The third in the Royal House of Shadows series has thus far been my favorite by a wide margin. Steady to form, this book centers on a third scion of the House of Elden: time time the tale is that of the Forestal/vampire/wolfyn Dayn by a new, fresh author. I hadn't read anything by this author or the previous one (Jill Monroe) and I can say I'd be interested in another book from this one, just judging by Lord of the Wolfyn. Andersen does a more-than-admirable job of selling her individual retelling of Red Riding Hood using a formulaic romance novel outline and hampered by an obviously limited length. The rebellious, headstrong son is the only male protagonist thus far in this series to really catch my interest - Dayn's brother Nicolai and brother-in-law (? I'm assuming/paraphrasing) Osborn from the first two didn't do it for me with their passive-aggressive and will-I-won't-I-kill-you attitudes, respectively - and I have Ms. Andersen to thank. Some basic elements still need fleshing out - are there three or four realms? Human, wolfyn, Elden. . . but what about the Abyss? The Always? - but hopefully the fourth will include more world-building details.On the whole, I was way more than impressed with the style, voice and story in this third volume. I did find the time-limit to find the Blood Sorcerer a bit off, in the general scheme of the four book series - surely it could've been introduced earlier, as a more natural progression of the storyline rather than a random accelerant? - but I appreciated the added tension to the atmosphere of the story. I liked the differing views of the realms (human, wolfyn, Elden) - knowledge of this "world" is uncovered more with each successive tale, with each author leaving an individual style and flair.To finish this review, just click right here.
