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Title: Dorothea Vol 2

Author: Cuvie

Publisher:  CMX

ISBN:  9781401214364

May Contain Spoilers

Dorothea and Orfina are published by CMX, and I sometimes have a hard time keeping the two straight.   Both feature strong female leads who are forced to fight for what they believe in, and they both feature medieval type settings.  Fana and Dorothea are skilled warriors, they don’t hesitate to put their lives on the line, and they live in fairly grim surroundings.   I think that it is unfortunate that both of these titles were published at around the same time, because the look and feel of the series are a little too similar, and as a result, neither stands out.  When push comes to shove, I think that Orfina is the more compelling of the two, though Dorothea does offer an interesting read.

The world that Dorothea lives in is not a happy place.  Religious factions clash and ruthless individuals grapple for power and wealth.   Commoners bear the brunt of the conflict, and they are forced to fight to protect their lands and their beliefs.  The warfare lays waste to fields and towns, leaving battlegrounds littered with the corpses of the dead.  Dorothea ventures into this madness, where she’s in for a very rude awakening.  In the heat of battle, her comrades are just as villainous as the enemy, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow. 

Through the eyes of an idealistic young woman,  the horrors of war of seem even more gruesome.  Dorothea has lived a sheltered life, and she’s even been pampered as her grandmother has groomed her to become the leader of her people in her stead.  Dorothea thinks that she’s one of the good guys, but what she discovers is that that all depends on what side of the conflict you happen to be standing on.  She’s not defending the helpless and promoting peace; she’s caught up in a bloody free for all, where anyone, and anything, is fair game.  In addition to having to defend herself from her brothers in arms because of her looks, she also has to deal with her own guilt when she sees how her comrades prey upon helpless citizens after devastating their villages.

The scenes of battle are toned down and not very graphic, which is surprising considering the Mature rating on the book.  So far there hasn’t been much to nudge it past a T for Teen; it’s certainly nothing like Berserk, the king of violent fantasy adventures.  Dorothea’s struggles to overcome the bias of her wraithlike appearance adds another layer of complexity to her venturing away from the safe, sheltered confines of Nauders.  People are all too eager to accuse her of witchcraft, and in Dorothea’s little corner of the universe, the mere suspicion is enough to get her burned painfully at the stake. 

Dorothea offers a look at the toll that war takes on everyday people.  They just want to live their lives peacefully, but the conflicts surrounding them makes that impossible.  The flow of action takes a backseat to the flow of emotions, where people and their beliefs clash tragically together.  I wonder if Dorothea will remain as optimistic that she is making a positive change in future volumes.

Grade: B