Search - Lara (World of Hetar, Bk 1)

Lara has been sold into slavery by her father. For most young women in the world of Hetar, this is a disaster that brings about nothing but fear and sorrow. For Lara however it is but the very beginning of her adventure.

Half human, half faerie, Lara is stunningly beautiful and willful as well. Her faerie protector guides her in finding her destiny which involves a series of great adventures and great lovers. Finally reaching the Outlands, Lara comes to realize her destiny is to aid the people she finds there in their war against her homeland Hatar. But when the battle comes will she be ready to face her fears?

Ok, I searched my mind long and hard to find a word that would describe “Lara.” The only word I can come up with that would seem to fit would be: kitsch.

The plot of “Lara” is pretty simple, and it is very obvious that it is Small’s first leap from romance novels into fantasy novels. The writing as I said before can only be described as kitsch. It is obvious that Small is a non confrontational person. Everything comes so easy to Lara. She’s beautiful, so everyone wants to sleep with her. She has a natural skill with weapons, she super smart, she has magic to help her when her brains can’t, the list goes on and on and the main character has no faults.

Not only was the fact that the main character has no faults sort of sickening, I also wanted to barf when all of the obstacles in Lara’s way bowed down to her. She had to only fight in one battle at the very end where her side one a total victory slaying all of the adversary and only taking about 20 deaths on the “good” side, and none of them significant in the least to the plotline.

Small’s writing style leaves something to be desired as well. Take a line from page 405 where she is describing a battle.
“…soon the battlefield ran red with blood, and it was difficult not to slip or fall…”
Huh? In the heat of battle when she could have swords clashing, men screaming, heroics going on all around she decides to say that it’s hard to stand up? The dialogue between the characters is also rather on the pathetic side. It reminded me of “The Boxcar Children.” Do you remember that book? You read it when you were maybe like 8 and the characters said: “Good!” to everything and didn’t speak like normal people would? At times Small got almost Shakespearian on the reader and added in a lot of ‘nays’ and ‘ayes’ and ‘thous.’ It was quite tedious at times.

Now that I’m done destroying this book, I do have to admit that despite this large laundry list of problems with the plot, characters, dialogue, etc…I actually kind of liked “Lara.” Despite all its shortcomings “Lara” did keep me entertained. I’m not running out to get the sequel as the ending is in no way a cliffhanger, but I’ll put it on my book swapping list and if I have a bunch of credits built up when it comes along I’d consider getting it and reading it.

I’m giving this book an exceptionally generous 3 stars. “Lara” is not going to win any awards anytime soon, but the theme can appeal to those who enjoy romance stories with a touch of fantasy, and is easy enough to read and get through quickly. A good starter book for those new to fantasy…just don’t have super-high expectations going in.

I really enjoyed this book! I had no idea the Bertrice Small had moved into this genre.

In the world of Hetar, mercenary John Swiftsword has long wanted to be a Crusader Knight, but is too poor to afford the fees and outfit needed to apply to the Order. The only thing of value he has is his beautiful half-faerie daughter Lara. When his wife suggests they sell her for the money to attain his knighthood, he reluctantly agrees. Thus begins Lara's adventure toward a destiny that her faerie guardian keeps telling her she must keep moving toward.

This book is like candy - simple with no substance and yet strangely fascinating enough to hold my attention till the end, though most of it was easily skimmed. It was a typical fantasy romance where good and bad are pretty black and white, and the writer gives the heroine plenty of opportunities for gratuitous sex in the guise of developing her character. Strangely enough, I actually finished it, although I can't imagine being able to read 4 more books of this stuff, so I am not sure I'll bother with the rest of the series. Unless I get a craving for more candy.