Lord's Fall: Number 5 in series (Elder Races, #5)

by Thea Harrison

In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, two mates find themselves on different paths, torn between their duty to the Wyr and the passion that binds them . . .

Before she met Dragos, half-human half-wyr Pia Giovanni was alone and on the run. Now, she's mated, pregnant and heading south to repair the Wyr's frayed relationship with the Elves. Being separated from Dragos is painful, but for the good of the Wyr demesne they need to figure out how to be partners, in more places than just the bedroom.

In New York to preside over the Sentinel Games, Dragos is worried about his mate, but knows that finding two replacement sentinels is essential to show the rest of the Elder Races just how strong and brutal the Wyr demesne can be. But as the games heat up, Pia's negotiations with the Elves take a turn for the dangerous, straining her bond with Dragos and threatening everything they hold dear . . .

• ISBN10: 0749958316
• ISBN13: 9780749958312
• Publish Date: 6 November 2012 (first published 1 November 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Piatkus Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[Melanie]

Listening to audiobook. Love Pia and Dragos.

In this story, we meet some new characters and old ones return (even if they are in very minor parts). I really love some of the new characters. I can't wait to see where the story goes next.

[Amanda]

*flails*

Oh. Oh, this book. I went into this book not really sure what to expect. I often find established couples (i.e., couples who have found their HEA in a previous book) to have lost the spark that made their romance so much fun in previous books. Cat and Bones in the Night Huntress is an example of this, for me. And while Lord's Fall can in no way be comparable to Dragon Bound in terms of the explosive nature of Dragos and Pia's relationship, I find that I love both books equally, for very different reasons. Thea Harrison capitalizes on these two characters' fierce personalities, showcasing just how difficult it can be to make a relationship work--and how rewarding it is when it does.

Lord's Fall does a good job of expanding on the world of the Elder Races and circling back around to issues that were created in previous books (issues with the Elves, the loss of Tiago and Rune). It also focuses on who Pia and Dragos are as individuals and as a couple. Relationships are a complicated dance, where it's easy to step on your partner's toes (or feelings). Lord's Fall answers the question: what happens after the HEA? The craziness of mating has eased a bit, and Pia and Dragos fight to learn how to be more than combustible in the bedroom.

I thought I could love Dragos no more than I did after reading Dragon Bound. I was wrong. He is so unyielding, and yet he tries so very hard to overcome every domineering instinct to be what Pia needs him to be. His sharp edges get softer and harder, all at once. I am completely and utterly flaily about Dragos--and this book. The ending just about killed me. At first, I wanted to say that Lord's Fall is more about what is happening in the Elder Races world than what happens with Dragos and Pia, but that's wrong. Their story is as powerful as it is subtle, their love for each other deepening and growing throughout their experiences both apart and together.

The Sentinel Games (and the core group of old Sentinels and potential ones Dragos expected to see in the future) give us the hope that this world is far, far from being over (in a series sense, not apocalyptic way). I think Thea Harrison has given us a good clue about whose story is coming next (and confirmed it on her Facebook page) and it promises to be a doozy. And AND! Pia's group of psychos, as she fondly referred to them, was so very fun to get to know. The way that these characters bond with each other just tickles me to death. *flails*

[EBookObsessed]

Thea Harrison shakes things up in her newest book in the Elder Races series. Lord’s Fall returns us to our hero and heroine of Book #1, Dragon Bound. After several books and short stories featuring the Wyr sentinals and other members of the Elder Races, we once again focus our attention on Dragos Cuelebre and Pia Giovanni. Understandably, since there is no question that this story could only be told through the eyes of the very powerful Lord of the Wyr and his new mate.

In the last book Oracle’s Moon, Dragos and Pia are given a prophesy from the Oracle which will soon come to be--

It had spoken of stars dying in agony, and the nature of evil, of Light and Dark as creatures, and Lord Death himself having forgotten he was a fraction of the whole.

“I am not form but Form,” the voice had claimed, “a prime indivisible. All these things were set in motion at the beginning, along with the laws of the universe and of Time itself. The gods formed at the moment of creation, as did the Great Beast, as did Hunger, as did Birth along with Finality, and I am the Bringer of the End of Days…”

In Lord’s Fall, Pia Giovanni has been the mate to the Lord of the Wyr for seven months now, and is very pregnant with her dragon baby. She is going to the Elven domain on a diplomatic mission to try to convince the Elven Lord to lift the trade embargo between the Elves and the Wyr which is financially harming both demesne. An embargo that was imposed after Dragos Cuelebre illegally crossed the Elven border when he was determined to capture the fleeing Pia at any cost in Dragon Bound. As the new First Lady of the Wyr demesne, it is her duty to try to negotiate an acceptable conclusion to this mess which began with her and Dragos.

But Pia isn’t the only one seeking an audience with the Elven Lord and when another faction of Elves, who had closed off their borders centuries ago, decides to show up and ask for help from the Elven Lord, Pia won’t be set aside and can’t let her chance to mend things between these the Wyr and the Elves slip away so she will travel deeper into the Elven domain, into a place between here and the Other land, cut off further from her mate.

But when it comes to light that someone has unearthed a Deus Machinae or God Machine, and they are determined to use it to destroy the world, Pia gets trapped in the middle of an Elven civil war, and the only one with enough power and authority to step in to save the Elven Lord and his people is the powerful dragon--the Great Beast.

As if all this isn’t exciting enough, back in NYC Dragos is holding the Sentinel Games since he now has to replace two of his sentinels, Tiago and Rune, who have gone off with their new mates. There is a gladiator type competition being held in Madison Square Garden where our five remaining Sentinels are competing with all types of Wyr, including some new and interesting Wyr.

THOUGHTS:

Usually an author in a paranormal romance series choose the way they will be presenting their storytelling at the beginning--it is either by a continued character such as Jeaneine Frost’s Bones and Cat or Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse, or a group of characters with a central background or location where each book focuses on a new couple with only guest appearance from prior or future heroes and heroines as with Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunters or Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark.

I LOVE the fact that Thea goes back to Dragoes and Pia.

Giving readers continued stories staring a main character or characters is wonderful for getting to know your characters, but you miss an opportunity to delve into some interesting side characters. In giving readers, a new hero and heroine to watch find love, we leave behind some characters who might still have a story to tell. In returning to and refocusing on our central characters of this series, Dragos and Pia, we get a chance to enjoy more of their story. It would be exciting to see more authors take note of this twist and think about returning to beloved characters and giving them another turn in the spotlight.

(And the last lines of the book are some of the sweetest I have ever read. *sniff, sniff*)

Received ARC from Penguin/Berkley. Thank you.

We'll be having an author interview with Thea Harrison on November 1st.

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