Vorodin’s Lair

Book Two in the Warminster Series

By J.V. Hillard

DragonMoon Press, 2022

Genre: Fantasy

Pages (print): 443

Via Author Request

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Basic Plot (The Microwaved Version):

The protagonist is Daemus Alaric, Keeper of knowledge. He has weird visions and stuff. He “sees” a sorcerer dude, Vorodin, who may be able to help. But the answers Daemus seeks may bring him—and the realm—to the brink of war.

Meanwhile, an elven princess named Addilyn Elspeth must discover why she’s receiving visitations from a mysterious creature that shouldn’t exist. She joins Daemus as they set out on a dangerous quest to find the city of Abacus and Vorodin’s Lair.

 

But a fallen Keeper dogs their steps. Graytorris the Mad is one bad hombre. He continues to chase the young Keeper throughout the realm while seeking vengeance against his order. Or… something.

Bring a Lunch

If you’re looking for a quick and fluffy read of the milk and cookies type, keep looking. Vorodin’s Lair isn’t it. The second book in the Warminster series, Lair is dense, complicated and intricate. It features a meticulously constructed world of magic, mages, and mystery. It also houses a plethora of characters, each with their own back story and motivation. It’s a lot to keep track of. You may want to bring a lunch. And a road map.

Writing Style

The writing style is Tolkien-esque. Richly textured and finely detailed. It’s demanding and can be exhausting. The prose invites readers into a wide world of vivid imaginings. It’s complex, stark, and imbued with a type of feral beauty reminiscent of Middle Earth. In fact, some of the characters seem oddly Middle Earthian. Example: Addilyn Elspeth of the Vermillion Elves is pretty much to Ritter the ranger what Arwen the elven princess is to Aragorn the ranger. Jessamy Aberdan is an Eowyn echo. Besides. Every time I saw “Jessamy Aberdan” I saw Katniss Everdeen. Oops. My bad.

A Cast of Thousands…

The cast of characters is immense. Subplots and story arcs are multitudinous. It’s hard to keep up after a while. Or care. Especially when the plot spins and loops and dips and dives and bobs and weaves all over the place. It feels like it may be heading to an epic battle to cap an epic quest. Or maybe everyone’s just ordering out for pizza. It could go either way. Because after a while the plot starts feeling like “All dressed up with no where to go.”

DNFed

We rated the first book in this series, The Last Keeper, a 3.5. Either our tastes have changed or Her Grumpiness is getting grumpier. Could go either way. But either way – ha! – we didn’t finish Vorodin’s Lair. It just lost us. We could not keep our eyes open. Not even with No Doze. Besides. The author couldn’t be bothered to Like or Comment on our review of his first book. That didn’t exactly generate a whole lotta warm fuzzies toward the second. We do notice, author dudes and dudettes. And we never forget. We’re just funny that way.  So you may want to keep that in mind if you’re requesting a review. Just don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Ta!