The Impossible Lover (The GrailChase Chronicles)

Dara
Fogel
Genre: 
Historical

Bound by a time-honored oath, the Grail Guardians watch over the coveted Archives.  The knowledge it contains could destroy civilization if it were to fall into the wrong hands.  The Dark Brotherhood manipulates an officer of Queen Victoria’s Royal Army into underhandedly negotiating for land rights in Italy, which may endanger Europe and trigger an old prophecy.

 

“The Impossible Lover,” the first book in the GrailChase Chronicles, blends romance, good versus evil conflict, steampunk elements, and philosophical musings to produce a curious reading experience.  The Grail Guardians and Dark Ones offer a potentially gripping intrigue.   With special gadgets and criminal talents, their malevolent regime spreads corruption and death across Europe, which is related and not shown, except through a character’s memories.  The fate of mankind hangs in the balance, yet the urgency of the situation dims when Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Haldane, an unlikely romantic hero, and Donna Sophia D’Amici enter the plot.   The focus then shifts to their wants and needs regularly announced through inner dialogue.  Haldane’s shallow personality begins to show the beginnings of what could be an interesting character, but very late in the story. The story gains an alien and confusing quality as Haldane experiences altered states of reality.   Narrative regarding his gifts and the prophecy may have benefited this metaphysical element.  Sophia was a nice fit for the novel.  Women were held to traditional roles in this alternate universe, but Sophia, who craved a man’s independence, acquired this expectation after she gained a large role the D’Amici family.  With added tension, less internal musings, and deft dialogue the GrailChase Chronicles could become a unique contender within the genre.  

 

Anna Fitzgerald