Lord’s Fall (Elder Races #5) by Thea Harrison
Paranormal Romance
Released: November 6, 2012
Berkley

Joint review by May & Tori

TORI: Lord’s Fall , the 5th book in Thea Harrison’s best selling Elder Races novels, picks up a couple months after the events of Oracle Moon. Dragos is getting ready to host the Sentinel Games to find  two new Wyr bodyguards after the defection of Tiagos and Rune. The Sentinel Games is a shapeshifter version of the Gladiator Games. Wyrs from all over the world will compete to be the last two standing. During all this, Pia, now heavily pregnant and mated to Dragos, is traveling to the Elves in order to repair the relations between the the Wyrs and the Elves. Dragos is beside himself, letting Pia go without him, but she is insistent that she needs to do something and the strained relations need to be repaired. When Pia finds herself trapped in the middle of an Elven war and unable to get through to Dragos, she has to rely on herself and her bodyguards to make it out alive.

I enjoyed Lord’s Fall to a certain extent. The story centers on Pia and her mission while we get bits and pieces of Dragos and the games. I liked seeing Pia and Dragos deal with their relationship and the impending arrival of their child. Dragos is still autocratic but he is learning the art of compromise. Pia doesn’t let him control her every move  and stands firm when she needs to. Problems arose for me in Pia’s attitude. She has become a bit of a diva. In her need to be independant and thought of as more than just Dragos mate, she goes overboard and does things that I personally thought no pregnant woman should do. She places herself, and, indirectly, her child in danger quite a few times because of her need to be taken seriously. I really enjoyed the views from the games and wish the balance between the two storylines would have been more equal.

What do you think May?

MAY: I love Thea Harrison’s world, and I adored the first book with Pia and Dragos. To some degree, this made it hard to love this book because the bar was set incredibly high. Overall did I enjoy it and am I excited to see where we go next? Oh yes. I see a lot of potential and there were a lot of characters I liked seeing and hope to see developed further in the future.

Like you, I found Pia’s antics while pregnant unbelievable and irresponsible. I also felt like the Dragos we saw was a neutered version that had spent too much time in a psychologist’s office. He wasn’t the fierce dragon I fell in love with. Speaking of love, Tori, it really annoyed me how amorous these two were through their odd dream connection while away. Rather than strike me as a couple in love, it felt ridiculous that after being together as long as they had they couldn’t handle even one night apart. It almost felt forced, like more romance element was wanted and that was the only way to fit it into the story.

Did you enjoy the dream boinking, or did you find yourself like me and wishing for more adventure and action?

TORI: I agree with your earlier assessment. Dragon Bound was such a grand book. Meeting Dragos for the first time was a real treat. His over alpha tendencies were offset with so much humor and eye rolling, you couldn’t help but love him. I’ll be honest, I’ve never been a huge fan of Pia’s.  Not sure why, but something about her rubs me wrong. Perhaps that is why this book didn’t appeal to me as much because it focuses mainly on Pia. I wanted more Dragos. I wanted to see Grace and Khalil. Even interacting more Tiago and Rune would have made me happier.

I will admit I enjoyed the dream boinking but then I like boinking in all forms so, it wasn’t a hard sell for me :) I didn’t think they had been together all that long so I didn’t the the “desperate” feeling from it. Plus, I took it to also be used as a way for Dragos to keep tabs on Pia as cell phones and such aren’t going to work in the forest. The action scenes were fantastic and the Elven/deus ex machina storyline were done well.

What did you think of the main conflict, May?

MAY:  The main conflict, the setting in Elven territory- I loved all of it. We got to see some characters that intrigued me and I was really digging that forest. What bothered me, was Pia. I was a fan of hers actually, but she annoyed me at every turn in this book! I think one key for me was that I didn’t feel she was crucial as the lead. I think the story could have been told from a different point of view and from another character. In fact, I thought about that a lot and how if instead of all the boo freaking hoo over Drago and Pia being apart for a few days a new romance, or at least a solo character being developed would have really helped this go from an ok read to a great one.

For me, the dream sex slowed the story and it added absolutely nothing of value- which is a huge peeve of mine. One thing I enjoyed and would have liked even more of was the sentinel games. While the results seemed pretty clear from the start- I still really enjoyed what we saw and I’m excited for the future of this series.

TORI: Pia was a weak lead for me, also. Also, the sentinel games were presented in the beginning with such aplomb, I honestly thought it would hold more sway in the storyline. I was disappointed when it didn’t. One saver for me was the further arc and world development. Harrison does a wonderful job of continuing to evolve and expand this fantasy world. Opening new doors and opportunities for her characters and storylines to grow.

So we are of agreement then?  We love the series and will continue to read, but this particular installment wasn’t as strong as the other four and Pia needs to stay in the background.

MAY: I think we are in total agreement on this one! It wasn’t strong on its own, but I feel Harrison is really developing intriguing things within her world – political, romantic, and otherwise – and I will definitely continue reading the series. She has such a unique world and way of story telling – I look forward to seeing what is next.

Tori’s favorite Quote: “She was his beacon to what others called decency, not because she told him how to act but because she made him want to try.”

May’s Favorite Quote: 

“We’ll talk about this later. I can only give in so much, you know.”

“I know,” she said soothingly. “It’s so hard being you.”

“Well, it is.” Dragos admitted. He grinned as she laughed. “You pretty much got everything you wanted in this conversation, didn’t you?”

Her laughter died and she gave him a completely serious look. “I feel that is how every conversation should go.”

Also….

“I’ve faced monsters and demons and nightmares that most people have never even heard of, but you have always scared me the most. We might make a list of pretty words that we can call each other or use for our relationship, but I don’t feel pretty things for you. I feel things for you that are volcanic and dangerous, and I’m not safe at the best of times.”

Tori’s Overall Rating: C+

May’s Overall Rating: C+

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