Sister of the dead

Third in the series about Magiere the Dhampir and her companions Leesil & Chap. In this outing, they go in search of Magiere’s past. We learn more about her creation and birth. Decent addition to the series.

Still impressed. It's not the most convoluted story, but the various characters are becoming more and more complex and developed and less and less plot devices and standard fantasy roles.

The chase continues... or rather the side bar to the chase, but various bits are revealed and coped with, or

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not. There's even a nice post-modernist moment when they're starting and ending the book in a very similar setting and commenting on it; but it's worked in as reasonable comment for the characters too, a trick that too few people pull off.

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This one I actually thought would be my least favorite in the series thus far. It might still in some way be. But I do have to give it credit. The last 100 pages pretty much managed to redeem well characters. But let's start at the beginning. Magiere and Leesil are about the only thing that made

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the book enjoyable at all for the first 300 pages. I don't much like Welstiel and I detest Chane and Wynn. But when they finally gave me Magiere's back story... it was well done. It answered everything I really cared about and it didn't take over 600 pages to do. Yes, JK I'm talking to you. It even made me genuinely respect in some manner Welstiel's actions when prior to this I had merely not cared for him. I now know there is a bit more depth there and I am satisfied. I am even a tiny bit more satisfied with Chane. Largely because I really am beginning to feel that he actually cares enough for Wynn...that maybe just maybe...he could do something awesome. However Wynn is just a whiny bitch. I can't stand her. Wah Wah Woe is her! Oh and Chap....totally awesome! If only because telling off the others of your kind and then basically forcing them to still do what you want....always perfection. I'd love to get a little more on that. Really a whole prologue to the series dealing solely with Chap would be amazing!

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Magiere the half-vampire has set off to her homeland of Droevinka to learn more about her own history; even her own birth seems to have been a planned event, and she wants to know why. She and her partner Leesil the half-elven assassin are joined by a young sage named Wynn as they follow the trail

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that leads back to the sorcerer who planned her very existence.

Adding Wynn to the party makes the relationships of the characters even more complicated, as her scholar's perspective leads to conflicts with the more battle-seasoned Magiere. We also begin to see the stakes in the whole game, and see some of the more compassionate side of a character who was looking quite ruthless.

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This series keeps expanding rather than just presenting the same kind of story over and over. Here we learn about Magiere's origins, and there are some painful and emotional developments. No black and white characters--even the villains have motivation and are sympathetic. Some questions are

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answered, but more arise.

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The Noble Dead series grows more interesting. There are still many unanswered questions regarding Magiere's destiny as there seem to be at least 2 opposing forces attempting to make Magiere their ally. Neither side's motives have been explained but both have meddled greatly with Magiere's life, as

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demonstrated when Magiere was sired and Chap's pushing of Leesil into Magiere's life. And yet, neither side maybe absolutely wrong in what they believe about Magiere's nature. As Magiere discovered when Ubad attempted to coerce her into consuming the element of Spirit, she was in fact unable to do so. And it is these questions which continue to make the series interesting.

Another interesting aspect of the series is the role reversals between the male and female lead. In Sister of the Dead, Magiere is the hunter while Leesil is the nurturer. Often, Magiere is the one who fights the undead while Leesil is the one who keep her from giving in to despair over her nature.

Apart from that, the addition of Wynn makes Magiere and Chap's view of the undead creatures they fight seems at times too harsh. While Magiere is intent on denying any possible human emotions attributed to vampires, Wynn believes otherwise and the vampire Chane who has rescued Wynn twice because he cares for her seems proof of this. It certainly makes one wonder who is right in this case.

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Sister of the Dead begins the morning after Thief of Lives ends. This is a series that absolutely must be read in order or it will make no sense. I am so glad that I am reading the books now instead of when they first came out because a waiting a year between books would have ruined the flow of the

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story for me.

As I get deeper into this series, I am enjoying it even more. The characters are all complex. They all have their own secrets and moral codes. Each has a past that they would rather forget but which calls to them. The choice of whether to continue on their current path or step off into the darkness doesn't simply occur once but instead over and over again in so many small choices that are made. Unknown forces try to shape events to their purpose but must contend with free will at each crossroads.

The action seems to be non-stop even when I thought Magiere and Leesil were going to get a small break to rest or talk things over. Their journey was full of obstacles and the simplest of tasks became difficult. Emotions are constantly running high, leading to short tempers and inner conflict.

Each time I thought I knew where the story was heading the authors threw in another twist. Once it happened I could see how things were leading up to it even while pulling me toward a different idea. This kept the book and the series unpredictable.

This is a great dark fantasy series and I'm looking forward to reading the next book.

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Now that I finished it, I'm a little torn.

Cons:
The flashback technique, not really working for me. Didn't like how it was handled in the first book, didn't like it here.
The heroine is an annoying whiny ungrateful brat, more often than not, although she's growing on me.
The sage Wynn in this book is

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even worse! Good grief she's unlikeable. Even if I do continue to read the series, I won't be reading her offshoot.
I just can't help thinking each of these books would be better if 50-100 pages were knocked off. The pacing veers between brilliant and ridiculously slow, like it can't decide, and it makes them feel a little disjointed. I find myself skipping through entire sections and not, as you might think, the descriptive sections, because the world building here is spot on, but rather the multi-page descriptions of rituals being performed by Wynn who I dislike are just... boring. I don't care how she takes her tea, even though it's a plot point later, it could have been easily handled by "Wynn dropped some mint leaves into her tea, as was her habit" (and there's tons more examples like this).

Pros:
Chap!!
Leesil is interesting, and a whole lot more likeable than Magiere, even though he's just as damaged as she is.
Damaged heroes that aren't just magically over it one day - Probably the reason Magiere is growing on me, she's got some really crap baggage and it's broken her, so the more we learn, the more we understand why she is how she is. From that perspective, the character is really working, and the writing is really quite good.
The world-building is really paying off. There is a real sense of an actual world, with different countries, with different cultures, races, and even species, well thought through and planned out.

Overall: I like the series, well enough that I will try to find the rest of it, but they are on my "someday" list, rather than the "oh my goodness I have to find out how this ends RIGHT NOW" list.

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3.5 stars

This was a solid addition to this series but I felt it dragged a little in certain places. It took too long for them to get where they needed to go. I really like the way the love story between Leesil and Magiere is shaping up. It's not the focus of the novel, but it's easy to see their

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feelings for each other. The mystery surrounding Magiere's beginnings weren't too surprising, but I'm curious to see how everything is going to play out.

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