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BileDemon
Acolyte
14 Posts |
 Posted - 23 Jul 2023 : 21:44:11
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"Venom in Her Veins" is another standalone novel in the FR setting.
The story is about the young yuan-ti pureblood woman Zaltys.
It begins with her as toddler(if you can call a yuan-ti that way? Hehe) and the raid on her village by slavers. As she is hidden, she is later found by a merchant caravan, adoptet and raised as - presumed - human. There is the dramatic irony here that she is unaware of what she really is, aside that she doesnīt feel well in a city in winter and odd dreams. It takes a while until it is revealed.
And at some point the quest starts to find her tribe/family.
So, how does it hold up? Well...it could have been better. While the book is not a bad read it just felt average to me at best. The problem is: There is no real climax. No real struggle. Our heroine is basically a spoiled brat from a rich background, which means she has the best teachers and craftsmen at hand, plunging into the fights with good weapons and armour and having no real trouble dispatching the enemies. Some of the others are coming with her and are slain(and easily forgotten), and after dealing with some crazy Underdark denizens there is the finale which is ok, but also only average.
There are some interesting places that are visited and the descriptions are good, but still, the book lacks the certain something.
There is also some attempt of bringing a bit humour in it. Like in the form of a mischievous psionic Tiefling woman who likes to hide her carriage to make others run into it, burping loud after drinking wine and rebuke one of the other characters for looking at - well, not her horns(guess where he was looking).
While this might elicit a chuckle or two, it doesnīt add that much to the story and feels more like it should belong to a Harry Potter novel.
Overall, I canīt help the feeling that this book was an attempt to jump on the bandwagon of the Brimstone Angels series which was released around the same time. We have another non-human heroine, add a Tiefling and another brave Dragonborn fighter into it...and done. This might also not be the case, but itīs just my impression.
Overall, it is ok to read, but if you donīt get your hands on "Venom in Her Veins", you will also not miss that much.
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Edited by - BileDemon on 24 Jul 2023 20:26:24
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Review: Venom in Her Veins(Tim Pratt) 2012
