Pseudoreviews: One Silent Night
It can be problematic reading – and writing, I suppose – a romance novel about the series’ villain.
That’s what One Silent Night is though, and while I didn’t enjoy it as much as Sherrilyn Kenyon’s last several Dark Hunters novels, I did enjoy it, and I think it does work. The reason for that is because instead of painting Stryker (and Zephyra) as pure evil, the way Satara was, Kenyon chooses instead to make them characters that are more complicated than that. They aren’t exactly sweetness and light, but they have their own moral codes, and their motivations aren’t really that hard to buy into. They got a really raw end of the deal, and they are fighting for their continued existance (and, you know, control of the world).
Having said all that, One Silent Night isn’t going to be the Dark-Hunter book I pick up to read again when I’m bored and waiting for the next book in the series. The romance isn’t overly compelling; while I’ve always enjoyed Stryker, I couldn’t care less if he got back with his ex-wife. I found some of the new characters compelling – Medea will prove interesting, I think, and while Jared currently seems to be Acheron 2.0, he has potential. The new developments in Nick’s character will make good fodder in subsequent books, and his reconnection with Ash, while unwilling, should move the plot of the series along. This is a bridge book, connecting the first part of the series to the second, so while the characters used to move the plot along, so to speak, aren’t as awesome as some of the others, I don’t really think that’s the main point.
Having said all that, I am hoping that Dream Warrior and Bad Moon Rising are stronger, character and romance wise. I love the series, but really? I’m reading this for the pr0n.