Review by Miller56 -- Dagger's Destiny by Linnea Tanner
Posted: 09 Dec 2019, 17:13
[Following is a volunteer review of "Dagger's Destiny" by Linnea Tanner.]
A continuation of the saga of Catrin and Marcellus, this book picks up where Apollo’s Raven left off and takes you into the realm of the Celtic clans in 24 AD Britannia. Dagger’s Destiny is the second book in the Curse of the Clansmen and Kings series by Linnea Tanner. The author takes the reader through many twists and turns in this historical fantasy romance novel. The book contains intermingled plots about love, power, curses, druids, and magic.
Catrin is a Celtic warrior princess who can mentally control ravens and looks through their eyes to see what is happening around her. This provides an advantage to her on the battlefield. Catrin believes that she can alter the ancient curse on her father, and has done so by saving Marcellus. The book weaves an intriguing story around Catrin’s pursuit of saving her father from his curse and ultimately finding a life with her forbidden lover, Marcellus. Catrin remains my favorite character. She is a stong, confident warrior who remains true to Marcellus and her family, but mostly to herself.
Through the entire story, Catrin’s half-brother Marrock shows his ugly, vindictive side as he seeks revenge for being outcast from the family and losing his title as the head of the clan. He possesses dark magic which allows him to transform into a wolf and do unthinkable things. Throughout the book, Marrock is weaving himself into different power struggles to regain his role in his clan.
This book is less about Marcellus than the last one. Marcellus was wounded at the prisoner exchange. If Catrin had not altered the future and saved Marcellus, he would have succumbed to his wounds. Marcellus was considered a traitor because his father felt that Marcellus’s love for Catrin allowed Catrin to lure them into a trap where the Romans were attacked. Marcellus made some interesting choices that made me dislike him as a character. I felt that if his love for Catrin were deep and true, he would have been more aware of the trickery that was happening and question things a little more.
This book has been well-researched, although this time period did not have a written language and much of the history is left to interpretation from other historical information. The author uses many of the common names for items that would have been standard in that time period. This helps to draw the reader into the story.
I would recommend this book for those who enjoy historical fantasy novels. The author recaps the final events of the first book as the second book unfolds. Although this book could stand on its own, I would recommend reading the first book of the series to get a more thorough understanding of Catrin and Marcellus’s history. There are violent war scenes where heads are severed on the battlefield therefore, it may not be appropriate for teenage audiences. This is a much darker story than the first book. If you did not enjoy the first book in the series, then this would not be the book for you. I would give this book 4 out of 4 stars. My major complaint on editing is that the paragraphs on the copy I read has a one character indent which sometimes makes the paragraphs seem like they are run on. There are also interesting spacing artifacts from the line justification to evenly distribute the text on each line. These are minor items that did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. I am looking forward to the next sequel.
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Dagger's Destiny
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
A continuation of the saga of Catrin and Marcellus, this book picks up where Apollo’s Raven left off and takes you into the realm of the Celtic clans in 24 AD Britannia. Dagger’s Destiny is the second book in the Curse of the Clansmen and Kings series by Linnea Tanner. The author takes the reader through many twists and turns in this historical fantasy romance novel. The book contains intermingled plots about love, power, curses, druids, and magic.
Catrin is a Celtic warrior princess who can mentally control ravens and looks through their eyes to see what is happening around her. This provides an advantage to her on the battlefield. Catrin believes that she can alter the ancient curse on her father, and has done so by saving Marcellus. The book weaves an intriguing story around Catrin’s pursuit of saving her father from his curse and ultimately finding a life with her forbidden lover, Marcellus. Catrin remains my favorite character. She is a stong, confident warrior who remains true to Marcellus and her family, but mostly to herself.
Through the entire story, Catrin’s half-brother Marrock shows his ugly, vindictive side as he seeks revenge for being outcast from the family and losing his title as the head of the clan. He possesses dark magic which allows him to transform into a wolf and do unthinkable things. Throughout the book, Marrock is weaving himself into different power struggles to regain his role in his clan.
This book is less about Marcellus than the last one. Marcellus was wounded at the prisoner exchange. If Catrin had not altered the future and saved Marcellus, he would have succumbed to his wounds. Marcellus was considered a traitor because his father felt that Marcellus’s love for Catrin allowed Catrin to lure them into a trap where the Romans were attacked. Marcellus made some interesting choices that made me dislike him as a character. I felt that if his love for Catrin were deep and true, he would have been more aware of the trickery that was happening and question things a little more.
This book has been well-researched, although this time period did not have a written language and much of the history is left to interpretation from other historical information. The author uses many of the common names for items that would have been standard in that time period. This helps to draw the reader into the story.
I would recommend this book for those who enjoy historical fantasy novels. The author recaps the final events of the first book as the second book unfolds. Although this book could stand on its own, I would recommend reading the first book of the series to get a more thorough understanding of Catrin and Marcellus’s history. There are violent war scenes where heads are severed on the battlefield therefore, it may not be appropriate for teenage audiences. This is a much darker story than the first book. If you did not enjoy the first book in the series, then this would not be the book for you. I would give this book 4 out of 4 stars. My major complaint on editing is that the paragraphs on the copy I read has a one character indent which sometimes makes the paragraphs seem like they are run on. There are also interesting spacing artifacts from the line justification to evenly distribute the text on each line. These are minor items that did not take away from my overall enjoyment of the book. I am looking forward to the next sequel.
******
Dagger's Destiny
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes