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Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

Various Thoughts

Various thoughts on a variety of topics.

  • Tag Archives Magiford Supernatural City
  • Magiford Supernatural City

    Posted on May 12, 2023 10:39 am by Offkorn Comment

    Similar to how each of the Elves of Lessa books have the same type of romantic developments, each of K. M. Shea‘s Magiford trilogies share a similar story structure:

    Book 1 has an underpowered young woman get entangled with an overpowered man, in Book 2 the protagonist becomes powerful in her own right and the two separate for some reason, then in Book 3 they become an established couple and overcome a persistent adversary.

    Hall of Blood and Mercy is the first of these trilogies, doing a great job of introducing the setting without resorting to infodumps or reams of exposition. The only thing I can really criticize is how incredibly nonsensical the break-up in the second book is. Just a complete lack of logic to the point that the characters themselves don’t even try to defend it.

    The second trilogy, Court of Midnight and Deception, builds on the groundwork lain by the previous one while suffering from a similar issue with the separation segment. Once again we have a decision that just completely lacks any sense, but at least in this case the characters get over it fairly quickly. Only other potential issue might be that many of the events in here lean toward the goofier side of things.

    Finally we come to the Pack of Dawn and Destiny trilogy (since I’ve already talked about the Gate of Myth and Power one). This set of novels stands out for both switching up the formula a bit and being absolutely terrible. It switches things up by having the main couple already know each other from the beginning and essentially skipping over the separation event, while ending up the worst of the trilogies by far due to its overwhelming level of ridiculousness and poorly thought-out plot developments.

    Fortunately, that third trilogy is pretty divorced from the other three (the series’ background conspiracy doesn’t even play an explicit roll in it) and can be safely skipped without issue.

    Related posts:

    1. The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time #1-5 & The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary #8 Nidome no Yuusha wa Fukushuu no Michi o Warai Ayumu...
    2. APPARENTLY, Disillusioned ADVENTURERS will Save the World #2 & The Disowned Queen’s: Consulting Detective Agency The second Ningen Fushin book ends up pretty heavily idol-centric,...
    3. Maiden of the Needle & -MY- SUMMONED Beast is Dead The first Hariko no Otome novel starts out okayish only...
    4. The KING’S QUEEN & The Elves of Lessa The conclusion to K. M. Shea‘s Gate of Myth and...
    5. GATE OF MYTH AND POWER #1-2 & Obsidian Queen #1-3 The King’s Captive and The King’s Shadow are the first...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged K. M. Shea Magiford Supernatural City Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy
  • The KING’S QUEEN & The Elves of Lessa

    Posted on April 25, 2023 8:20 am by Offkorn Comment

    The conclusion to K. M. Shea‘s Gate of Myth and Power trilogy ends up quite good. All the important subplots are wrapped up and none of the developments feel particularly forced. There’s still the matter of the organization behind the antagonist, but that will presumably be addressed in later Magiford-related trilogies.

    A work by the same author (unrelated to the above and set in a fantasy world), the Elves of Lessa trilogy (RED ROPE of Fate, ROYAL Magic, & The PRINCE’S BARGAIN) takes a particular romantic formula and applies it to three different couples across the span of a few years. While the oblivious love theme does get a bit old by the time you reach the end, each character has their own unique attributes and the background storyline manages to continue progressing apace.

    It’s a remarkably engaging set of novels with a detailed setting and amusing character interactions… enough so that I may have to pick up the author’s other trilogies after all.

    Related posts:

    1. The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles #2-3 & Mushoku Tensei #7-22 Despite my earlier misgivings I decided to roll the dice...
    2. APPARENTLY, Disillusioned ADVENTURERS will Save the World #2 & The Disowned Queen’s: Consulting Detective Agency The second Ningen Fushin book ends up pretty heavily idol-centric,...
    3. GATE OF MYTH AND POWER #1-2 & Obsidian Queen #1-3 The King’s Captive and The King’s Shadow are the first...
    4. Hollow Regalia #2 & Let This Grieving Soul Retire! #1-2 Looks like I’ll be dropping Utsuro naru Regalia with this...
    5. Cast In Oblivion & Guild Hunter #6-11 The fourteenth entry in Michelle Sagara‘s Elantra series resolves the...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged Elves of Lessa Fantasy K. M. Shea Magiford Supernatural City Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy
  • GATE OF MYTH AND POWER #1-2 & Obsidian Queen #1-3

    Posted on February 24, 2023 4:37 am by Offkorn Comment

    The King’s Captive and The King’s Shadow are the first two books in K. M. Shea‘s Gate of Myth and Power trilogy, a part of her larger Magiford Supernatural City universe. They remind me of a cross between the Hollows series and Fukushuu o Chikatta Shironeko wa Ryuuou no Hiza no Ue de Damin o Musaboru.

    Fortunately, even not having read any of her previous books in the setting, these are easy to follow despite including quite a number of references to those earlier works. The characters are fun, the developments are entertaining enough, and the romance surprisingly does not come across as forced. Definitely interested in seeing how the trilogy concludes… but I’m not sure I’ll bother with any of the related trilogies.

    Shari L. Tapscott‘s first three Obsidian Queen novels (Guild of Secrets, Princess of Shadows, & Knights of Obsidian) are interesting primarily due to the protagonist’s personality.

    Generally in urban fantasy and/or paranormal romance the lead is either a scrappy underdog or ‘boringly’ average; these books however feature a high society heiress-type. The romantic (and other) developments are what you’d expect for the genre though, so if the novelty of a non-standard protagonist doesn’t grab you there won’t be much point in reading past the first entry.

    Related posts:

    1. The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles #2-3 & Mushoku Tensei #7-22 Despite my earlier misgivings I decided to roll the dice...
    2. The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time #1-5 & The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary #8 Nidome no Yuusha wa Fukushuu no Michi o Warai Ayumu...
    3. Frost Burned, Touch of the Demon, & The Infernal Devices Frost Burned is the seventh novel in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy...
    4. Green Gryphon & Obsidian Queen #4-5 The first book in JS Kennedy‘s Mackenzie Green series shares...
    5. The KING’S QUEEN & The Elves of Lessa The conclusion to K. M. Shea‘s Gate of Myth and...

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    This entry was posted in Book Related and tagged K. M. Shea Magiford Supernatural City Obsidian Queen Paranormal Romance Shari L. Tapscott Urban Fantasy

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