Review: “Magic Wild,” Linsey Hall

Pros: Rollicking fun adventure
Cons: Inconsistencies
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Linsey Hall’s Dragon’s Gift world starts out with the 5-book series of The Huntress, centered on Cass. In the 5-book series of The Seeker, we center on Del, Cass and Nix’s sister-by-choice. At the end of The Huntress, Del died to save her friends. In book one of The Seeker, she found her way back to the land of the living, started to fall for a half-demon named Roarke, and helped him to hunt down and kill a powerful Ubilaz demon. In book two, she had to learn to get control of her powers because the Ubilaz demon’s power–which she accidentally stole–caused her to attract demons at inconvenient moments. She and Roarke hunted down a special artifact destined for her which was meant to help her gain that control. In book three, Del and Roarke determined to save Del’s mysterious friend Draka. Now, in Magic Wild (Dragon’s Gift: The Seeker Book 4), Del decides she needs to collect new powers. While hunting demons she spots Roarke’s wayward brother Caden and she and Roarke set off to bring him in. Unfortunately he transfers a curse to her, and the friends soon find themselves hunting down the Underworld headquarters of a mysterious group of Shadows. The Shadows believe Del is destined to be their queen, to become something they call “the Demise”. Obviously, she’d really rather not!

This entry into the series is very consistent with the rest in terms of quality and content. The small romance subplot is PG-rated and enjoyable, and Roarke and Del do have some chemistry. The fight scenes kick ass, although I still don’t understand why no one uses guns. There’s plenty of danger, tension, and adventure; people get caught, hurt, cursed, and so forth. There are always more demons to fight! Money is no object as the love interests are super-wealthy. Also, it’s now Del’s turn to worry about getting addicted to stealing powers.

As usual there are a couple of inconsistencies. If Nix can conjure acid bombs, which she does during a fight in this book, why has she never conjured potions before? And why are acid bombs doable but not other potions? I also still can’t get a handle on Del’s ability to haul the past into the present. Apparently she actually risks changing history, which is not a good position to put yourself in unless you are the most finicky, nit-picking author ever, because otherwise you’re likely to screw yourself over. I’m still not clear on whether the intersection between the past and present clears itself after Del leaves, or not. I’ve seen scenes in these books that seem to give conflicting answers to this.

I’m enjoying this series and I definitely want to find out what happens next. But if the inconsistencies I’ve noted will bother you, or you prefer your urban fantasy a little less formulaic, you might not be as interested.

• Dragon’s Gift: The Huntress (5 Book Series)
• Dragon’s Gift: The Seeker Complete Series: An Urban Fantasy Boxed Set
• Dragon’s Gift: The Protector Complete Series: Books 1 – 5