Immortals After Dark (1) - The Warlord wants forever by Kresley Cole
The Warlord Wants Forever, part 1 of 18 from the Immortals after Dark by Kresley Cole (not translated to German) – featuring Myst the Coveted, Valkyrie extra-ordinaire, and Nicolai Wroth, a long-dead warlord… Originally published 2006, I read it in “Blood Red Kiss” with Gena Showalter’s Dark Swan and Larissa Iona’s Forsaken by Night on 532 pages.
Myst the Coveted’s boredom ends the moment Nikolai wins over her prison. But the vampire has no idea what the Valkyrie is capable of... Five years later, he finally manages to capture her again. And vows to take revenge for what she did to him. Which is amazingly easy, after he gets his hand on a certain belt... But how can you punish someone you love?
Well. I didn’t start with this part, this is actually the third book I read. Which is good, because otherwise I’d simply never have touched them again.
Let me start with what bugged me most: I can’t get over the fact that parents shackle their daughter with a magical belt. That will make her do everything for the one who hold it. Sure, if my daughter whores around, I’ll give her a magical item as well that’ll transform her in a sex-slave, at a stranger’s mercy – sounds about right. Myst the Coveted sucks as name, Myst the raped girl is way better.
…
What kind of parents would do that?
And why do they even have a problem with Myst sleeping with a god? I thought that her society thought of that as acceptable?
Apart from that, I think that the book should have been longer and not as focused on the sex. Okay, this is Adult, the sex-thing’s kind of in the title. And I got used to the notion of reading stuff like that (it’s kinda nice to read something that doesn’t require more concentration from time to time – I guess everyone has days where it’s either Reality TV or books like that… and you need some friends or family to enjoy Trash TV with). What buggs me is that it’s… kinda overdone. This is just… sex, sex and sex and when you’ve finished, it’s sex some more. There’s basically no story! And that’s so sad because the characters and their relationship have potential. They should have been given the chance to truly develop something else than lust between them.
As for Nicolai… I’d love to learn more about him, about where exactly he came from. He’s a fascinating, easy to like and identify with. And even though his… well, let’s say approach to Myst isn’t anywhere near okay, I kind of get it. She kind of tortured him for years. And now he wanted to make her pay. Not nice, certainly not right, but then, it’s kind of human. Even though he’s a vamp. You know what I mean.
Well, Nicolai got over this pretty fast (in comparison) and he tried to fight for her. Sure, he messed up one time, but he tried.
This should have been underlined through something like… conversation. Even if it’s just pillow-talk! But due to the fact that this book is simply broken down to sex scenes with an introduction, the reader doesn’t have a real opportunity to see how much Nicolai truly loves her. And Myst doesn’t really get a chance to get over his last mistake before saying yes to him.
Seriously, Myst is much – but forgiving? Even someone like Emmaline would have needed some time to forgive her boyfriend for that!
To the female protagonist: Myst the Coveted is kind of nicely done. She’s not exactly down to earth, the spontaneous, go along with what you were given kind of girl, who likes to play with others – but isn’t necessarily cruel, unless pissed-off. But she’s also protective and, in a weird way, altruistic. She puts herself willingly in danger, or in position she hates – just to help her sisters. She’s an enigma, and she’s fun. Even though she’s a little… hard to get at first, she captures your heart pretty quickly.
She and Nicolai are a good couple. He grounds her, and she reminds him of the life outside of battles. And they’re both really tough fighters… She is a Valkyrie after all.
I love that species, by the way.. From their immortality to their powers, from their we’re-the-nightmares-of-the-Lore-mentality to their view on relationships. This running into someone’s arms? That’s remarkably romantic. I love how this species is drawn, this seeming paradox of the lightning fast, tough-as-nails fighting freelancers who value their freedom more than anything else – who can be captured by diamonds, can’t be without their sisters, stay with the one they’d run to forever and die of heartbreak. It’s remarkably realistic… I’d have loved to learn more about them.
In brief:
Stars for characters, the world of Valkyries and the style. Minus one for content and one for the relationships.
Sequel:
(Emmaline Troy a.k.a. Emma the timid, half vampire, half Valkyrie
& Lachlain MacRieve, King of the Lykae)