Ward Against Death - Melanie Card

I have to admit up-front, this book was very hard for me to get into and want to keep reading. I have found through reading it that it was much more of a mystery then most other categories.

We start off getting to Meet Ward - Edward De'Ath - a failed necromancer. He is called to the wealthy home of a Domincus, the Carlyle family. He was called to do a wake for them, in this wake he can temporarily bring a soul back from the veil of the Goddess and into a body. He is in high doubt of his abilities and knows his history will only catch up with him. we come to find out that from a very young age,he has wanted to be a surgeon, but in the book surgery is not legal yet. He was also expelled from the Physicians school, which eliminated his future as even a doctor. After he performs the wake and his patient seems to think they've woken from a rest. As the story unfolds we find Ward Following his patient into all sort of mishaps and getting in deeper into trouble with each one. He ends up learning a lot about himself and what he will go through to covet the Physicians Oath he took to turn away no soul in need of help. He has trouble keeping an eye on his patient once they are set on finding out why they were killed. Ward find out that his patient has something in their possession which is a mystery to them, but could spell big trouble if unlocked and acted upon.

Celia Carlyle is the patient Ward came to perform a wake on so her family can have closure to find why she was killed. At first she thinks hes come into her room just to admire her in her sleep and is shocked, but she comes to find out, that since she was dead, her assassination was a success and is determined to find out who killed her and why, but with her true identity and her position her list of prospects is dauntingly long. She goes on a hunt to find out and with Ward following things don't go as planned. She begins to think Ward may have been sent to assassinate her as she finds out he has been sneaking out with his medical supplies. She gets very suspect and even follows him one time. After this she truly believes he is snitching on her ans was almost dead set on killing him for for his supposed betrayal. She manages to fend that of in lieu of finding out more. Celia has also been keeping something big from Ward - She hold documents and research about the Ancients and one BIG thing.

I felt the plot dragged as Celia and Ward both got deeper into trouble then they both bargained for. After she awoke, Celia leaves her father's home to find out who killed her, having already believing it could have even been her father. After she leaves, Ward is close behind and follows her into the sewers under the city. She leads him to a cavernous hideout where she goes after her assignments. Her first mission is to go to the Guild and see if there is note of an assignment on her. Much to her dismay there is nothing recent. However, with her body now missing from her home, her father has sent someone after them, his head-huntsman. They get into more trouble as they dig deeper to unravel that this isn't about her, its about the entire balance of life and death, which is teetering precariously on becoming imbalanced and sending the world back into Dark Times. After allowing Ward to look over her documents he discovers an disturbing piece and begins to see that not only is Celia in danger, but now so is he. There is a person of great power after Celia for her own purposes and she's doing anything within her powers to have her master plan become reality. Ward now knows what Celia's part is and he must do everything within his powers as a necromancer to stop it.

I give this story a 3. There are a lot of words associated with this, that for me were hard to get through and hindered a good reading flow. But there are a lot of details which make this a full story.