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Edited by Vaishali
Title: ‘The Emperor of Evening Stars'
Author: Laura Thalassa Series: (The Bargainer #2.5) Genre: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal romance Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Year of Publication: 2017 Version: Paperback ISBN: 9781981426942 Review
‘Secrets are meant for one soul to keep’
‘Rhapsodic’ (The first book in The Baraginer series) studies Desmond Flynn, a man of dark intimacies striving to win the love of a woman who was scorned by his abandonment. ‘A Strange Hymn’ follows the maintenance of their love when trust is a feeble thing among the enigmatic and obscure, and ‘An Emperor of Evening Stars’ climbs the ladders and crawls through the layers of the well defended and secreted life of the man who lived many lives before he ever met Callie, and eventually came to be the dark King of Night, The Emperor of Evening Stars.
‘I’m not the dark, untouchable night, but the dying star within it.’
Living in the lowliest city in the Kingdom of Night, raised and proclaimed as an impoverished ‘bastard’ child by a single hard-working mother, a title young Desmond loathes, but one he fights nonetheless. Deep in the caves of Arestys, Des is taught the ways of erudition, secrecy and control by an equally mysterious mother whose shadows are out of reach. We follow Des through his struggles of identity, his unknown heritage, and the mores of poverty and his place in society in his early teenage years with only his mother’s wise teachings and inscrutable instruction to hide and stow all that he is away from shrewd eyes and gossiping mouths.
‘I hate poverty. I hate feeling like we’re only entitled to the worst this realm has to offer simply because. But more than anything, I hate having to make hard choices. Books or food? To learn or to eat?'
In the briefness of a millisecond Des loses everything, but it becomes the pinnacle moment of his life, defining his roaring desires for revenge. From the death of the most beloved person in Des’s mediocre life, Des has his sights set on destroying the man who deeply disturbed the foundation of his fragile existence. Ploughing through his life with the face of the man he abhors to the dark depths of hell and back, Des faces his darker crueller double who is far more harmonised in nature as he than he would like to admit.
‘He wants me to burn bright like the sun with my fury.
But I am the farthest, iciest reaches of the night.’
Des evolves from an untried youth, learning the ropes of his life and circulating places he has only ever read about to a firmly formed man. An unforgiving past of coldness, callouses and fire, Des continues on, a solemn hopefulness for an undetermined future of potential love. Drawn to the dark night but shadowed by the light Des brings his business of bargains and deals to earth’s realm, establishing himself as the lawless bargainer, investing precious time in his search to find his nameless, faceless, soul-bonded partner.
‘I swear to the Undying Gods that once I’m able to, I will scour the earth for my soulmate. I’ll put my past behind me and focus on the future. And when I find her-if I find her- I won’t waste time fearing what others will think. I’ll cherish her, respect her, love her. For all the days of her mortal life, I’ll claim her as mine.’
I loved the scenes between Des and Callie from Des’s vantage point, seeing with more context how situations played out through eyes other than Callie’s very insecure, vulnerable ones. It made me re-examine what I know from ‘Rhapsodic’ and understand Des’s inner monologue at those crucial times when Callie needed him the most and was let down by him the most. Reading these scenes only made me love dear Desmond more, and I forgot how much I missed this well-suited, amazingly lovable couple who are strong enough apart but still the yin to the other’s yang. There are such similarities between Callie and Des’s lives, loners being hunted for their vulnerabilities and attacked for their weaknesses. Both outcasts. Both borne from distress and despair, but they give and teach what the other is missing. They are companionable together, and I only wanted to read more from Des’s perspective, preferably the first two books in a special edition told by Mr. Night himself ?
‘She’s going to break me. I fell in love with this woman’s darkness, with her pain and vulnerability. That had been enough. But when she laughs-when she laughs, that’s when I realise I’m a ruined man.’
Cities of the corrupt to castles of nobility, brotherhoods and loyal friends, battles and divinations, to a foreign world from which his young mate gazes at diverse stars, sinking in her own horrid life, Des waits the eternities of time to find his wounded mate, only to find that the fight for love is the most damning and sacrificial of any fight he has fought thus far.
“Love costs even more than power, even more than revenge or hate.”
‘Sweet thing, hasn’t she figured out by now that though I rule the heavens, I’m hell wrapped in a man?
Split into three parts, this superb novella explores the three most essential, poignant and pivotal parts of Des’s life. His need for revenge, his ascent to power, and his yearning for love. The man of secrets and darkness, the man carved from poverty, hardened by pain and remade by love, let me welcome you to the life of 'The Emperor of Evening Stars'.
‘How do you fight the darkness? You refuse to let it snuff out your light.
Who is the real Desmond Fynn?…If you read this you will gain more than you bargained for.
‘All those evenings she watched me leave her, those are the illusion. Because the truth is, I have searched worlds for her, looked for her for centuries. I’ve held her a thousand times in my dreams, and I have died a thousand times upon waking.
My heart, my soul. My queen.’ ‘This is what it’s like to be loved. Like the universe forming from chaos. It’s lighter than air and headier than magic.’ I gave this book 4.3 stars -
My Rating System:
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★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read
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Related posts:
● 'Rapsodic' by Laura Thalassa
● 'Dark Harmony' by Laura Thalassa _________________________________________________ CategoriesAll Leave a comment and lets talk about 'The Emperor of Evening Stars'
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