Watcher of the dead

Don't be fooled. As much smack as I talk about love and emotions, I am as soft and sentimental as a Cadbury Egg on the inside.

My reading tastes have not escaped my gooey center.

Fantasy has always rated high on my rose colored memories list. Reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series out loud with the family gathered around when we were on our own great journey cemented Fantasy (and Jordan) as part of my all-time-favorite reading memories list.

Kind of like how the padre and I went to see True Grit on the same day (even though we are far apart). To pay homage to it being the first real book we read aloud together.


J. V. Jones holds a similar place. I've been reading her since high school. Her tales of clans and journeys and heroes and feisty female characters and magic and family and evil and sword fights have followed me as I've grown into my own feisty female character.

Watcher of the Dead is the fourth book in the Sword of Shadows series. Think of it like a fantastical story of good and evil and all the gray shades between. It is like the best soap opera ever.

The story is epic. Each chapter follows a different main character. Through them you see different struggles against the ever present super evil which is trying to escape and is almost succeeding. On occasion, I get annoyed by series. Like, ummm, get on with it. But with Sword of Shadows I'm liking the slow plodding towards oblivion, and I keep hoping against hope that evil doesn't win.

I could mire you down with details (like how Raif totally hates the Sull now for good reason and how I really hope Angus Lok finds his daughter and I wonder where Effie is headed and is Ash going to reach again and who is her baby daddy and I hope evil Mace dies on the field knowing Raina has taken over the chiefdom and is Bram really going to become an assassin and I hope Vaylo stays alive long enough to reunite his clan and what is the deal with Marafice), but I will just say this is a series about destiny and responsibility and growing up.

Kind of like life.

"Fantasy opens the door to experiencing the magic that is in the world around us and more importantly the magic in ourselves."
T.A. Barron