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Solid if not Spectacular Paranormal Romance Nov 6, 2009 (4 of 4 found this helpful)
Alexander Ivy started her Guardians of Eternity series five books ago, and so far, after a slow and stumbling start in When Darkness Comes, book 1 of the series, the Guardians provide a few good hours of entertainment and enjoyment with each book.
Darkness Unleashed gives Jagr, the vicious and borderline personality-disordered recluse vampire introduced in Darkness Revealed (book 4), and Regan, the recently free, life-long victimized captive of the imp Culligan - and one of the four genetically altered were siblings (sister to Darcy, the Anasso's mate, who we meet in Darkness Everlasting, book 3) - their turn to find an HEA, if possible.
I admit, the premise of the Guardians of Eternity series as a whole isn't the most original and there's not much that sets it apart from the legion of other series in the paranormal romance sub-genre. That being said, Ivy DOES pen sympathetic, amusing, fun, frustrating, and challenging characters...and vile villains, too, actually...that you feel for - either to root for or to despise - through the book. And NOT every paranormal romance manages that with me. Darkness Unleashed in particular had a LOT of really good interplay between Regan and Jagr. They were yummy and fun together.
Also, the series seems to lack (or I've missed it) an overall arc or goal that holds each of the books together (like Ward's BDB series, just to name one). This series is more akin to a less intense version of the Immortals After Dark series (Kresley Cole), in that it seems rely on character connection and relationships to link the books, instead of a well defined overall arc. That's an observation, not a complaint, actually, as I enjoy when I can catch up on the characters I've fallen for in previous books, like Levett the diminuitive gargoyle (though, admittedly, his characterization seemed a bit off from previous books), Darcy and Styx, etc. In fact, it's one of the draws of the series for me, so I wish we'd seen a wee bit more of it in Darkness Unleashed. Or, in one case, less.
There was a fair bit of Salvatore, the King of the Weres in this one...and he's always struck me as sort of a self-serving and abusive dictator so that wasn't really a plus (nor, unfortunately, was the preview of the NEXT book in the series which APPEARS to be Salvatore's book - I sincerely hope I'm mistaken).
All in all, Darkness Unleashed was fun. Hell, the whole series is fun. It's a light read, sometimes loving and most of the times witty, with sarcastic and strong characters that I enjoyed spending time with. And really...that's what I look for. I recommend the series to anyone who enjoys light paranormal romance series without any truly dark story lines or gruesome detail (though there is violence, most of it isn't gruesomely described), but I'd start at the beginning. There's just too much character crossing to merit considering any book in the series a stand-alone.
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Physically Free, Yet Imprisoned By Their Pasts - Love Is The Key Nov 5, 2009 (2 of 2 found this helpful)
Regan, one of Darcy's other quadruplet sisters is freed from 30 years of imprisonment and torture, and is on the hunt to wreck vengeance on her captor. Regan comes to the story with a whole lot of anger and baggage, apart from the psychological scars from her imprisonment and abuse, the rejection by the were-king Salvatore - because the non-shifting bioengineered pureblood Regan is sterile and of no use as a breeder - opens up the scars of what she's assumed was her abandonment by the family who left her to suffer her horrible fate.
The aloof controlled vampire Jagr's past too includes captivity and endless years of torture, so he is the one sent to retrieve Regan and bring her back to her sister. Regan wants and needs no one, much less the icily beautiful Jagr, but still she is drawn to the vampire who understands her need to pursue her vengeance and is willing to help her. But Regan's days of freedom may be numbered, because even as she hunts her former jailor, Regan is being hunted by a group of rogue were Curs who want Regan for the secrets of blood to enhance their own power.
I have to say that I enjoyed reading Darkness Unleashed. I am exceedingly hero centric and Jagr, once Regan melts the ice around his heart, ends up being a really good leading man - passionate, protective and willing to sacrifice and endure centuries of heart breaking loneliness in order to give the commitment-phobe Regan the freedom she has been denied. The chemistry between the pair is good and the relationship between them isn't rushed and ends up making Darkness Unleashed satisfying from a romance standpoint. For the series overall, the story is not really that memorable and just puts a check mark for one more sister down and two more to go. In fact, though Reagan and Jagr intend to continue on to search for another imprisoned sister, they both end up dropping the hunt - so they can pursue their own elusive happily ever after.
Still I enjoyed this book, I really like Ivy's strong noble vampire warrior leading men. So with that in mind it will be interesting to see what happens with the next book Beyond the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity, Book 6), where the leading man is not a vamp but the arrogant were-King Salvatore - actually I am really hoping that he has to grovel for his HEA.
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Another smashing hit for the Gaurdians of Eternity Series Nov 9, 2009 (1 of 1 found this helpful)
This book is just as great as the rest of the books. It is Jagr story. It is neat because it opens the door to new characters that we will see in her future books (since she signed on for 4 more for a total of 5 new books in this series that will be coming starting April next year) This book keeps you reading on the edge of your seat till the very end. Looking forward to the next book on Salvatoir in April of 2010 and Tanes story in September of 2010. You will not be disappointed and this another must read!
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Good but not great..Levet's lingo slips a notch, as do others. Nov 4, 2009 (3 of 4 found this helpful)
Darkness Unleashed gets a 3.75 from a reader who has enjoyed all the previous books in this series. Like the last read (Darkness Revealed) the strong characters are consistently entertaining, but the heroine is a bit too nasty and hard to like-when her past should evoke sympathy. My main problem with the book was the overuse of MTV lingo, too many f-bomb replacements (they just got old after awhile and lost any impact) and way too many 2009 pop-culture references. It completely dates the book and pigeon-holes the reader demographic [seriously-Guitar Hero and Jonas Bros?...OMG!..not] This dialog mechanism was also used with the other main male characters, but diluted their uniqueness and made them jsut ordinary. For example early in the story Levet, the scene-stealing French gargoyle says a line "...who is about to save you and your Gothic's friend's ass". Why would he not choose to say "derriere"? In past books I easily read Levet's lines with a French accent in my mind, but in this book that French oblivious charm was almost lost all together. In addition, Jagr, the one who was billed in the previous book as supposed bookworm and scholar, ends up using as much modern vernacular as any TV actor in prime time. Where were the references to his books and vast ancient knowledge? Only humorous references to his age seemed to fit his previous billing. The modern techie lingo may suit toward the next vamp in the series, but not really Jagr. Fortunately in the end, the male hero shows a charming tenderness and devotion we have seen in all the books and is what kept me reading. References to older characters and older story lines woven throughout the tale also helped enrich the plot, although the story was familiar and more background of the characters past existence would have helped make this stand out from the other books. Too bad that the charm of ancient demons who live and fall in love in the modern world is all but lost in this newest entry. I hope the author engages a new editor and returns to the kind of witty dialog that was the welcome difference and so enchanting in the first three books that separated themselves in a sea of today's paranormal romance entries. All in all, it was still worth the time, just a bit of a disappointment.
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Not the best in this series Nov 19, 2009
Sorry to say but I found this book a huge disappointment. I have thoroughly enjoyed this series and it's not that this book isn't well written but I found the characters unlikeable and the plot rather boring.
Styx has ordered the reclusive Jagr to escort Darcy's sister Regan to Chicago. He would love to disobey his Anasso but...he can't. His mission is a trial from the very beginning as Regan has no desire to go to Chicago or anywhere at all with Jagr, even if he is a gorgeous, hunky vampire. Regan is coming off of 30 years of imprisonment so the last thing she is going to accept is being ordered anywhere by anyone. First thing on her agenda is revenge against her jailer, the imp Culligan. This should all add up to an interesting story. Unfortunately it doesn't. For one thing Regan is just a whiny unlikeable brat. Supposedly she has been tortured for 30 years but I found that rather unconvincing. Culligan used her in a religious revival scam where he cuts her then uses her quick healing were ability to present her as miraculouly healed. While this couldn't have been pleasant it doesn't add up to horrendous torture to me. But she has a bad attitude and a huge chip on her shoulder like she has suffered torment beyond bearing. Jagr has a better attitude and he has spent several centuries getting the flesh whipped from his body repeatedly and has the scars to prove it. While he prefers to be alone and doesn't welcome company he isn't insufferably rude and bitchy like Regan. Since Regan is so clearly unpleasant it is hard to believe that Jagr would fall desperately in love with her. Their romance isn't convincing at all.
This author must not expect her books to stay in print because this story is loaded with pop culture references that will date the book horribly in ten years time. If you are not a member of the MTV generation then many of the references won't make sense. And if I had to hear Regan say Holy Crap one more time I would have screamed. Even worse was Jagr calling her "little one" over and over and over. Ick. A grown woman being called that makes my flesh crawl. And the woman was 5'6" so hardly little. Another thing that made no sense was having the tiny gargoyle Levet in the book. Levet is supposed to be devoted to Shay, the Shallot demon from an earlier book. I found it hard to believe that he would have left her side to go bring Regan back to Darcy. Clearly he was just used for comic relief but he didn't fit at all.
However, one boring book in a good series isn't going to make me give up on this author. The next story is about the werewolf King, Salvatore, and is due April 2010. Hopefully it will be better than this one. It won't have to try very hard.