Reviews for The Wizard's Ward

The average rating for The Wizard's Ward based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-10-03 00:00:00 Andy Clack An enchanting story, but ultimately a deeply unsatisfying book. It's as though the author went through all the time and trouble to create an exquisite wedding dress, full of intricate details and beautiful furbelows, only to stick it on a blank-faced and soulless store mannequin. It's obvious the author spent a lot of time building the world in this book, covering not just geography, but plants and animals, even taking a page out of Tolkein's book and creating a language. Yet all this wonderful detail is used to dress up a tired and predictable love story: boy meets girl; boy and girl despise each other; through adversity, boy and girl learn to appreciate each other; appreciation turns to love; boy and girl kiss; boy and girl find their destiny with each other. A perfectly good epic fantasy premise, which should have carried the author through another couple of books, is ruined by a trite romantic storyline and an abrupt ending. What a waste.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-12-21 00:00:00 Charles Crevier QUALITY: 2 ENJOYABILITY: 4 This book is wonderfully mediocre. That is not meant as an insult. I've spent most of this year reading genuinely good books that I fall completely in love with and I'm devastated to have to part with. This was not one of those books, and that was exactly what I wanted from it. Sometimes, a book that entertains skillfully while not completely taking you over is exactly what you need, and this is one of the best books I've read that's accomplished that. The plot is formula in the extreme. Maura Woodbury is ward to a wizard named Langbard. Despite having spent a normal, pastural life, she finds out that she is in fact the legendary Destined Queen, who will awaken the Waiting King and save her people from oppression. She meets a DASHING ROGUE with RUGGED GOOD LOOKS who DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING BUT HIMSELF and the rest of the story is pretty easy to telegraph from there. Maura teaches Rath about life and morality, Rath has a big gooey center, it ends with sex. If I had to describe this book in any way, it's basically a romance novel, with all the trappings of that genre, set in a fantasy world. Again, this is not an insult. I LOVE silly romance novels, and setting one in a world as genuinely interesting as this one made it all the better. The world-building is surprisingly solid for such a formulaic story and by-the-numbers cast. The magic system is one of the duality between living matter (plants and animals) and dead matter (metals and gemstones.) Harnessing the properties of living matter allows one to engage in vitcraft, life magic, while metals and gems fuel mortcraft, death magic. The magic takes on the properties of the matter being channeled and it's a genuinely interesting and well-drawn magic system, especially considering the general blandness of the rest. But it's a good bland! It really is. If what you're looking for is a simple, easy, enjoyable read that will entertain and delight you without ever taking up valuable real estate in your brain, this one is person. Excellent sexual tension, silly romance internal monologuing, fun banter, interesting world, and simple plot. It does what it says on the tin, and it does it very well.