Mystic Warrior : All About Romance

Mystic Warrior

Grade : C

The action and adventure of Mystic Warrior take place during the French Revolution and are set in France, England, and the mythical island of Aelynn. The plot revolves around the struggle of a man to take control of his potential and the woman who enables him to do so. As exciting as all this could be, unfortunately, I found the story quite dull.

Murdoch LeDroit wanted nothing more in life than to return to his home on Aelynn, the Mystic Isle, and claim the woman fated for him – Lissandra Olympus, the Oracle’s daughter. Yet when he accidentally kills her father with his magical powers released in a fit of anger, he knows all is lost and flees Aelynn forever. While abroad in France, he finds the perfect outlet for his special talents – war. However, the years of fighting wear on him and he yearns to help those caught between the opposing armies and politics.

When Lissandra’s mother dies and leaves Aelynn leaderless, the gods must choose a successor. After rejecting both Lissandra and her brother, they abandon the magical island and travel to the world of the Others, where she knows in her soul they are seeking Murdoch, one of the most powerful, yet uncontrollable Aelynns ever. Feeling that it’s her duty to locate the new Oracle in order to save her home from chaos and destruction, she leaves the island in search of Murdoch and hopes to bring him back.

Finding Murdoch in France only reinforces her beliefs that he’s the chosen Oracle. However, for him to return to Aelynn and take his rightful place as spiritual leader, he must learn to control his incredibly powerful gifts, as well as recover an ancient chalice that was once lost from their home. To complicate matters even more, they have to negotiate the politics of the Revolution, confront others from Aelynn whose purposes are unclear, and come to the rescue of others in need.

Luckily, there were a few moments within the story that were interesting and the chemistry between Murdoch and Lissandra was believable. The best parts of the story occurred when the two of them were alone together dealing with their difficult relationship instead of interacting with all the complicating forces surrounding them – which brings me to the heart of the problem I had with the story. There were too many problems to deal with and, instead of creating interest, they convoluted what could have been a solid story. The language of the story at times was flowery to the point of purple, which bogged the things down even further and made the characters seem pretentious. I personally would never describe myself as having a rapier wit, even if it were true, which, unfortunately, it isn’t.

I can say that Mystic Warrior is certainly different with its French Revolutionary setting and fantasy elements. However, those things weren’t enough to keep me interested in a story that was overly complicated and simply too long.

Reviewed by Heather Brooks

Grade : C

Book type : Fantasy Romance

Sensuality : Hot

Review Date : August 12, 2009

Published On : 2009