Where I Make a Case for the Whole Series

When Maidens Mourn by C.S. Harris
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is such a consistently excellent series. Book 7 and I'm loving it as much as book 1.

Usually, I concern myself most with how much I enjoyed reading a thing. If I like it, whether it's classic literature, poetry, graphic novels, or genre fiction, and if I have a good time reading it, I call it good--5 stars. This qualifies, and I embrace my completely, unabashedly subjective viewpoint when I make that claim. But even in the realm of quasi-objectivity, where one makes a case for a book, still filled with subjective judgments but trying to evaluate dispassionately, this series and this book deserve critical acclaim.

IMO, of course. But I'll explain.

The prose is excellent--unfailingly clear, precise, and unobtrusive. In style, it adopts a Regency vocabulary and grammar just enough to suggest the time without demanding the reader pay particular attention. Dialogue comes off as realistic while still serving the narrative and meeting genre expectations. And both bloody action scenes and romantic scenes (and everything in between) are handled with the same skill, the same sensitivity, with perhaps a drop of poetry here and there, giving the reader a clear view without cloying melodrama. It's uniformly well handled.

The characters continue to be interesting and engaging. I want to know what happens to them (kind of as people) more than I usually do when reading a series. The author makes all recurring characters round, or as round as as practical for their time on the page, with identifiable good and bad qualities, genuine motivations, disruptive personal conflicts, and gradually revealed backstories full of surprises. The most central characters also are sufficiently dynamic, changing a bit in each book, and not always for the better. This is all intentional, and I think it's well done.

Excellent pacing. Nice use of setting details. Engaging, thoughtful discussions about poetry, history, war, love, family, and more. Satisfying conclusion.

It's well constructed. It's as fun to read as it is because the author has worked hard to make it that way. Once in awhile it pays to look under the hood and see how that works.

Recommended. Read the whole series. I need to go order the next three or four of them. I promised myself I'd quit buying them just one at a time....

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