Still, I greatly enjoyed what I read and at times lost myself completely in this unique world the author has created. You get to see how Lizzy’s love for Ril heals him and, while I would have liked to see more scenes between the two of them, the romance was strong enough to convince me of their happy ending.Īt times, I almost felt like Ril and Lizzy had to face a few trials too many and some of the sylph humor was a little on the silly side for me. The novel has plenty of detail about Meridal and its society, but also has more of a romantic focus than the first. There is also tender romance to be found amidst all the horrors. Ril’s quest to find Lizzy and to rescue her from slavery makes for action-packed reading. And to slake the battle sylphs’ thirst for women, they have a harem of women available to them – a harem to which Lizzy is sold.

Rather like the ancient Romans, the people of Meridal love their gladiatorial bouts and the battle sylphs enslaved by the Emperor provide sport for them. Lizzy’s ordeals in Meridal are harrowing, and Ril himself goes through all manner of tortures there as well. Even so, when Lizzy is kidnapped by slavers and taken to the distant land of Meridal, Ril joins her father on the quest to rescue her. However, the injuries he sustained years before in the action covered in The Battle Sylph weakened him severely and he believes himself unworthy of Lizzy. Lizzy is now an adult and Ril loves her dearly. This book takes place six years after the preceding book. During flashbacks to Lizzy’s childhood in both books, Ril appears more protective and like an older brother to Lizzy than sexually attracted. Ril’s love for Lizzy from the moment of her birth could easily be a creepy premise, but the author handles it well.

However, Ril’s great love has always been Leon’s daughter Lizzy. The two came to respect and even care for one another, though it took much for either master or sylph to admit it.

Ultimately a decent man, Leon’s ignorance and arrogance at the time of the binding blinded him to how this slavery ate at Ril. In addition, if you haven’t read The Battle Sylph, this review is full of spoilers for that book, so be warned!īattle sylph Ril, our hero, is Tortured with a capital T after spending years bound unwillingly to his master Leon Petrule. Though you’ll need to read the first book in this series to understand what goes on in this one, both are well worth your time. When I saw that The Shattered Sylph would be his book, I pounced on it. I really enjoyed The Battle Sylph and as I read that book, there was one secondary character who rather haunted me.

The Shattered Sylph by L.J. McDonald