Review: Ward Against Darkness (Chronicles of Reluctant Necromancer #2) by Melanie Card

Ward Against Darkness

Author: Melanie Card

Series: Chronicles of Reluctant Necromancer

Pages: 352

Genre: Young Adult

Release date: 27^th August 2013

Publisher: Entangled Teen

Amazon

Synopsis. (Goodreads)

The last thing Ward de'Ath wants is more trouble. On the run from both the law and the criminal underworld, Ward and Celia flee Brawenal City only to stumble into the mansion of a powerful evil necromancer. And when Ward discovers the man possesses a dangerous grimoire, his duty leaves him no choice. He can't allow the necromancer to keep the grimoire. But the mansion is filled with monsters--human and undead--and Ward has no way of telling who's friend or foe. The only person he can trust is Celia who dominates more of his thoughts and feelings everyday. But there are still laws in the way of anything but friendship. She's still dead and he's still alive . . . for now.

Review: 3 ½ out of 5 stars

When I requested Ward Against Darkness I didn’t realise it was actually the sequel to Ward Against Death which I haven’t yet read but it didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the story as the author gave enough background information so that it wasn’t confusing.

Ward de’Ath is a reluctant necromancer who was tasked in the first book with bringing Celia Carlyle, a murdered nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for a short period of time but things didn’t go as planned and she was reanimated.

Celia was a fabulous, strong character with a feisty personality which I loved! Being the daughter of a now deceased crime lord and a trained assassin bought out her devious personality and showed her strengths where Ward is her complete opposite, he is a scholar and trained as a physician, he is compassionate and shows great courage despite his doubts, the romance between them was really sweet despite their differences and definitely wasn’t at the forefront of the story.

The plot-line was evenly paced and filled with intense action sequences, political drama and mystery as Ward tries to work out what went wrong with the spell he cast on Celia in the first book which reawakened her, they also continue to run from the law and bounty hunters but along their journey they stumble across some interesting characters including a dark necromancer, Innecroestri who was absolutely horrible but with Ward being under his roof he gets to learn more about his powers which he had always believed weren’t much.

I found myself really enjoying the characters, the vivid imagery and the story-line. Melanie Card’s writing is wonderful, it was a gritty read filled with evil, intense action and intrigue as both characters learn more about themselves. I enjoyed the necromancy, the mystery, the magic and the evil beings we meet along the journey; it all made for a riveting, enjoyable read.

Overall, I really liked the premise of this story and the world the author created was daunting and disturbing but also filled with interesting characters and magical intrigue. I am definitely eager to read the first book as well as the next.

 

About the author: I have always been drawn to story telling. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t telling a story in my head or on paper. In grade school, we had journal writing time which I turned into story telling time, weaving tales of magic and adventure that mimicked the fairy tales and myths that I loved to read. It was there, with the help of two very special teachers, that I nurtured this love and started my journey as a writer.

I write fantasy, paranormal romance, and everything in between, seasoned with a good dash of adventure and mystery. Join me on my tales of magic, adventure, and romance