It's been a few years since I read Lowell's medieval trilogy and I must have forgotten how much I disliked this second entry. Problem is Duncan is a..Show More »n anti-hero (well, he's an ass) and Lowell never makes him properly repentant for his cruel treatment of Amber. A good grovel was called for here and the lack of it left me feeling cheated. Amber is one of those born victims (I'm not making this up -- there was a prophesy) who suffers in martyr-like silence. This is a case of two people each with their own set of unattractive personality disorders finding each other and making a go of it. Good luck with that, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

The narrator does not have the gravitas of Anne Flosnik who brought such fun and enthusiasm to Untamed. Untamed is the better book by far. This one is something of a dirge.



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This last in the Medieval trilogy more closely resembles the style of the first book, Untamed, than the second book. Which is good. If you liked the f..Show More »irst book, you'll likely be satisfied with this book. Plus, Simon is one of the main characters, instead of some two-bit secondary character from the first book who we committed ourselves to hate, only to find that we're supposed to like him enough to care what happens to him for an entire book (I speak, of course, of Duncan in Forbidden, the second book.)

Also, that instant, love-at-first-sight, super-duper, uber-sappiness that displays itself in the second book in the form of ridiculous love-talk is mostly absent here; when it does appear, it's appropriately placed.

A note of caution, however: the ending is rather abrupt. Happy, but abrupt. And as this last book in the trilogy was written in, uh, 1994(?), it doesn't look as though there will be any more books in the series. No cliff-hanger endings or anything, but it seems like the epilogue raises more questions than it answers.

For fans of Untamed, enjoy!

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