Ward Against Death by Melanie Card (early review)

Ward Against Death by Melanie Card (Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer #1)

Egalley thanks to Entangled Publishing


Synopsis from Goodreads
Twenty-year-old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good-bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a nobleman’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive…

Publication date: 2/08/11

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When I spotted the cover I thought "oh well, let's brave another YA book". Not that I'm against YA books, it's just I like them dark and gritty, and most of them aren't. However, I was wrong. This was a good old fantasy *grinning*, and I was hooked from the page one.


Disregard the cover. The girl in the flowy black dress? Meet Celia - a local crime lord's daughter, a hardened assassin and a proud member of the Assassins Guild. She is cold, calculating and fabulous. Mostly you'll see her in breeches throwing knives and slicing throats *bloodthirsty wench*.


Ward De'Ath on the other hand is fantasy equivalent of a nerd. He is a necromancer by birth, who wanted to be a physician and begged his family to let him study in the Academy. Good for him, his family agreed. Only he became fascinated with being a surgeon, a profession prohibited in his world, and got caught doing autopsies on dead bodies. Branded as a criminal and booted from the Academy, he barely escaped with his life and turned to necromancy to make his living. 


He's thin and wiry, speaks five languages, but mumbles and stammers a lot with beautiful Celia around. His head is always in the cloud but the boy's got real power as a necromancer, which he doesn't know about yet, and he is a brilliant surgeon.


Yes, I was totally enchanted with Ward, more than with Celia. She is more of a traditional character, who knows her potential and her mind is set. Ward on the other hand is a wild card. You never know what he'll do next. 


The world was fascinating. Religious beliefs, Inquisitors and Trackers, Goddess and her two sons, the veil... I wanted to know more! Because there was so much action with all the chasing and killing and hiding, I just didn't get enough world building (hope, it will be remedied in the next books).


Relationship slowly building between Ward and Celia felt absolutely believable. They are both smart cookies and once they let go of their prejudice towards each other, they become really good partners in crime.

I can't recommend it strongly enough! Please, read  this fab debut from Melanie Card. She's done a wonderful job and I hope to continue reading her books for years to come.

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Сразу говорю, что обложка навела на мысль что это книга - очередная трава YA. Но ни фига! Это самое настоящее родное и любимое фэнтэзи :) Возрадуемся же, дамы и господа!
Классный дебют от Мелани Кард, очень интересный мир, о котором хочется узнать побольше.

Девушка на обложке в основном там бегает не в выходном платье, а в брюках, так как Силия, дочка местного криминального лорда - самый настоящий ассасин, состоящая в соответствующей гильдии.

Парень на обложке - Уорд Де'ат (это, кстати очень старое историческое родовое имя, и я его обожаю) - некромансер и лекарь, который пока обучался лекарскому искусству в Академии, учился и запрещённой в его мире хирургии, пока его не поймали с поличным препарирующим трупы, выжгли на нём клеймо преступника и выгнали из Академии.
Теперь он подрабатывает оживляя тела умерших на 15 минут, чтобы семья с ними могла попрощаться.

Он приходит оживить Силию, она его хватает, убеждает в том, что её отравили и убили и что она должна найти убийц. Поклявшись на лекарской клятве ей помочь, Уорд вынужден пуститься с ней в бегство, лавируя между тёмными заговорами, ассасинами и инвизиторами....

Уорд - типичный ботаник, рассеянный, умный и шугающийся насилия, Силия - типичный ассасин, хладнокровный, решительный и безжалостный, но несмотря ни на что, они понемногу начинают друг другу симпатизировать и под конец превращаются в замечательных партнёров.

Читайте! Блестящее начало обещающей серии.

9/10