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Sep062010
BOOK REVIEW: ‘Derik’s Bane’ by MaryJanice Davidson
by Carolyn • Posted in 2.5 Star Reviews, Authors A-D, Book Reviews, MaryJanice Davidson, Paranormal Romance, Reviews by Carolyn
Title: Derik’s Bane
Author: MaryJanice Davidson
Publisher: Piatkus (UK) | Berkley Sensation (US)
Publication Date: May 2008 (UK) | Jan 2005 (US)
Paperback: 200 pages
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: Own Copy
Reviewed by: Carolyn
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RATING: 5/10 – meh, take it or leave it
BOOK COVER SUMMARY:
Derik’s a werewolf with alpha issues – and a body to die for. Sara is the personification of unspeakable evil – and smells like roses. Now if they could just stop lusting after each other long enough to save the world.
It’s always good to have a psychic around – except when she tells you the world will soon end unless you do something about it. For werewolf Derik Gardner that means heading to sunny California and destroying the reincarnation of possibly the most powerful sorceress in history: Morgan Le Fay.
But the beautiful – and slightly ditzy – Dr Sara Gunn has no idea that she is Morgan Le Fay. Her masses of wild red curls and crystal blue eyes make killing her an unpleasant prospect for Derik …and his half-hearted attempts don’t meet with much success. So if he can’t kill Sara, he’ll join her, on a cross-country odyssey to change her fate, confront a medieval evil – and hopefully get lucky…
REVIEW:
I have read and really enjoyed the first couple of books from Ms Davidson’s ‘Undead‘ series, so I was looking forward to reading this werewolf tale. Although it is a fairly fun, quick read, it didn’t engage me as much as the ‘Undead’ books.
The story is an interesting one: a werewolf sent to kill a powerful sorceress who is about to end the world. Derik, the werewolf, is tall, blonde and very good-looking, and Sara, a doctor who doesn’t actually know she is a powerful sorceress, is a red head with a feisty personality to match.
At only 200 pages ‘Derik’s Bane‘ doesn’t go into any real depth. Neither do any of the characters or their relationships between each other. In fact, everything is quite shallow and rather unrealistic. I found it difficult to like the characters and with not much inner dialogue or reflection, it was difficult to get a feeling of who they were. Most of what you learn about Derik and Sara is via dialogue, but as the dialogue is a continuous barrage of snarky retorts, I didn’t learn anything about them other than they love to bicker!
There are a few other characters which try to flesh out the novel, however none of the characters have particularly distinct voices due to the fact that they all have the same kind of witticisms as each other, which became quite tedious. I just wanted some ‘normal’ dialogue!
VERDICT:
Although ‘Derik’s Bane‘ falls short on many counts, it’s still a fairly humourous read, if you can get past the incessant repartee.
6 Comments
Hmm this looked like quite a fun read, but I've read a few books lately where the author does not go into enough depth with the main characters, so I'm not sure now…
Good review though
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I've read this one (and the other werewolf books) and found it a bit lacking in substance (both story-wise and in terms of characters) but otherwise hilarious… : ) But then I did read it on the beach, not much substance required when you're there.
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This is pretty much how I felt about this book. I thought the Undead series (the first couple anyway) were ok and so gave this a try. I just don't think MJD is for me since I feel that most of her characters have similar voice and lack depth.
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Sometimes it's nice to have a "lighter" read, and enjoying this type of genre, this might be a nice distraction. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
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Laura – I'm all for 'lighter' reading but this was just too light – it didn't have very much substance at all.
Tessa – As above, I do like reading lighter books, especially on holiday, but the book still has to have substance of some kind, whether it be the plot or the characters, but this didn't have either really.
WonderBunny – I really like the 'Undead' series, although I've only read the first two, but this one was just too simplistic for me.
Suzanne – I agree, it is nice to read 'lighter' books once and a while, but for me this just just a bit too light
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I have this one on my TBR list so I am eager to read your review!!=)
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