"The eldest son in a family of three boys, Aricles had no desire to be soldier, even though his fighting skills were among the best in the world. He was more content on his small Atlantean farm, living a quiet, uneventful life. But when his brother is determined to don a soldier's uniform, Aricles joins him with a promise to their father to bring his brother home in one piece. What he never counts on is how much their new lives will forever change them or what the risk of a forbidden love will ultimately cost him."
This was a recent addition to the Dark-Hunter Series and it appears to be intended as a sort of prequel, much like Fantasy Lover. I was very happy to locate it in a Kindle collection of Kenyon's short stories; it made for a quick purchase while I was on vacation and had just finished re-reading Fantasy Lover. One of my greatest complaints back when I first began reading Kenyon's works was how difficult it was to track down a lot of the short stories. Not only did I have to find the anthology, but it was really annoying for a poor student like myself to have to purchase all of these books when, chances are, I would have little to no interest in the other short stories contained in the anthology. The Dark Bites collection is brilliant! I can't believe it took until somewhat recently for this to come out! There was some wonkiness in FantasticFiction.com and where this particular short story fits in, but, like I mentioned, it seems to be a prequel. Having read it, I am not entirely certain where it stands and how it meshes with the rest of the series. Chronologically, it is clearly the earliest of the books; other than that, I'm not so sure. The story started out interesting (even if I am a bit confused about the whole premise behind the necessity of the special task force of warriors from different nations) I initially liked Bathymaas and her stoic nature. As I read on, however, I lost a little bit of respect (I don't think this is the right word, but I am going for it) for Ari. He was too childlike. I get that he's young and inexperienced on so many levels, but I don't think that's a good enough excuse. Whereas I liked this childlike naiveté in the early Bathymaas, it was a touch to overdone in Ari. I just didn't find him up to the same quality of Kenyon's other male leads. I think my biggest issue with the story was the dialogue; it felt a bit too awkward. It was formal, but in a stilted way rather than elegant. It was mixed in with some word choices that were far too modern (i.e. "Sweetie"). I love books that transport me to another world, but the dialogue in this particular story took me out of that escape. This was probably my least favorite of Kenyon's books. I'm waiting to see where it fits into the grand scheme...maybe I'll like it more if I can understand/appreciate her character choices.
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