Review: Guardian of the Promise by Irene Radford

This book was a LibraryThing Early Reviewers book.  I'd already won one of the previous books (Guardian of the Balance) from LTER, and they were kind enough to give me this one, as well, a few months later.  I'm sure I'm desperately late in reviewing it, but nevertheless, here's my review.

I finished this book yesterday, during the Read-a-Thon.  It was good.  Better than the last one in the series.  Again, I'm not sure whether this is because I prefer reading about a female protagonist (in this case, Deirdre, Griffin Kirkwood's illegitimate daughter who was born at the end of the last novel), or because there was more magic in this book.  And werewolves.  There were werewolves in this book, which I kind of enjoyed.  I hadn't yet read any novels that deal with werewolves, so it was an interesting introduction to the trope.

Deirdre and Hal (one of Donovan Kirkwood's twins - the other is Griffin) are best friends from childhood.  Donovan is raising Deirdre after her father's death, covered in the previous entry in the series.  No one knows who will become the next Pendragon - Raven predicted that it would be Donovan's son, but the family wolfhound has bestowed her female puppy on Deirdre, and she certainly seems to have the aptitude for it.  Hal has magic, too, but not as strong as Deirdre's.  And Betsy, Donovan's elder daughter by his first wife, seems to think she is to be the next Pendragon.

To complicate matters, a Spaniard known as El Lobison is building a werewolf army to assist in Spain's invasion of England (through the Spanish Armada, for you history buffs out there).  Hal and Deirdre seek to stop him, but major obstacles stand in their way.  Will El Lobison succeed in turning one of them into part of his werewolf army?  Can they work together to stop the coming Spanish invasion of England?  Who is the REAL Pendragon of England?

Again, I enjoyed this entry in the series much more than the last.  I'd give it four and a half out of five Whatevers.  Definitely read the series from the beginning - it's not a series that will make much sense if you don't.  Specifically recommended for those with an interest in Elizabethan England, werewolves, or a good, solid fantasy series.

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