Warriors of Wing and Flame

August 15, 2020
Magically gifted sisters join the fight against a power-mad serial killer in this loin-moistening duology closer. Larson constructs a flimsy plotline on which to hang intensely felt displays of passion, terror, soul searching, hot snogging, and love--both sisterly and otherwise. Having stolen the powers of soon-to-be 16-year-old Inara in Sisters of Shadow and Light (2019), Bar has gone on a rampage--roaming the countryside slaughtering other Paladin for their magic with the vaguely articulated goal of taking over the world. Inara and her loving older sister, Zuhra, set out on gryphon-back with several newly met Paladin from the parallel world of Visimperum to tackle the killer...while wrestling at length with their feelings for certain of their more eligible new allies. The inner conflicts are complicated by the revelation that one such, moody Loukas, has the power of mind control (which he insists he's not using) and also the fact that any healing magic leaves both healers and healed open to one another's emotions so it's often hard to tell exactly who is feeling what. Though the purple prose turns liverish at times, several steamy clinches ultimately help clarify things heartwise while, with the convenient assistance of a deus ex machina, the stylized threat is neatly (and literally) toasted. Relationships are all heterosexual, none of the gasping grasping gets past second base, and the cast is predominantly White. Readers who go for interior over exterior fires will slowly lick their lips. (Fantasy. 13-18)

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