my tastes at times, although I’m sure the reasons behind their dilemmas will appeal to many readers of the genre.
Ward’s world is one in which necromancy and raising the dead – or some forms of it, at least – is legal, while all forms of surgery are banned. This is all rather unfortunate, since Ward lacks confidence in his necromantic abilities, in spite of being descended from very important and powerful necromancers, while he is fascinated by all forms of surgery and has successfully operated on a number of people already. On the other hand, he has managed to raise one person from the dead: the aristocratic assassin Celia, who seems quite unlike the other undead women that Ward comes across on his travels.
Ward and Celia, along with their companion Nazarius, are hunting after a murderous undead woman, whom Ward unwittingly freed from an evil necromancer only to find that she was at least as dangerous as her former master. They have almost caught up with their quarry, when they find themselves mixed up in the political wrangling taking place in a city that seems to be cursed. Although some of the politics, particularly relating to Nazarius’ status, would have made more sense to me if I’d read the previous books, I find it reasonably easy to follow what was going on. I also find the action scenes riveting and am really not certain who, if any, of the main characters would survive some of the main fights.
The angst surrounding Ward’s relationship with Celia – both because his world’s laws forbid him from any sort of romance with the undead and because he believes the bad guys when they tell him his magic is weak – feels rather too forced and overblown to me – especially since Celia becomes aware of facts that could set Ward’s mind at rest on both issues. I am also a little confused over Nazarius’ conflicting loyalties, although that might have made more sense to me if I’d read previous books in the series.
Overall, this book promises maybe a little more than it delivers, but I’d recommend it to readers with a higher tolerance for angst than I have, but who also enjoy a good fight scene.
Grade: C
Summary:
Ward de’Ath should be dead by now. Instead, he’s chasing after a soul-eating creature—that he unleashed— and is bent on stopping her before she slaughters more innocents. Fortunately, Celia Carlyle remains by his side, a nobleman’s gorgeous and deadly daughter, who is…well, dead.
Celia claims she’ll champion Ward wherever he goes, even when she thinks his quest is hopeless. He can only hope her pledge comes from her heart, and not because she’s bound to him through his magic.
When they enter Dulthyne, they stumble upon a dark power that threatens the entire town. Ward, with his unreliable necromancy, is determined to help but finds himself ensnared in the lure of white-hot magic…blood magic he struggles to resist. But if Celia’s love is a lie, it might just doom his soul to the dark arts forever.
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
