Wolfblade - Jennifer Fallon

Wolfblade by Jennifer Fallon
Book ONE in The Wolfblade Trilogy

BLURB:

Marla Wolfblade is young and impulsive, the sister of Hythria's debauched ruler. In a fiercely patriarchal society, her life is his to command. And, to the displeasure of the Patriot faction, who are eager to usurp the throne, she is chosen to carry on the royal line.

Marla's position places her at huge risk in circles where friends and family are enemies and socerers play insidious games. But when she chooses the dwarf Elezaar as her slave, the odds change. His guidance sees Marla become a wily diplomat and tactician - but will that be enough to save Hythria's future heir?

This must be her mantra: trust no one.


MY Version:

Marla starts out as a whiny, empty headed pretty young thing with her head in the clouds. Her brother, on the other hand, is the High Prince of the land but does a poor job of it. He leaves the task of governing the country and the numerous Warlords of the provinces to the High Arrion, which is a fancy name for the chief of sorcerers. Ironically, the chief of sorcerers has not a magical bone in his body. The High Prince is not interested in women and prefers to spend his time exploring his perverse fantasies with slaves and others of his elk. This is where Marla comes in. Essentially, whoever who marries and gets Marla with child will be the father of the heir of the land, and that would grant immense power to the man who marries Marla. Politics eludes Marla until she gets her first slave, Elezaar the dwarf. Elezaar is a damn smart guy, seemingly with all the answers. Kinda like Merlin to Arthur. He teaches Marla his Rules of Gaining and Wielding Power which are like Confucious sayings that really come in handy. I really liked this rule: Accept what you cannot change - change that which is unacceptable.
Armed with her new knowledge, Marla tries her hand at politics... And that is where the fun begins. Those who wanted to make use of a doll found Marla more than what they bargained for.

I look forward to finding Book TWO in the library. This is a good read, though hefty at 711 pages. In fact, what attracted me to the book in the first place was its size. Don't read it the wrong way, I'm just attracted to a long story because I find short ones end too abruptly. And precisely because they end so fast, the character development / feelings for the character in most short novels tend to be lacking. There's an author interview transcript at the end too, if you want to know more about the woman who wrote this great book.