Elemental Masters: Unnatural Issue - A Novel

Light C.: This was an amazing story. It had some very dark pieces and difficult truths and realities but it was told so well it made the entire novel even richer.

I have to admit it was hard for me to read about the horrid details of Necromantic Magick, Richard Whitestone and of the very true details of World War I. In many ways it disgusted me to know that there are people in the world who would think nothing of doing such things if they could, and believe it was their right. Some of the things described truly disturbed me, even when only in the abstract. Probably because they were so well written and so believable of a piece. There were two areas that were the hardest for me to get through. One was the concept of a father willing to displace his own daughter’s soul just to have his wife again within that same body, including physically. The second was the violent nature of battle at the front lines and what not only the soldiers had to experience but the displaced countrymen, their losses, and what the healers saw and still had to discharge their duties in caring for them, or not being able to care for all, which might have been the hardest to do.

Of course with these...

United States on Dec 06, 2021

Aimee Crisp: I was unsure where the romance of this book was headed, but I love how it all turned out.
Based on the fairy tale Donkey Skin, this is a story about a girl running away from her twisted father. Not a fairy tale that gets rewritten often. I've only read 2. It was well done, the father's actions believable in the context of the story, and the fantastical elements were done skillfully. Chekhov's gun was used masterfully in this book. I'm taking notes. 😁

United States on Sep 29, 2020

Minxie: Another wonderful Lackey book, heartrending in places. Again, many frustrating formatting issues, but it could be much worse. Would very much appreciate someone looking at the formatting problems, however.

United Kingdom on Oct 20, 2017

Kindle Customer: Have loved this series and it's snippets of historical fact, but this one us definitely tbe most graphic in its description of world war one conditions. An excellent read.

United Kingdom on Jun 10, 2017

Hubert de Southchurch: I really like this Series and once I'd discovered the first one, I read them all, one after the other, because I found I didn't want to lose the story thread once I'd immersed myself in the alternate Universe of the first book.

United Kingdom on Aug 22, 2016

Pete in UK: A good book (not my favourite in the series but still a good story)

United Kingdom on Jun 06, 2016

Kindle Customer: Definately some of Lackeys' work goes in unnatural directions. I don't see how a good man could turn into a monster but sometimes that is what people want to write. I like Lackeys' Elemental Masters Group very well. This is not a favourite but is still a good read.

Canada on Nov 17, 2013

TruckerCats: Ok, I love this seris and this author, but this is the worst book she has ever written.
Whenever the Peter side of the story was being told, I swear the writting was horrible, the dialog was an idiotic and overblown idea of what an english "toff" of that era would sound like, the plot nothing more then page long descriptions of what kind of stupid disguise that he was going to wear next.
It felt like that side of the story was being told by a completly different person that had no idea how to write a smart engaging story, and felt that they had to led me along by the hand like they felt that I was an idiot who could not follow a story. I honestly felt that this side of the story was written by some other person, and I had to really push myself to push through and finish this story.
The other side of the story was ok. That was the side that I first read in the free preview. and it was enough to get me to buy the book, but the very next chapter started one of the most horrible reads that I have ever had.
The timeline did not seem right. The timeline seems to be set at the same time as Maya's story....but I don't think that story was set at the same time as WWI. I kept...

United States on Jan 01, 2013

Sheila L. Beaumont: This seventh entry in Mercedes Lackey's "Elemental Masters" series is a variation on the dark fairy tale "Donkeyskin" and also an homage to Dorothy L. Sayers. It's set in England and France just before and during the early part of WWI.

Lord Peter Almsley, this magical world's analogue of Lord Peter Wimsey, is a major character in this novel, in which he's an operative of the White Lodge in London and MI13, the magical intelligence agency. He's dispatched to go north to find a mysterious necromancer whose illicit, corrupt blood magic has been detected.

Susanne is the magically talented daughter of this necromancer, Richard Whitestone, who has renounced his daughter ever since his beloved wife, Rebecca, died giving birth to her 21 years ago. He has become an embittered recluse, who is obsessed with the thought of bringing Rebecca's spirit back to life, using his daughter's body as a vessel for it. In her father's absence, Susanne has been lovingly raised by the manor's servants and has learned Earth magic from Robin Goodfellow, also known as Puck.

Like all of Lackey's books, this tale has plenty of likable characters, along with the requisite evil wizard. It's a...

United States on Jun 12, 2011