Prisoner (Kria, #1) in Read with Pride Northwest

Mar 01, 2014 Shelby rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: vanilla-little-or-no-sex, m-m, magic-mage, abuse, assassin-spies, deserve-additional-reads, eminently-rereadable, bad-boys-to-steal-your-heart, most-recent-read-in-series, alpha-males

Alright I admit for the first ten percent (roughly) of this book I was a little confused and wasn’t sure whether I was going to like it. There’s a lot of things going on to kick start this story and Ms. Derr doesn’t hand hold you through it. Not that she makes it overly confusing, but this is a well-crafted alternate universe with it’s own rules and very different take on magic. You’re dealing with three different factions as well, all with very different political ideologies. Then of course the Alright I admit for the first ten percent (roughly) of this book I was a little confused and wasn’t sure whether I was going to like it. There’s a lot of things going on to kick start this story and Ms. Derr doesn’t hand hold you through it. Not that she makes it overly confusing, but this is a well-crafted alternate universe with it’s own rules and very different take on magic. You’re dealing with three different factions as well, all with very different political ideologies. Then of course there are our spies and convoluted pasts to factor in and figuring out everyone’s loyalties is one hell of a confusing mess. But get through that first ten percent and it all starts unraveling from one messy ball of twisted wires into a beautiful arch of wonderful characters.

He’s been nameless his entire life. In a country where names are the end all be all of one’s importance it’s made him less than the scum on a person’s show. Finally he has a chance to earn his name as a Seven Star. All he has to do…kill 1000 soldiers in the Scarlet Army. Stealth is his modus operandi and with his magic death has never come on swifter feet. But the Scarlett Army has one major advantage over any other, it has the Wolf at its helm and as decimating as his attack is, he’s still not able to kill them all.

General Dieter von Adolwulf is the youngest general Kria has ever had. He rules his army with an iron fist and all the people of three nations are terrified of him. But no one has managed to hold the land of the Regenbogen for as long as he has. These attacks on his men though, all because of one Salharan scum are too much. The Wolf will have his revenge. The first step of which is tormenting this nameless one by forcing him to accept his new name, and a Krian one at that, he’ll answer to Beraht or die.

Born Salharan and a general in his own right, Sol has multiple names, a necessity of his trade perhaps, but one that makes him almost as despised as the nameless if people knew. Still Sol maybe one of the best spies ever and his loyalties to three different countries aren’t questioned though they should be. He may have been born Salharan and a member of the Seven Star, but he also has a life as a Krian noble and connections to the Illussors as well. Finding out where his true loyalties lie may not be as obvious as it seems.

Iah was born a Duke’s son in Illussor, but gave up his title to join the military. He grew up as a close confidant to the prince and his sister currently bears the family title. While he expected war to be a tough racket he never expected to be part of the group that finally found what they were looking for, the Breaker to save them all. Nor did he expect to end up captured by the Salharan’s tracking the same man. Now he’s been blinded to keep him from accessing his magic and has to learn an entirely new way to live that is if he survives his capture.

This story really is more an ensemble piece than a story about one couple. It’s also much more a fantasy novel than a romance one. The romance here is a back-story. The fantasy elements are well developed and wonderfully rich, the focus being on the political machinations and steps to save a country rather than on what is developing between certain characters. While I liked the pairings that happened in this story, I never felt like I got to fall in love with them as they were falling in love with each other. In fact I think I ended up liking this story more because in the early pages I figured out I was going to have to shut off my romance brain and read it with my fantasy brain. In that genre it’s a wonderful edition.

I really enjoyed all the characters in this story a lot. Each character was interesting and unique, contributing their own flare to the story. Even our hetero couple for me was a lot of fun. Prince Matthias’ pursuit of Esta and her take no prisoners ability to run rough shod over the boys in her life made me giggle. Not to mention Kalan and Matthias’ banter together. I liked the little bit of comedy relief in the story and their backdoor conniving to control their country. I would say that my biggest problem with this story though is that as much as I liked the characters here there was very little development in their characters throughout the story. The man/woman they were to start the story was pretty much the same person they ended up being in the end. Sol and Iah were much more mellow and easier to like over all, but Beraht’s argumentative closed minded ideas started to wear after awhile. I never felt like he was trying to learn anything different and he was a pain in the ass right up until the time he wasn’t. I completely understood Dieter’s inclination to beat him pretty much all the time. He just won’t shut up. In fact I think the only person who does grow at all is Dieter. His changes may have been unwilling to start, but he accepts his new status in life better than most.

Now I did enjoy Dieter and Beraht’s bickering don’t get me wrong. I just wish it had tapered off at times and that when they did discuss real things those discussions affected their way of thinking more. Holding to one’s ideals out of sheer stubbornness helps no one.

I actually really, really enjoyed the ideas behind the different cultural identities to each kingdom. Kria entirely without magic, focused on their physical prowess. Salharan and their dependence on an outside drug to create the magic within them. A drug that is as addictive and seductive as any in our world today. This country functions much like I imagine a drug cartel does, from the shadows. And then Illussor, stuck creating an artificial power level to their innate mind magic in order to survive, one that’s slowly killing them.

This also played into the discussion of names as well. I loved the different philosophies espoused here. I did feel awful for Beraht, to have his own beliefs so overrun and to have a name he despised forced on him in that way. I loved the Krian quirk of naming their swords after lovers/those they care about. It’s an odd little quirk to this novel but one that adds a richness to the story. I very much enjoyed this aspect.

This doesn’t quite reach the level of epic fantasy in the way I judge it in my own head, but it is still a wonderful fantasy story with plenty of intrigue and plotting to go around. I liked seeing how all the events would unfold to get our very different heroes to all end up running along the same path. Sure there are some elements that get skimmed over (view spoiler), but since I liked the emotional impact of the moment I went with it. The romances add a nice touch, but are by no means the focus of the story. Frankly I really enjoyed the world building and the concepts here and became embroiled in the political pressures of the story. All in all it’s a fun read in an intriguing world.
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Dec 30, 2012 Talya Andor rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, m-m-fiction

I really enjoyed this book! I put off really getting into it for a while because I suspected that once I devoted some time to it, I wasn't going to be able to put it down until I finished it. That definitely turned out to be the case with Prisoner. It had fantastically developed magical systems, though I could have stood to learn more about the Illusor, intriguing world-building as I've come to expect from Megan's stories, and a tautly paced plot full of adventure and intrigue. Definitely recomm ...more

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Aug 24, 2013 Jade rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, m-m

I enjoyed this. It wasn't the best book I've ever read but it built a unique world and pulled you in with it's characters. Everything had an explanation and made sense which is always nice. I especially adored the love/hate relationship of the General and his Bright ;) ...more

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Jun 10, 2013 Abi Walton rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbt

this was a good book and kept me hooked. what i enjoyed the most about this novel was the diffrent characters pov and how they all linked together i found this book intresting as the world that Derr was writing in was well thought out and easy to imagine.

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