I'm a fan of K.M. Weiland's blog and enjoyed her book on outlining, so I was looking forward to seeing her advice put into action in her novel Behold the Dawn. So far, it's a slow start for me. All the characters have a mysterious past which seems to be connected by something that happened sixteen years earlier, but I'm very confused by who did what to whom, and I'm even confused as to which characters are good guys and bad guys.
Fortunately, the first plot point was fairly clear and now the main character--a sort of Middle Ages assassin--has to transport a lady to a convent. The lady was the wife of a dear friend who died and was wrapped up in the mysterious affair from his past. Unfortunately, since I don't understand any of the back story, the motivations for the heroes and the villains are very thin. As a result, I'm not very motivated to continue reading at this point. But I'll press on because I want to see where the author takes it.
(Notes at 53% mark)
This is the point where I should have gotten to the second plot point, the point where the hero goes from responding to the first plot point to offensively attacking it. It was shaping up nicely. The hero was falling for the girl and vise versa. The bad guys were pursuing them and they were on the run--perfect response mode. Then around 50%, the bad guys caught up to the girl while the hero was off on a side quest. It was all set up for the girl to get taken and the hero would have to go on the attack to get her back, not only to uphold his duty but because he loves her as well. But then... the girl escapes on her own and we're back to where we were at the beginning of this section (at the 25% mark). Maybe something dramatic will change soon and be the real second plot point. But at least at this juncture, it appears that an opportunity was missed for a solid second plot point.
(Notes at end of novel)
The girl did get taken later, but it was around the 75% mark so it served as the 2nd plot point. There was a lot of action--horse-back chases, duels, storming castles--but since I never really understood the back story, it was never more than just action.
Overall, I didn't enjoy this book. Maybe it was because I got confused early on. Maybe it was because some of the characters felt trapped by destiny but that idea is completely alien to me because I don't believe in destiny or God. Maybe it was because I'm not very interested in the Middle Ages so the setting didn't draw me in. Or maybe it was the missed opportunity at the mid-point to ramp up the suspense by having the hero go on the offensive earlier rather than at the end of the book.
It's too bad I didn't like this book because I really like the author's blog. Maybe I'll give another of her books a try.
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