With a unique and imaginative blend of epic fantasy, humor, and heroism, this debut author team crafts a riveting tale of magical mechanisms, a kingdom at war, and the four men who stand poised to defend it.
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With a unique and imaginative blend of epic fantasy, humor, and heroism, this debut author team crafts a riveting tale of magical mechanisms, a kingdom at war, and the four men who stand poised to defend it.
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Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $1.97, good condition, Sold by Reliant Bookstore rated 1.0 out of 5 stars, ships from El Dorado, KS, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
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This book is in good condition with very minimal damage. Integrity of the book is in good condition with no missing pages. Pages can have minimal notes or highlighting. Cover image on the book may vary. Ships out quickly in a secure plastic mailer!
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Movies rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Emerald rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $2.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
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Seller's Description:
Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $3.17, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $3.17, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $3.17, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $3.17, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
Add this copy of Havemercy to cart. $3.58, good condition, Sold by Kayleighbug Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from CEDAR GROVE, WV, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spectra.
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Good. Size: 4x1x6; No Stock Photos! We photograph every item. spine creasing, edge wear; With a unique and imaginative blend of epic fantasy, humor, and heroism, this debut author team crafts a riveting tale of magical mechanisms, a kingdom at war, and the four men who stand poised to defend it.
The first book of a fantasy series (the third recently published) set in an Empire called Volstov, this book follows four separate characters: Royson, a Margrave (or wizard) in exile; Hal, a clever young country bumpkin; Rook, the loud and antisocial rider of Havemercy, a mechanical dragon; and Thom, a 'Versity student charged with teaching the dragon riders manners.
I've been aware of this book since before it was published, as these authors did the impossible - they were picked up by a publisher because they wrote fanfiction. They created The Shoebox Project, a Harry Potter fanfic that had a huge following. I've wanted to read their published work for years but I don't think it ever came to print in the UK. As it was, I only go hold of a copy this summer, and I started reading eagerly.
Is was surprising how much I struggled to get into it. The book starts off on the wrong foot, with a pages-long info dump that was gruelling to get through, let alone understand. It didn't help very much that the POV changed every half-dozen pages, with a new info-dump to get through. The one character I liked from the off was Rook. His dialogue, his thoughts, his actions were all so vibrant and strong. The other three characters seemed to blur somewhat here-and-there, but Rook was unique and always interesting.
As a whole, I feel it failed to deliver any real satisfaction. The relationship that blooms between Royson and Hal feels fake and is the most tedious thing I've read since Twilight. There is a lot of 'I think only of you, I adore you, I must have you - but no! It is forbidden and we must not!' happening. Not even hot-and-cold, just tepid-and-lukewarm. It is like that until the last three chapters. It really pissed me off that so much time/space was dedicated to this and their wooden dialogue. In retrospect, the relationship between Rook and Thom is a lot more dynamic - and a hell of a lot more sexual, but that aspect is apparently accidental on the author's behalf as [spoiler] they are brothers[/spoiler].
Relationships are the meat of the book. Some are interesting, some are not. The characters are very well developed and I found myself half in love with some of the side characters (Greylace - unf) but the true thing the book is in dire need of is action. There are nearly no scenes where magic is seen used - I think the most we get is a table exploding. There are some good parts where Rook is flying Havemercy in battle but otherwise there is little violence. Royson spends most of his time in bed, with Hal fluttering over him, in the most dull hurt/comfort scenarios I've come across. The way Hal saves the day is really, really pathetic. I don't think a book has annoyed me this book in a very long time. I don't know if I'm going to pick up the second in the series, Shadow Magic. There are four different characters in that one, so I won't have to suffer through Royson/Hal - but saying that, Rook will be absent. It was a good concept, but it just failed to deliver any satisfaction for me.
I SO wanted to like Havemercy, but alas, I found it terribly lacking. It was unfortunate that while reading the passages dealing with the alpha males of the Dragon Corps, I found myself wondering, "do these women authors have ANY guy friends? These interactions don't ring true at all!" I'm not sure why two females decided to leave women almost entirely out of their debut novel, especially when it is so clear that they don't quite know how to write from the male viewpoint. I had really never thought about whether authors were able to write the opposite gender believably, until reading a book entirely about men, written by women, in which something was very askew. Perhaps it is not a gender thing, but a storytelling thing. It's possible I would have noticed the same odd tonal problems in the lead women characters, if there had been any.
I think I could have dealt with the feeling of something being "off" in the depictions of the men, if the other main story arc, that of a fledgling romance between an exiled magician and his younger student (also a man) had not devolved from something truly sweet into melodramatic hand-wringing over how hard it is to be gay in fantasy-dragon-land.
I don't like to trash debut novels, but what draws me into books are usually the characters, and when an entire company of dragon-riding men just seem like cardboard cutouts, and the only realistically drawn characters are joyless worrywarts, it just kills any chance of really getting into the action of the novel.
What a bummer.
