A review by dandelionsteph
The Adventurers Guild: Night of Dangers by Zack Loran Clark, Nick Eliopulos
4.0
I'm not sure how to feel about a major character being revealed to have a crush on the protagonist. I'm not sure how to parse it being This is a difficult book to classify, because I don't recall there being any hint , which was true for a long time in various real-life societies. That it would be rare and secret would explain why its existence (from the perspective of ) would have only been brought up here, when it's important to the plot.
If you don't like romance, and have built up a tolerance for passing mentions of hetero romantic relationships as a necessity simply because it's nigh-inescapable (at least in U.S. culture), then you may be happy to know is incorporated into the plot in a subtle and entertaining way. Most of the
On the whole: there's no way one would have guessed a romantic relationship would have eventually become important to the plot from previous books, and the way it's done here is certainly unexpected. Still, it's simply a minor, odd note to the flavor of the book, which is practically unaffected by it, and remains very enjoyable.
Having read Wings of Fire: The Flames of Hope (by Tui Sutherland) earlier in the same month, I wasn't as impressed with the plot twist in this book. I have half a mind to prefer the villain to just be a super-powerful witch. It's odd that both Mother Brenner and , who were villains/built up to be villains, were ultimately just women manipulated by dark forces. , too, was manipulated. (There was a female villain in the second book, I think? I tried refreshing my memory by reading reviews, but I couldn't find it in a quick look)
Spoiler
Micah, who bullied Zed for his elven heritage earlier on.Spoiler
gay relationships could exist in this setting before; admittedly, it does seem to be rare, frowned-upon and secretly-conductedSpoiler
straight/presumably-straight point-of-view charactersIf you don't like romance, and have built up a tolerance for passing mentions of hetero romantic relationships as a necessity simply because it's nigh-inescapable (at least in U.S. culture), then you may be happy to know
Spoiler
the gay/queer relationship between Micah and ZedSpoiler
crush's influence on the book doesn't feel too romantic or "mushy": specifically, Micah's crush on Zed is heavily implied to be the reason Zed can enter his mind to talk to him so easily, and why Micah is so eager to help Zed. There's no True Love's Kiss or anything: in fact, most of it can be read as akin to the platonic life partners trope/some kind of fantasy life-debt bond. There's about two and a half pages of explicitly romantic stuff near the end, where Micah gives Zed some flowers (an obviously romantic gesture) as Zed blushes, but it's a momentary blip to read through if the reader doesn't like romance, and since it's in the epilogue in the end to the series, the reader can skip it if they have a really low tolerance for romance.On the whole: there's no way one would have guessed a romantic relationship would have eventually become important to the plot from previous books, and the way it's done here is certainly unexpected. Still, it's simply a minor, odd note to the flavor of the book, which is practically unaffected by it, and remains very enjoyable.
Having read Wings of Fire: The Flames of Hope (by Tui Sutherland) earlier in the same month, I wasn't as impressed with the