Dangerous Talents by Frankie Robertson
My Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
My last post dealt with authors who blog on WordPress, especially self-published authors who may not have become household names yet. (Though, of course, we know they ALL will get there someday, right?) Frankie Robertson isn’t a beginner, by any means, but I don’t think I would have discovered her books if I had not found her on WordPress, so she counts for the purposes of my “research.” Research being defined as having the time of my life discovering authors who are new to me, and who don’t necessarily have 15 or 20 best sellers to their credit, yet.
Last night, I finished Dangerous Talents, and I am happy to report that I was thoroughly entertained by the book. I’m not usually drawn to fantasy worlds in general, but there are always exceptions, and this was one of them. I think one of the reasons it was so easy for me to connect with this story is because it kept one foot in our world, too, by having a heroine who accidentally finds herself in a strange new world, rather than being part of the fantasy world all her life. In this regard, it reminded me of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, though the tale is very different.
When our heroine, Cele, falls into another world, we see it all through the eyes of someone from our modern society, and that kept me connected to the story much more solidly than I would normally be in a typical fantasy tale. I like plenty of references to my own world, I guess, and the dilemma faced by Cele (who has become Lady Celia) wanting to find her way home again, yet wanting to stay with the people she is learning to care about, and the man she has fallen in love with.
I thought Robertson’s world-building was very strong, complete with an entire Norse mythology and background that let you know these people were once part of our world, too, hundreds of years before. The stories and traditions were very carefully interwoven into the tale overall, and made the world of Alfheim feel very solid and real to me. I also thought the characters were well developed and likable, though I have to confess that once Vikings and Norsemen came into play, I persisted in picturing Lord Dahleven as Chris Hemsworth in the movie “Thor.” Because, well…yum. THOR! How could I resist?
I did find myself slightly exasperated with Celia at times for being a bit naive and foolish, but it wasn’t a case of IHS, by any means. (Idiotic Heroine Syndrome). Sometimes heroines have to do at least a few foolish things in order to get themselves into jams that THOR…I mean, Lord Dahleven…can come get them out of. At least she was an equal partner most of the time, and capable of standing up for herself when need be, and even saving the day now and then. Overall, I enjoyed her a lot. Especially her interactions with Th…ahem…Lord Dahleven.
I enjoyed the book well enough that I’ve already downloaded another by Frankie Robertson, and I hope some of you will check out her work as well. If you like romance, fantasy, Vikings, Norsemen, references to Odin, Loki and…tada…Thor, Lords and Ladies, and stories that manage to connect to both a fantasy world and the real one, I recommend giving Dangerous Talents a try. Check out Frankie’s Soapbox while you are at it. It’s a very interesting blog, with lots of info on her personal self-publishing experiences.
I’m giving Dangerous Talents a 4 of 5 stars due largely to the lovely Viking/Norse world building, the very nice romance between Cele/Lady Celia and Lord Dahleven, and…okay, I’ll admit it…because it made me think of Thor. A lot.
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