Hey readers,
I thought I'd do a final book review of the year and what better book to pick then the one I've just finished reading and waited for much of the year to get my hands on. J. R. Ward's eleventh book in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Lover At Last. At came out in March, but I had to wait for October for the paper back version and then I had to find the time to read it. LAL totals in at 199,807 words, 696 pages, 84 chapters and about 14 different story lines to follow.
I've been a massive fan of Ward since I picked up the first BDB book, Dark Lover. She, like Anne Rice are my favorite vampire writers. They both have captured all sides of the vampire and have created fantastic and ever changing worlds for them to live in. Whilst, Rice has always drawn me with the exploits of Lestat and his companions, Ward draws me with her characters' quests for true love. However, whilst reading LAL the question of 'when does a series start to loss it?' came to mind. So, I thought whilst I wrote this I'd try and answer that question based on my review.
Just in case you didn't know the BDB series is about a group of warrior vampires living in New York. They're job is to protect the vampire king and the vampire population from their enemies the Lessers. Each book tells the story of a different BDB vampire with the main focus being on them finding their eternal lovers. The subplots include that vampire having to overcome their past and the ongoing war with the Lessers. In some of the other books there are other subplots to do with other characters which then continue to appear.
Just in case you didn't know the BDB series is about a group of warrior vampires living in New York. They're job is to protect the vampire king and the vampire population from their enemies the Lessers. Each book tells the story of a different BDB vampire with the main focus being on them finding their eternal lovers. The subplots include that vampire having to overcome their past and the ongoing war with the Lessers. In some of the other books there are other subplots to do with other characters which then continue to appear.
The main plot of LAL involves the series' gay lovers; Quinn and Blay finally getting together and announcing their love for each other. For fans it has been a long awaited event as this love story has appeared as a subplot in a few of the other books. So, even though the end result is clear, it's how it comes about that's meant to be the part worth reading. I won't spoil it, but I will say that this love story follows the same pattern as the others. Both lovers have to come to terms with their past and let go of that so they can be together.
However, if you are or were expecting the focus to be just on Quinn and Blay, with a little bit of Lesser war and some other vampire having problems, then it's tough luck. There are so many other subplots and characters that appear, that just distracted from the lovers too much. I, like many other fans wanted Quinn and Blay to get more page time. Yes, we already knew a lot about them from the other books and maybe there wasn't much more that could be told about their past, but I just didn't get into their love story as much as I wanted too. Maybe it was because I was getting involved in a more exciting love story unfolding?
Here's a list of the subplots I found. I might be missing one or two though as there was so many!
Quinn and Layla.
However, if you are or were expecting the focus to be just on Quinn and Blay, with a little bit of Lesser war and some other vampire having problems, then it's tough luck. There are so many other subplots and characters that appear, that just distracted from the lovers too much. I, like many other fans wanted Quinn and Blay to get more page time. Yes, we already knew a lot about them from the other books and maybe there wasn't much more that could be told about their past, but I just didn't get into their love story as much as I wanted too. Maybe it was because I was getting involved in a more exciting love story unfolding?
Here's a list of the subplots I found. I might be missing one or two though as there was so many!
Quinn and Layla.
Quinn and Luchas
Layla and Xcor
Xcor and Elan
Assail and Sola
Assail and his cousins
Assail and the lessers
Assail and the band of bastards
Trez and iAm
Trez and his past
Trez and Selena
The Lessers
The Band of Bastards
And it would be so easy for me to sit here and write about them all but I won't because it'd take too long and be boring. I will talk about Layla and Xcor though, because it was the one subplot that got me really interested. I want to know what's going to happened between them now. Ward made it clear they were in love and wanted to be together - Xcor more though- but with Layla having Quinn's baby and Xcor being her sworn enemy and also of the Brotherhood, are they actually going to be able to be together in the next book?
It took me awhile to get back into the language used in this novel. I do love the way Ward has captured all the different accents though. The BDB are all very American whilst Xcor and the Chosen have old English sounding voices. There is also the vampire language making an appearance again, though it's got an English translation, but you can still hear how it should sound in the words she's used. I like also how the character's dialogue is transferred into there actions and that the language doesn't just go back to being in a normal descriptive one.
There are so many themes in this novel, but the main ones are love, loyalty, family, friendship and death. These all intertwine with the different plots and characters. It is very easy to syntheses with these themes and the characters as they are common in all readers' lives. The themes also keep the plots going and help to create the conflicts that are needed.
So, all that has brought us back around to the question I raised at the beginning. When does a series start to loss it? Well, for me it feels like Ward is losing it with LAL. There's just too much packed in and I felt that it wasn't all needed. She could easily have written a spin off book about some of the other things going on. In fact her other series about angels does that in someways. (I've yet to read it.) I get that she needed this book to be different from the others in the series as its clear there is some winding down of things, but with all these other characters' developing, I'm not so sure that the next book will be the last one. A series of course can go on for however long the writer, publishers and the demand for it wants and is present. That doesn't mean that every book is actually going to be good. Sometimes it can be important to stop early on or else when there comes a natural stopping moment. Though of course you leave the reader knowing that the characters and the world continue in someway.
I guess it didn't help that I thought this was the last book when I started reading it. Ward's writing is still very good, but due to the amount of plots and characters, it sometimes feels like this novel is all over the place. I will admit that at points I did get confused with Assail and Xcor and their plots. Maybe in a way this novel is just trying too hard and there was no need for Ward to that. Of course my question is difficult to answer because everyone will have their own opinions. I hope that the next book, The King, turns out better.
And it would be so easy for me to sit here and write about them all but I won't because it'd take too long and be boring. I will talk about Layla and Xcor though, because it was the one subplot that got me really interested. I want to know what's going to happened between them now. Ward made it clear they were in love and wanted to be together - Xcor more though- but with Layla having Quinn's baby and Xcor being her sworn enemy and also of the Brotherhood, are they actually going to be able to be together in the next book?
It took me awhile to get back into the language used in this novel. I do love the way Ward has captured all the different accents though. The BDB are all very American whilst Xcor and the Chosen have old English sounding voices. There is also the vampire language making an appearance again, though it's got an English translation, but you can still hear how it should sound in the words she's used. I like also how the character's dialogue is transferred into there actions and that the language doesn't just go back to being in a normal descriptive one.
There are so many themes in this novel, but the main ones are love, loyalty, family, friendship and death. These all intertwine with the different plots and characters. It is very easy to syntheses with these themes and the characters as they are common in all readers' lives. The themes also keep the plots going and help to create the conflicts that are needed.
So, all that has brought us back around to the question I raised at the beginning. When does a series start to loss it? Well, for me it feels like Ward is losing it with LAL. There's just too much packed in and I felt that it wasn't all needed. She could easily have written a spin off book about some of the other things going on. In fact her other series about angels does that in someways. (I've yet to read it.) I get that she needed this book to be different from the others in the series as its clear there is some winding down of things, but with all these other characters' developing, I'm not so sure that the next book will be the last one. A series of course can go on for however long the writer, publishers and the demand for it wants and is present. That doesn't mean that every book is actually going to be good. Sometimes it can be important to stop early on or else when there comes a natural stopping moment. Though of course you leave the reader knowing that the characters and the world continue in someway.
I guess it didn't help that I thought this was the last book when I started reading it. Ward's writing is still very good, but due to the amount of plots and characters, it sometimes feels like this novel is all over the place. I will admit that at points I did get confused with Assail and Xcor and their plots. Maybe in a way this novel is just trying too hard and there was no need for Ward to that. Of course my question is difficult to answer because everyone will have their own opinions. I hope that the next book, The King, turns out better.
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