Titel: Onyx & Ivory.
Forfatter: Mindee Arnett.
Serie: Rime Chronicles #1.
Udgivet af: Balzer + Bray i 2018. FairyLoot udgave.
Sidetal: 512 sider.
Hvordan jeg læste den: fik bogen i FairyLoots maj 2018 boks.
They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king years ago. Now Kate lives as an outcast, clinging to the fringes of society as a member of the Relay, the imperial courier service. Only those most skilled in riding and bow hunting ride for the Relay; and only the fastest survive, for when dark falls, the nightdrakes—deadly flightless dragons—come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: she is a wilder, born with magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals. But it’s this magic that she needs to keep hidden, as being a wilder is forbidden, punishable by death or exile. And it’s this magic that leads her to a caravan massacred by nightdrakes in broad daylight—the only survivor her childhood friend, her first love, the boy she swore to forget, the boy who broke her heart.
The high king’s second son, Corwin Tormane, never asked to lead. Even as he waits for the uror—the once-in-a-generation ritual to decide which of the king’s children will succeed him—he knows it’s always been his brother who will assume the throne. And that’s fine by him. He’d rather spend his days away from the palace, away from the sight of his father, broken with sickness from the attempt on his life. But the peacekeeping tour Corwin is on has given him too much time to reflect upon the night he saved his father’s life—the night he condemned the would-be killer to death and lost the girl he loved. Which is why he takes it on himself to investigate rumors of unrest in one of the remote city-states, only for his caravan to be attacked—and for him to be saved by Kate.
With their paths once more entangled, Kate and Corwin have to put the past behind them. The threat of drakes who attack in the daylight is only the beginning of a darker menace stirring in the kingdom—one whose origins have dire implications for Kate’s father’s attack upon the king and will thrust them into the middle of a brewing civil war in the kingdom of Rime.
Onyx & Ivory præsenterede mig for en historie der føltes original og fængende, men som savnede nogle mere fyldige karakterer. Mindee Arnett formår ret hurtigt at skabe en verden, der er spændende og føles rig på historie og tradition. For det meste var det denne verden og de dele vi fik lov til at udforske som fastholdt min opmærksomhed.
Jeg var ikke super imponeret over karaktererne, især Kate kunne godt komme til at føles lidt for ensidet, nok specielt fordi det er sådan alle andre opfatter hende. Hendes to venner var jeg derimod vild med og de glimt vi fik af deres personlighed og fortid har gjort mig nysgerrig på at læse mere med de to.
Magien er så spændende, jeg var meget fascineret af det magisystem Arnett har skabt og de måder man får lov til at opleve det i løbet af bogen. Dertil kommer slutningen og de afsløringer der kommer frem i lyset. Jeg havde ikke set dem komme, men det lover godt for fortsættelsen af Kates historie og jeg håber på at se hende udfolde sig i takt med udfordringerne.
Faktisk var jeg i tvivl om jeg skulle give den her bog 3 eller 4 hjerter, for den første tredjedel af bogen var virkelig kedelig og langtrukken. Det giver plads til at man kan forstå Kates verden, men der bliver også dvælet ret længe ved ting man allerede har hørt en gang. Onyx & Ivory var en fornøjelse at læse og jeg planlægger bestemt at fortsætte serien.