G182 E-Reading Book Review The Emblazoned Red by Dawn McCullough White

Name of Book: The Emblazoned Red

Author: Dawn McCullough White

ISBN/ASIN: B00D38X41I

Publisher: Claypipe

Part of a Series: Tyrant Trilogy

Type of book: Fantasy, not Young Adult, romance, kingdom, paladin

Year it was published: 2013

Summary:

Once, in another world—a dark world, the world of Faetta—there lived paladins and pirates, tyrants and scallywags, vampires and the undead. In this world a revolution is brewing. The royalty of Sieunes are in chains, and those priests and paladins who follow the holy word of the gods are under attack. In the west, the kingdom of Kellerhald receives the fleeing priests in their temples of the paladins of Silvius, god of the Sky.

Here, a young woman has just passed her tests to become a paladin. A pirate crew raids along the Azez Sea. An undead creature, wielding great power, roams the graveyard of Yetta. And a lost soul, crying out from beyond the veil, seeks out a pure hearted warrior to hear its plea.

Amid the turmoil of the revolution, Ilka’s mettle is tested. Rescued by pirates, she ends up with an unlikely ally: the pirate captain himself. The newly trained paladin finds herself collaborating with the undead, working with a vampire, and worst of all, longing for revenge against the man who has ignited the revolution in Sieunes: Francois Mond...

Death of an Innocent. Rise of a Paladin.

Book One in the Trilogy of the Tyrant, a stand-alone series set fifteen years after the Trilogy of Shadows.

Characters:

Ilka is a paladin whose fiancé has recently passed away from the mob. She gets thrown and meets a pirate captain known as Nathan, although Nathan hides his identity at first. Ilka is best described as someone who is trying to be more than human being but yet makes mistakes. She doesn't take advantage of her connections and is powerful. Nathan is best described as easygoing, loyal and someone who wants to do good despite his job. There are other characters as well but I feel that the author should have spent more time fleshing them and their relationships out.

Theme:

Even the greatest can be human

Plot:

Its written in third person narrative from Ilka's and Nathan's point of view. I did feel that the narratives didn't connect well and some characters such as Augustine seemed to get way too little focus. I feel that the book's strength lies in dialogue and intriguing main characters. I think the book is designed to be read for fans already familiar with the world rather than for newcomers like I.

Author Information:

Dawn McCullough White is known for her strong female protagonists, and gritty dark fantasy.

Ms. McCullough-White has lived the majority of her life in and around Rochester, NY with a brief stint in Tucson, AZ. She is pursuing a degree in psychology at R.I.T. Dawn is a history buff and was a member of the Society of Creative Anachronism for years, active as a heavy weapons fighter. She currently resides with her husband and son in a quaint neighborhood next to an old cemetery.

Dark Fantasy series the "Trilogy of Shadows":

Cameo the Assassin
Cameo and the Highwayman
Cameo and the Vampire

Dark Fantasy series the "Trilogy of the Tyrant":

The Emblazoned Red

Short stories:

"The Ghastly Bath" The Gate 2: 13 Tales of Isolation and Despair

Follow the Author:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dawn-McCullough-White/125763474137312
Website: http://dawnmccullough-white.com/

Opinion:

I really did want to like it, and while the book does have strengths in characters, dialogue, intriguing backgrounds of Ilka and Nathan as well as the vampire, its not a good stand-alone novel and I had a difficult time understanding the role of certain characters; for example what is the purpose of the vampire when he played such a small role? I also had a bit of a difficult time in believing in  romance between two characters, and how all of these connect. Although its written as sort of a prequel to the Shadows Trilogy, and in a blog the author does state that its not necessary to read the prior, I feel that a prequel to this book is kind of necessary to make sense of the book, or at least more details about the world and how it works because I am a first time reader to the author and her books.

Excerpt from The Emblazoned Red:

"Beautiful Rhiannon ..." he sighed, and sank his fangs into her neck, pressing her body down onto the pile of dead flowers atop her son's grave. 

He had been following her around the streets of Lockenwood for a good month.  He had begun following the moment he had caught sight of her lithe body and her bright red hair.  Sometimes he'd sit on top of a roof and just watch as she shopped or left work at night.  As he got more daring, he'd slip inside the tavern where she worked, losing himself in the hot, dirty crowd within.  His cold, hard body was shoved along through the crowd: peasants, villains, beggars.  The poor and the evildoers all jam-packed within the smoke-stained tavern.  And there was Rhiannon, fetching swill for each of them.

All of his efforts in the last month were now at their end.  They reached the final climax with her death.

Augustine released her limp form and laid her down to rest with her dead baby, and then he sighed because it had come too soon.  He had been longing to talk to her, that's where this generally went.  He wanted to get to know her a little before her inevitable death.  Wanted to know who she was, what she thought, and what she thought of him.  Perhaps he could've eased her sorrows for a time ... but then, of course, the lust for her blood would've gotten the better of him, and he'd have had to kill her.  But still, this was basically a wasted month. 

Where To Get it:

Amazon USA:  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D38X41I

Amazon UK:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00D38X41I

Barnes and Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-emblazoned-red-dawn-mccullough-white/1115453826?ean=2940016705156

Giveaway code:

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This is for a book tour at Pixel PR 

3 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)