Review: Darkest Knight by Karen Duvall

Title: Darkest Knight

Author: Karen Duvall

Genre: fantasy, supernatural fiction

Series: Knight's Curse #2

Pages: 336 (Nook ARC edition)

Published: March 20 2012

Source: publishers via NetGalley

Rating: 3.5/5

"Betray your sisters or your lover. You choose."After the warrior she loves saved her from a murderous gargoyle, Chalice watched helplessly as Aydin turned into a gargoyle himself. Now, free from the curse that enslaved her, Chalice pledges to join her sister knights in The Order of the Hatchet—and do whatever it takes to regain Aydin's humanity…and his love. What she encounters within their hallowed sanctuary is pure intrigue.

Someone—or something—is murdering her sisters in their sleep, provoking fear and suspicion among the order. Meanwhile, Aydin, unable to stay away, starts haunting Chalice's dreams, urging her onward. Ultimately, Chalice will be faced with an agonizing choice—one that will tear away at her newfound identity and force her to choose between duty and desire….

This is the second novel in Duvall's creative series centered around Chalice, a member of an order of knights (The Hatchet Knights) who have been around since the Crusades and mate with the Arelim, the lowest form of angel, to propagate their order.  The same original and quirky ideas for magic present in the first are contained here in second, but I have to say that overall, Ms. Duvall definitely got off on a better foot with this second effort in her UF/PNR offering. While the plot I thought would be the center of Darkest Knight (restoring Aydin back to humanity from his cursed gargoyle form) wasn't at all what this novel was about, I wasn't disappointed. The antagonist created for the events of book two neatly tied in with the mythology and lore of the first and was on the same malevolence level as the previous antagonist, the evil sorcerer-kidnapper Gavin. And while I wasn't as surprised as I could've been at the "reveal" of the Big Bad of the book and the heart of the murders/mystery, I thought it left an interesting possibility for the plot of the sure-to-follow third installment.

I felt tepid and 'mehhh' about the first (Knight's Curse) when I read it last year and a large amount of my dissatisfaction had to do with and centered around the main character Chalice. I liked it well enough, was certainly entertained by it but the knight had a way of frustrating very simple situations, either by not listening or assuming she knew all the answers. Chalice in book two is a bit more aware, a bit more intelligent and a whole lot easier for me to like. I despise when heroines are convinced they shouldn't let allies into their plans because only they can do it, only they know the risk, etc and so on! And while Chalice was like that in the first, I found that her uneasy relationship with guardian-angel Rafe brought out a more mature side to her. While I still didn't wholly invest in Chalice or closely identify with her, I do like several aspects of her personality: her independence, her openness to magic finally, her fighting abilities; I love a heroine that can fight well and Chalice is one those few. Her martial skills complement her prickly personality quite well. One of the few major issues I had with Chalice here in this was her "instructing" the new squires of her order when Chalice has been a knight for less than three months, known of the order for only that long, has never had any formal training herself and there are older, more indoctrinated knights able to do the job....so why pick the newbie who is clueless to teach new members?

What also improved my experience the second time around is the romance of the novel. Or, to be perfectly clear, the lack of stressing the romance and love between Aydin and Chalice. I didn't buy their almost insta-love connection from book one and since they're separated more often in Darkest Knight, I actually got to see them on their own for extended periods of time. They both actually have to work for the relationship (and get over their dumb decisions, like Aydin's particularly stupid rejection in the beginning), and work together to fix Aydin's curse. It brought out another dynamic to their relationship and also helped to flesh out Aydin a bit more independently. I truly like that both people fight and struggle for the other: Aydin wants Chalice just as much as she wants him. Another bonus originality point for this series? Aydin is the swoon-worthy love interest and he is not a typical WASP. Diversity brings a lot to the table and for Aydin especially, it sets him apart from the thousands of UF/PNY love-interests out there. The whole 'gargoyle' thing doesn't hurt, either.

Back to the mythology of Darkest Knight: the world Duvall has created for her novels is a potent one. There are charms, magic, sorcerers, gargoyles, curses, guardian angels and Fallen angels - all with their own conduct, rules and uses. While the lore behind the angels can be confusing sometimes, it is unique and presents an interesting structure for the Hatchet Knights to find mates within. While the charms didn't impress me as much as the creativity shown in the first seems to have waned a tad (except for a pen with ink that makes the writer invisible - not the words being written. That's creative.) with a few exceptions: the "soul-stain" (which reminded me of Lord Denbury's condition in Darker Still), the non-dead non-living "life" of St. Geraldine, the half-sylph half-necromancer exorcist that I picture as an English man who says things like, "My dear chap, I daresay I couldn't possibly...." I also really liked that that the plot of the second book could be found mentioned/hidden within the first; there are references within Knight's Curse that, in hindsight, seem to set up the stage for book two perfectly.

The abrupt ending seemed slightly rushed to me, but definitely did not pull any punches. Characters die, lose their powers, fight and have an all-might brawl that made this quite hard to put down. This is action-packed and though some of the fights seemed redolent of earlier clashes (Evan and Zee, both specifically seemed to pop up for an altercation one too many times - especially Zee!) the pages turn quickly and Chalice's story is amusing for an hour or two. Though I found the uncovering of the Hatchet murderer to be too drawn out and arduous for how obvious it was <SPOILER>(C'mon now guys: who has acted weird and sketchy and arrived just before the murders? Who repeatedly lies and sneaks around, getting into forbidden areas and trinkets? Come on now, it shouldn't take 300 pages!)</SPOILER> Darkest Knight is a fun and enjoyable read. The ending leaves several key plotlines open for a continuing third volume and since this is one of the few series where I've liked the second more than the first, I can guarantee I'll be on the lookout for more from Chalice, Aydin, and my favorite: Ruby.

Review: Knight's Curse by Karen Duvall

Title: Knight's Curse

Author: Karen Duvall

Genre: supernatural/fantasy

Series: [Untitled series] #1

Pages: 384 (NetGalley ARC)

Published: August 2011
Source: publishers via NetGalley

Rating: 3.5/5

A break-neck romp set in a world populated with gargoyles, nephilim, demons, and angels,  Knight's Curse was a fun diversion for a couple days. An easy read filled with action, different forms of magic/abilities, curses and female knights, this first adventure by Karen Duvall centers around the character of Chalice. Chalice is special, with unique abilities ("Sticks and stones may break my bones, but I'd see them coming before they hurt me. Maybe even smell them," she says in the first chapter) because she is the descendant of a human woman mating with angels. In this world of Duvall's, those women who mated with angels and bore their (apparently only female) offspring were of an order of Knights existing since the Middle Ages. Her mother was deliberately murdered and Chalice kidnapped at thirteen by an evil organization (think the mafia with mojo), she was cursed as a means of control- every three days Chalice must make contact with her gargoyle, Shui, or be turned into a monster like him for all time.

Chalice herself failed to engage me, or make me really care about her story. I wanted to like this character much more than I did. By all means, I should love her: she's smart, snarky, sarcastic, good with a blade, and fierce. Why don't I? She's also demanding, whiny, ruled by her hormones and emotions, and impulsive at the expense of her intelligence. Several times, I wanted to smack her and tell her, "Use your brain!" I liked her abilities, if not her judgment - rather than be magical, Chalice's talents are all about sensory perception and action. She even goes so far to be distrustful of all magic - and as she's enslaved to a gargoyle because of a dark mage, the attitude is understandable - but wears thin after about two hundred pages. I think the author tried a bit too hard to impress Chalice's hard edges upon the reader - a lighter, more subtle approach over the novel would've fleshed out the character more completely. Chalice certainly commands attention when she is on the page (and I have to give kudos where due - Chalice is certainly a very strong character), but her character's foibles grated on my nerves far too often for me to love her.

The other characters in the novel were sadly not as developed as that of Chalice. Aydin, her Moorish love interest and also under the same gargoyle curse, was intriguing and mysterious but without much of an individual personality. I did really love that Aydin wasn't a typical WASPy character, but his story arc felt sadly neglected for much of the story. He's charming but lacks any emotional depth and I never rooted for him the way one ought to for a charming man. I also never bought the love connection between Chalice and Aydin, and as this is a partially driving force for the plot it was a problem for me for much of the story. Aydin is so reserved and withdrawn, all the urges come from Chalice and seem forced and unnatural for the character. Gavin, the villain, has almost no characterization at all. I much prefer morally grey, interesting villains as opposed to the cut-and-dried, starkly evil, with no explanation Force of Evil.

What I did really like: the magic. Creative ideas for aspects of magic are my favorite (i.e. the Abhorsen trilogy, Mistborn series, Spellwright novels, etc. for unique and original magical powers) and this book had varied applications. Besides the super-sense strength of Chalice, there was (among other references) a "Native American relic with the power to  cause cancer instead of cure it" or "[...] a picture frame that told the future by revealing how the subject in the photo would change over the years." Another idea I've yet to see in another novel: Aydin has the power to "lose [his] solid mass" and in effect, become an incorporeal ghost. The differences in abilities for each character hint at a wide variety of strengths and possibilities for this world of the author's. Also, the mythos of the Fallen angels was a nice twist on the current nephilim craze in paranormal/supernatural/urban fantasy fiction; the angel Barachiel is present for very little time but figures into most of my theories. I can appreciate innovation and creativity and Duvall excels in such areas.

The time-limit of 72 hours creates an almost palpable unease in almost any scene with either Aydin or Chalice. The threat hanging over their heads, along with the internal turmoil of being of angel descent "but deviled" with a gargoyle bond are the main sources of tension for the story and of course, Chalice herself. The gargoyles themselves are largely absent for the events of the novel, creating a mysterious and foreboding threat for our two heroes. While the voice can be inconsistent, and details confusing (a lot of location descriptions and/or action sequences can be hard to picture as detailed in the story), but overall this was an easy, fun read. Duvall has talent, promise, strong female heroines, and fresh ideas on magic -- all things I support in the fantasy genre. The ending was surprising and surprisingly melancholy - I can't wait for the second (Darkest Knight is tentative title I've heard bandied about) and have hopes that the series will grow and improve with each novel.