Review of Dagger's Destiny
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Tyler Titus
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- Latest Review: Dagger's Destiny by Linnea Tanner
Review of Dagger's Destiny
[Following is a volunteer review of "Dagger's Destiny" by Linnea Tanner.]
The novel, Dagger’s Destiny, by Linnea Tanner is the second novel in her series: Curse of Clansmen and Kings. This novel continues to follow the story of a warrior princess named Catrin that struggles with learning and controlling her newfound sorceress powers. Along with controlling her powers, Catrin must also make the ultimate decision between her love for her country or her love for her lover, Marcellus. Marcellus is the son of a Roman senator, that is bent on conquering Catrin’s land. Catrin is found of treason for helping Marcellus escape her land and the betrayal of her country. She is to be sentenced to death by her father, the king, when she is given the decision to focus solely on being a loyal warrior for her country and banish all thought of Marcellus behind. Meanwhile, Marcellus struggles with preventing his father from invading Catrin’s land and aligning himself with Catrin’s evil half-brother, Marrock. Marrock is bent on revenge of the royal family for banishing him as he believes he is the rightful heir to the throne.
One aspect I liked about this novel was the role of females in Catrin’s country. When the king is away or held up in a meeting, the queen has the power to control the country and its troops. The Roman people see this as a weakness because they believe women are dumb and weak. Catrin’s country also has abundance of female warriors. Women are given the right to educate and protect themselves in this country. I like seeing women in power that are strong yet also nurturing. Women that can be fierce warriors but gentle mothers and wives.
One aspect I did not like about this novel were the roles of the parents, Marcellus’ father and Catrin’s parents. Marcellus’ father is the picture-perfect example of a neglectful and abusive father. He is constantly hitting or yelling at Marcellus and could care less if his youngest son died. Catrin’s mother was horrible in the first novel and her father is now horrible in this second novel. Her father is a king so he must make very important decisions such as her act of treason, where the punishment is death. He cannot show favoritism to any of his subjects, including his youngest daughter. What made me upset by him was when he did all these things to Catrin and Marcellus because he was afraid of his ex-wife and her curse that she put on him. He was punishing his daughter for something he did to his ex-wife and subsequently blamed his daughter for the curse. He only realized what he was doing and how he was not being a good father when it was too late to try and be better.
I rate this novel 5 out of 5 stars. I had a hard time reading this novel because I was very angry at the parental figures of the story, but the novel was written beautifully. There are no grammatical errors and the historical accuracy of the novel is perfect. The novel shows the time and effort the author put into researching the Celtic and Roman cultures that are represented in the novel.
I would recommend this novel to young adults as it contains strong language and graphic sexual scenes. There is also a scene in the novel that describes in descriptive details a battle and the amount of gore on the battlefield. This story is for readers that enjoy romance as well as historical fiction. There is more adventure and historical lore than romance in this second novel of the series. The novel focuses more on the training physically and spiritually that Catrin does than her romance with her lover, Marcellus.
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Dagger's Destiny
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
The novel, Dagger’s Destiny, by Linnea Tanner is the second novel in her series: Curse of Clansmen and Kings. This novel continues to follow the story of a warrior princess named Catrin that struggles with learning and controlling her newfound sorceress powers. Along with controlling her powers, Catrin must also make the ultimate decision between her love for her country or her love for her lover, Marcellus. Marcellus is the son of a Roman senator, that is bent on conquering Catrin’s land. Catrin is found of treason for helping Marcellus escape her land and the betrayal of her country. She is to be sentenced to death by her father, the king, when she is given the decision to focus solely on being a loyal warrior for her country and banish all thought of Marcellus behind. Meanwhile, Marcellus struggles with preventing his father from invading Catrin’s land and aligning himself with Catrin’s evil half-brother, Marrock. Marrock is bent on revenge of the royal family for banishing him as he believes he is the rightful heir to the throne.
One aspect I liked about this novel was the role of females in Catrin’s country. When the king is away or held up in a meeting, the queen has the power to control the country and its troops. The Roman people see this as a weakness because they believe women are dumb and weak. Catrin’s country also has abundance of female warriors. Women are given the right to educate and protect themselves in this country. I like seeing women in power that are strong yet also nurturing. Women that can be fierce warriors but gentle mothers and wives.
One aspect I did not like about this novel were the roles of the parents, Marcellus’ father and Catrin’s parents. Marcellus’ father is the picture-perfect example of a neglectful and abusive father. He is constantly hitting or yelling at Marcellus and could care less if his youngest son died. Catrin’s mother was horrible in the first novel and her father is now horrible in this second novel. Her father is a king so he must make very important decisions such as her act of treason, where the punishment is death. He cannot show favoritism to any of his subjects, including his youngest daughter. What made me upset by him was when he did all these things to Catrin and Marcellus because he was afraid of his ex-wife and her curse that she put on him. He was punishing his daughter for something he did to his ex-wife and subsequently blamed his daughter for the curse. He only realized what he was doing and how he was not being a good father when it was too late to try and be better.
I rate this novel 5 out of 5 stars. I had a hard time reading this novel because I was very angry at the parental figures of the story, but the novel was written beautifully. There are no grammatical errors and the historical accuracy of the novel is perfect. The novel shows the time and effort the author put into researching the Celtic and Roman cultures that are represented in the novel.
I would recommend this novel to young adults as it contains strong language and graphic sexual scenes. There is also a scene in the novel that describes in descriptive details a battle and the amount of gore on the battlefield. This story is for readers that enjoy romance as well as historical fiction. There is more adventure and historical lore than romance in this second novel of the series. The novel focuses more on the training physically and spiritually that Catrin does than her romance with her lover, Marcellus.
******
Dagger's Destiny
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Latest Review: Dagger's Destiny by Linnea Tanner
