shai3d's review
5.0
Really enjoyed the book. A couple editing issues but the story was so good that I was pulled right back in.
urthwild_darknessbeckons's review
4.0
A much, much better book than the series debut ‘The Curse Merchant’ and to be fair that ‘is’ how things are meant to work.
Once again our central character is Dorian Lake a practitioner of hexes and charms, and once again he finds himself falling for a woman he barely knows.
I like Dorian Lake, on the surface he looks like a smart ass, but he has the same preoccupations as the rest of us and he is a big ole fluffy teddy bear at heart. If we were to meet in person we would be firm friends.
In the books opening Dorian has two problems, how does he incorporate the cute coffee shop waitress Ches that he has been flirting with into his unconventional life and, then there is the small problem that he was left with at the close of the first book, his soul on holiday without any baggage, how is he supposed to get it to come home?
I thought he was certainly very chipper for a guy without a soul, yep, he can see and sense the dark forces around him straining and eager to rip him apart but all of his angst was internal. Although his friends and significant others, Edgar, Wren, Julian and Ben know about his souls holiday apartment let, he doesn’t really let them in on his fears.
When something attaches itself to three females in succession two of whom are extremely close to him he has to wonder if his time is up. When the entity starts to kill his best friend’s daughter it is a race against time to save her life.
There were instances where I arrived at the scene way before the narrative or the protagonist, but I don’t see that as a weakness but a strength. Better to have a story that allows your imagination to cast off in wild tangents than one that bores you stupid leaving you with no desire to find out what happens next.
When Dorian does manage to connect the dots he deals with it with remarkable integrity, putting his adopted ‘family’ above all else, who wouldn’t want to be firm friends with a guy like that.
An extremely strong central character and a couple of clear future goals I can only see this series going from strength to strength.
Long may it continue.
Received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Urthwild
Once again our central character is Dorian Lake a practitioner of hexes and charms, and once again he finds himself falling for a woman he barely knows.
I like Dorian Lake, on the surface he looks like a smart ass, but he has the same preoccupations as the rest of us and he is a big ole fluffy teddy bear at heart. If we were to meet in person we would be firm friends.
In the books opening Dorian has two problems, how does he incorporate the cute coffee shop waitress Ches that he has been flirting with into his unconventional life and, then there is the small problem that he was left with at the close of the first book, his soul on holiday without any baggage, how is he supposed to get it to come home?
I thought he was certainly very chipper for a guy without a soul, yep, he can see and sense the dark forces around him straining and eager to rip him apart but all of his angst was internal. Although his friends and significant others, Edgar, Wren, Julian and Ben know about his souls holiday apartment let, he doesn’t really let them in on his fears.
When something attaches itself to three females in succession two of whom are extremely close to him he has to wonder if his time is up. When the entity starts to kill his best friend’s daughter it is a race against time to save her life.
There were instances where I arrived at the scene way before the narrative or the protagonist, but I don’t see that as a weakness but a strength. Better to have a story that allows your imagination to cast off in wild tangents than one that bores you stupid leaving you with no desire to find out what happens next.
When Dorian does manage to connect the dots he deals with it with remarkable integrity, putting his adopted ‘family’ above all else, who wouldn’t want to be firm friends with a guy like that.
An extremely strong central character and a couple of clear future goals I can only see this series going from strength to strength.
Long may it continue.
Received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Urthwild
urlphantomhive's review
3.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I recently read and reviewed the first book in this series as well; you can find it here. Today, I'm part of the blog tour promoting the second book, The Curse Servant.
I'll try to keep the spoilers down as much as possible, however there may be some minor spoilers for the first book.
A few months have passed since the first book, and as I'd only read The Curse Merchant very recently everything was still clear from the beginning. Dorian's life seems to stabilize at the beginning of the book, only to be disrupted again when women around him start getting attacked by demons. When his friend Edgar's daughter is the victim, Dorian won't stop until he has her cured.
Like I said before, I'm not overly experienced when it comes to Urban Fantasy series, so I'm not able to compare it with let's say The Harry Dresden Files about which I've heard a lot but never read. I've quite enjoyed myself with this series so far. They are what I like to call snackbooks. Some nice and fast to read without having to concentrate on it too much. Those are very nice every now and then.
Dorian is still very egocentric even though he tries to help a young girl. He's not a likeable character, but not so bad that I like to hate him either. I didn't find him really annoying, but I can see that some people might.
I didn't like the story in this book as much as the other one. It's basically the demon possession and city politics. I hope the next one will be a bit more interesting again. I also hope to get more answers about the magic system. Exactly what is the Presidium? Why is there a war going on outside the Presidium's territory? Why is that territory not covering all of the US? Why are demons hunting his soul?
I will be reading the next book in this series!
The Curse Servant is the second book in the Dark Choir series. The first book is The Curse Merchant.
Thanks to the publisher Curiosity Quills Press for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I recently read and reviewed the first book in this series as well; you can find it here. Today, I'm part of the blog tour promoting the second book, The Curse Servant.
I'll try to keep the spoilers down as much as possible, however there may be some minor spoilers for the first book.
A few months have passed since the first book, and as I'd only read The Curse Merchant very recently everything was still clear from the beginning. Dorian's life seems to stabilize at the beginning of the book, only to be disrupted again when women around him start getting attacked by demons. When his friend Edgar's daughter is the victim, Dorian won't stop until he has her cured.
Like I said before, I'm not overly experienced when it comes to Urban Fantasy series, so I'm not able to compare it with let's say The Harry Dresden Files about which I've heard a lot but never read. I've quite enjoyed myself with this series so far. They are what I like to call snackbooks. Some nice and fast to read without having to concentrate on it too much. Those are very nice every now and then.
Dorian is still very egocentric even though he tries to help a young girl. He's not a likeable character, but not so bad that I like to hate him either. I didn't find him really annoying, but I can see that some people might.
I didn't like the story in this book as much as the other one. It's basically the demon possession and city politics. I hope the next one will be a bit more interesting again. I also hope to get more answers about the magic system. Exactly what is the Presidium? Why is there a war going on outside the Presidium's territory? Why is that territory not covering all of the US? Why are demons hunting his soul?
I will be reading the next book in this series!
The Curse Servant is the second book in the Dark Choir series. The first book is The Curse Merchant.
Thanks to the publisher Curiosity Quills Press for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
booksuperpower's review
5.0
The Curse Servant by J. P. Sloan is a 2015 Curiosity Quills publication. I was provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Last week I finished The Curse Merchant, the first book in this series and admitted I would like to see where the series went and touch base with Dorian somewhere down the road. Well, it was my good fortune to have been invited to participate in the VBT for this second book. So, I was able to touch base with Dorian much sooner than I had anticipated. AWESOME!
If you recall, Dorian's soul has been sort of.... misplaced, if you will. Naturally, Dorian wants to get it back, and there are people who are willing to help him do that , but of course all of them have a hidden agenda. In the meantime, Dorian is witness to a rash of what appears to be brief demon possessions. When one hits really close to home, and decides to linger on for awhile, Dorian must pull out all the stops to figure out what is going on and why. Of course, Julian and the mayor figure prominently in the story too, as the campaign heats up and the usual political mudslinging gets out of hand.
I am so happy to say this book was just as good as the first one, actually a little better. The first book lays down the ground work introducing us to the main players and is the segue way into the series as a whole. This second book gave a clearer picture of Dorian, and while I was not all that fond of his attitude much of the time in the first book, I have seen some marked improvements in this second installment.
“Carmody stared at me from under his hat. I brandished the vial. ' You don't think I'll do it?'
'I think you're not ready to murder someone. And I think beneath this finely crafted veneer of sarcasm is decent man who still thinks the good guys ought to beat the bad guys when the show's over and the credits roll'”
This book has non-stop action and suspense, a cleverly crafted plot with interesting descriptions of Dorian's work, as well as the introduction of some new characters I think will add some sexual tension and maybe a little romance to the story in the future. There is a lot going on here, so be sure you have put aside a little time for this one, because once you start the book you will not want to put it down until you have finished it. Yep, I read it one sitting!
4.5 rounded to 5
Last week I finished The Curse Merchant, the first book in this series and admitted I would like to see where the series went and touch base with Dorian somewhere down the road. Well, it was my good fortune to have been invited to participate in the VBT for this second book. So, I was able to touch base with Dorian much sooner than I had anticipated. AWESOME!
If you recall, Dorian's soul has been sort of.... misplaced, if you will. Naturally, Dorian wants to get it back, and there are people who are willing to help him do that , but of course all of them have a hidden agenda. In the meantime, Dorian is witness to a rash of what appears to be brief demon possessions. When one hits really close to home, and decides to linger on for awhile, Dorian must pull out all the stops to figure out what is going on and why. Of course, Julian and the mayor figure prominently in the story too, as the campaign heats up and the usual political mudslinging gets out of hand.
I am so happy to say this book was just as good as the first one, actually a little better. The first book lays down the ground work introducing us to the main players and is the segue way into the series as a whole. This second book gave a clearer picture of Dorian, and while I was not all that fond of his attitude much of the time in the first book, I have seen some marked improvements in this second installment.
“Carmody stared at me from under his hat. I brandished the vial. ' You don't think I'll do it?'
'I think you're not ready to murder someone. And I think beneath this finely crafted veneer of sarcasm is decent man who still thinks the good guys ought to beat the bad guys when the show's over and the credits roll'”
This book has non-stop action and suspense, a cleverly crafted plot with interesting descriptions of Dorian's work, as well as the introduction of some new characters I think will add some sexual tension and maybe a little romance to the story in the future. There is a lot going on here, so be sure you have put aside a little time for this one, because once you start the book you will not want to put it down until you have finished it. Yep, I read it one sitting!
4.5 rounded to 5
avoraciousreader68's review
5.0
Soulless charm crafter Dorian Lake is dealing with the aftermath of losing his soul as well as trying to live up to his committments to Deputy Mayor Julian Bright and build his business. He has rental property issues, a possible relationship prospect, and shadows to deal with when his best friends' daughter is caught in the crossfire of the supernatural gunning for him. Now it's a race to save her before the entity eats her soul.
Once more unto the breach with Dorian. I said in my review of The Curse Merchant that Dorian reminds me a lot of Harry Dresden and he does. I think its the snarky humor along with the running around like a chicken with its head cut off aspect while trying to solve a mystery so as to come up with a solution. Since Harry is one of my favorite characers I quite enjoy waching Dorian run around. The writing is excellent, I love the characters, there is lots of interesting magic, a mystery to solve and a romantic interest. The plot is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears...not too much, not too little, but just right. The overall arc is solved and yet I know that the Dorian's story has not ended. I am intrigued. I look forward to seeing where Dorian is heading, what he will do, what he will come up against and who will enter and exit his life.
Once more unto the breach with Dorian. I said in my review of The Curse Merchant that Dorian reminds me a lot of Harry Dresden and he does. I think its the snarky humor along with the running around like a chicken with its head cut off aspect while trying to solve a mystery so as to come up with a solution. Since Harry is one of my favorite characers I quite enjoy waching Dorian run around. The writing is excellent, I love the characters, there is lots of interesting magic, a mystery to solve and a romantic interest. The plot is like Goldilocks and the Three Bears...not too much, not too little, but just right. The overall arc is solved and yet I know that the Dorian's story has not ended. I am intrigued. I look forward to seeing where Dorian is heading, what he will do, what he will come up against and who will enter and exit his life.
rickus90's review
4.0
A really great read :) Totally recommend it! Full review over here: https://rickusbookshelf.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/the-curse-servant-by-j-p-sloan-the-dark-choir-2/
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