TEST
Suzanne Robinson’s latest novel, The Legend, re-introduces us to some familiar characters, namely The Hero Who Can’t Let Himself Love Again and The Heroine Who Is Supposed To Be Intelligent But Is Really A Nitwit, here played by Galen de Marlowe and Honor Jennings. There are admittedly some new twists: He’s clairvoyant and she’s a widow and “vowess,” meaning she’s taken a religious oath of celibacy and piety. But neither of these saves this story from being The Book That’s Been Done a Million Times, Almost All Of Them Better Than This.
The main problem with this book is the carelessness with which plot devices are conveniently introduced, and then just as conveniently discarded without really going anywhere. Case in point is the legend which gives the book its name: once upon a time a horrible villain seized a castle named Durance Guard and raped and murdered the lady of the keep, who later returned to haunt him and eventually kill him. Ever since, Durance Guard has lain empty. Enter Galen and Honor. Each insists the keep belongs to him/her. She wants to build herself a grand manor where she can set up her newfangled printing press and enjoy her widowhood. He wants to escape the visions of someone murdering the royal princes that have been plaguing him. So far, so good. He intimidates her into leaving, she returns to “haunt” him as Rowena, the vengeful ghost of Durance Guard. He retaliates by arranging for her to go to London in hopes of marrying her off, but is caught in his own trap when her father insists that Galen accompany the group. As soon as they leave the vicinity of the Castle, the Legend is discarded, never to return. In addition, neither of them even seems concerned with the ownership of Durance Guard, never mind that it was the bone of contention that prompted him to marry her off.
In fact, every single plot device in this novel has an anticlimactic end, if indeed it is ever mentioned again after it outlives its usefulness. While they are at court, much is made of Honor’s dubious sincerity in taking her vows by her shadowy brother-in-law, who wanted to marry her off to his cousin, thereby maintaining family control of his brother’s inheritance. Galen, of course, defends her honor, but when he decides to marry her himself, the vows aren’t even an issue – we aren’t even told that the King makes her put them aside, although this is something she has feared throughout the novel. Similarly, Galen spends most of the novel dreading a confrontation with his friend King Edward, because he doesn’t want to have to relate his vision of the princes’ murder. But as the book wraps up, there is an offhanded mention of the conversation, which we never see, with the side note that Edward hadn’t taken it very seriously.
And then there are Galen’s four also-psychic brothers. Aside from constituting a collective plot device which serves to reveal (repeatedly) that Galen is in fact in love with Honor – something he never admits to himself or to her until the very end, although he tells his brothers quite regularly – they also scream ‘Sequels’ so loudly that you want to clue the poor guys in; after all, if their sequels are as poorly done as the original, they really ought to have a fighting chance to seek cover. But then again, since they’re psychic, perhaps they already know.
The Legend is a patchwork tale of unfinished plots badly stitched together with stilted language and laughable dialogue. “I’m foully vexed!” announces the heroine early in the novel. I know how she feels. I read the whole book.
Grade: D-
Book Type: Medieval Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 19/03/01
Publication Date: 2001
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.