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The Case of the Spellbound Child
Feb. 15th, 2024 04:06 pmThis is the fifteenth book in the Elemental Masters series by Mercedes Lackey and I do feel there's a bit of diminishing returns creeping in...
Issues I had with this book:
It opens with three extended vignettes, detailing very short cases/encounters experienced by the main characters - Sarah, Nan and Suki, and the Watsons - that are entirely unrelated to each other or to the main plot.
It then takes even longer for the main characters to fully engage with the main plot, which leaves the story feeling very disjointed and scattershot.
The writing is very clunky in places - emphasised by the poor narrator stumbling over her reading quite a lot, even to the extent of using the wrong cadence or the wrong voice when it's not immediately clear which character is speaking.
All that said, though, I do really like these characters, and the eventual investigation and resolution of the case was clever and satisfying.
I was in two minds as to whether or not to put the next book in the series on my wish list - but the decision was taken for me, since neither of the remaining two are available as audiobooks - and I have to admit I'm not all that bothered. I've had a very good run with this series, but there are other books I'd rather listen to.
Issues I had with this book:
It opens with three extended vignettes, detailing very short cases/encounters experienced by the main characters - Sarah, Nan and Suki, and the Watsons - that are entirely unrelated to each other or to the main plot.
It then takes even longer for the main characters to fully engage with the main plot, which leaves the story feeling very disjointed and scattershot.
The writing is very clunky in places - emphasised by the poor narrator stumbling over her reading quite a lot, even to the extent of using the wrong cadence or the wrong voice when it's not immediately clear which character is speaking.
All that said, though, I do really like these characters, and the eventual investigation and resolution of the case was clever and satisfying.
I was in two minds as to whether or not to put the next book in the series on my wish list - but the decision was taken for me, since neither of the remaining two are available as audiobooks - and I have to admit I'm not all that bothered. I've had a very good run with this series, but there are other books I'd rather listen to.
