Prince of Power
Elisabeth Staab
Chronicles of Yavn, book two
ebook, 384 pages
Published January 8th 2013 by Sourcebooks
ISBN 9781402263194
This Fight Is Personal.
Wizards and vampires have been mortal enemies since the beginning. Now Anton, son of the Wizard Master, has one last chance to steal the unique powers of the vampire king's beautiful sister, Tyra...and then kill her. But when he meets Tyra face-to-face, everything changes...
Tyra will stop at nothing to defeat the wizards, until Anton saves her life and she suddenly sees an opportunity she never could have imagined...
As the sparks ignite between them, together they could bring an end to the war that's decimating their people, but only if they can find a way to trust each other.
Anton, son of the wizard king (er, master?), has been exiled from pretty much everything, living in a homeless shelter and harboring an unspoken plot to end his father's reign. He's not above switching sides to do it either. Especially since he's fallen in love with the Vampire King's sister while playing spy for daddy dearest.
When Tyra, Thad's half-sister, ends up in a ten day torpor, it's Anton who finds himself in the enviable position of protecting her. With Lee, Thad's best friend/bodyguard, off fighting the good fight. Thad and his pregnant mate, Isabel, holding down the fort at home. And Siddoh, Tyra's former lover, playing big brother to Alexia, "Lexi", the lone human who followed from book one.
It's not uncommon for me to skip books in a series, even book one, as I did here. And usually, doing so is not a problem. It was, however, a choice I quickly came to regret on this occasion. Prince of Power starts off right where King of Darkness ended, or so I suspect, and it has constant references to a time before. So yeah, do not do as I do.
Anton has a great moment of claiming what's his- or what he wants to be his- fairly early on but as a whole, with being inside his head, ... the guy's a bit of a wimp. Easily what you picture in the hero's sidekick role. Not, by far, a leading man. The man cries... alot.
Meanwhile, someone who did manage to capture my attention in a positive way was Lee. Once mated to Agnessa, a half succubus/half vampire chick who can't be found on anybody's friend list, he now has his eyes on Alexia. And the attraction is, although inferred, mutual. It takes a bit of time before we get the lowdown on Lee and Agnessa, but thanks to Xander we do get there eventually. Seems the couple parted ways after Agnessa screwed Thad way back when our father-to-be king was still just a lowly prince. No love lost between Thad and Lee though. Not on the surface anyhow. And btw, Agnessa is now Thad's spiritual advisor. W. T. F!
By the end, Anton manages to suck up the tears long enough to kill his father and give his brother, Petros, the opening to take over the wizards. So things are about to get even worse for vampire kind.
If you can survive the long ending wherein Anton and Tyra go over and over (and over!) their feelings and doubts and pasts, then this is actually a read worthy of your time.
4 out of 5 stars.
Hunter by Night, book three in the Chronicles of Yavn, is due out in 2014.
Previously in this series:
Previously in this series:
