Well, I’ve finished reading another book, and this one was really good.  Kindar’s Cure by Michelle Hauck takes place in the kingdom of Anost, and follows Kindar, second daughter of Empress Eugenie Stefanous, as she seeks out a cure for the disease that is slowly robbing her of life:

Princess Kindar of Anost dreams of playing the hero and succeeding to her mother’s throne. But dreams are for fools. Reality involves two healthy sisters and a wasting disease of suffocating cough that’s killing her by inches. When her elder sister is murdered, the blame falls on Kindar, putting her head on the chopping block.

A novice wizard, Maladonis Bin, approaches with a vision—a cure in a barren land of volcanic fumes. As choices go, a charming bootlicker that trips over his own feet isn’t the best option, but beggars can’t be choosers. As Mal urges her toward a cure that will prove his visions, suddenly, an ally turns traitor, delivering Kindar to a rebel army, who have their own plans for a sickly princess.

With the killer poised to strike again, the rebels bearing down, and the country falling apart, she must weigh her personal hunt for a cure against saving her people.

This was a fantastic story.    Mal was, for me, a bit hard to read, and I felt at the end that…well, not to give anything away, but I felt he must have been a wonderful actor.  I loved Sir Henry – he reminded me strongly of Seymour.  And other characters reminded me often of people I’ve known or characters I’ve written, which was great for a couple of reasons: 1. It made them feel realistic; and 2. It was good research for my own writing.  I’ll admit to feeling a little hungover after this book; I’m still pondering it a bit and I finished it Thursday night.

However, I feel like the Cushwair rebellion could maybe have been resolved a bit better.  Aside from Grant’s troops chasing Kindar and company back to the Anost border, the actual rebellion and its status are never really touched on again.  Farthos and Samberland each get their mention by the end, but unless marrying Sir Henry is supposed to fix things, I’m not sure how the situation with Cushwair was resolved.  And maybe that was it – if that’s the case, then yay!  But I read this in the midst of my massive sinus/ear infection medication haze, so some of the book’s subtleties may have eluded me.

Except for the blood.  That one didn’t, and I was right proud of myself for catching it. 🙂

So, what did I think?  Great characterization, good action scenes, lots of snappy dialogue – all in all, I loved it and am glad to have read it.  I may even read it again in the next month or so for research purposes…I have issues with dialogue, and Michelle’s dialogue is fantastic.  Check it out by clicking on the link (or picture) above!

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