Regina's Reads

Horde is the ending of the Razorland trilogy. It is satisfying and it is a good ending. I have to say that the series started lukewarm for me; I was interested but not passionate about it. Elements about [book:Enclave|7137327] bothered me, which made me ambivalent about continuing. Something about the series made me want to keep going and I am glad that I did.

Horde is almost non stop action -- but told from Deuce's inner monologue. Readers familiar with Ann Aguirre's writing know that she tells her stories through inner monologues. In some of her series it works (and in others it does not) -- and it works in this series. It works here because Deuce is a good character and it is not unpleasant to be in her head. I do get tired of the inner monologue though, after awhile. I tend to prefer conversations and action to push the story ahead rather than thoughts and impressions from the main character. But still, it is well done in Horde.

This book is satisfying with some interesting developments. There are painful parts to this story; and readers have to say good-bye to some key characters. My one criticism of Horde the solving of problems through a last minute amazing coincidence. There are many just in the nick of times in Horde. One of the just in the nick of time storylines but also a wrap up and resolution of problems earlier in the series was really frustrating to me. I am not going to spoil it for readers but really?  

It was just a little heavy handed. But in the end, it is still a very enjoyable story. I was reading it for entertainment and can let these issues go.

Aguirre does a great job at writing young love and its evolution in a relationship -- very sweet. I read this book for the characters and the action but was surprised to really enjoy where the romance Deuce was involved in went. I gotta say this is just a really nice story from start to finish. It is satisfying to see the characters change and evolve, difficult issues are finally dealt with in Horde and the ending is told in the manner of old style fantasy books.

Instead of reading the Razorland Trilogy I listened. The audio for this book and this series is really well done but it took me a few hours to get used to the narrator while listening to the first book. She is extremely young sounding, but then the protagonist for this series is young.

I have had problems with this series but I have also really enjoyed it. Hands down Horde is the best of the series. Storylines are wrapped up and there is good character development. If you have started this trilogy, then it is worth continuing.