You've got to feel for Ward De'Ath. He's a necromancer with one simple job to do: use a common spell to wake a dead noblewoman for fifteen minutes so her family can speak with her. Only the dead woman isn't cooperative and instead of listening to Ward as she should, she runs off, taking him with her. That's only the beginning of his troubles. Celia, the dead woman, was murdered, and she's out to find out who murdered her and why. She'll use her assassin skills and underworld connections to do this. Oh, and a temporary spell Ward cast on her seems to have gone wrong and brought her, if not back to life, to something very close to it.

Meanwhile, Ward is coerced into performing illegal surgery on a law enforcement officer. If the surgery fails, the officer's partner might kill him. And even if it succeeds, he could still be put to death for performing it.

Together, Ward and Celia uncover ancient secrets, frightening enemies, and a little bit of affection for each other. ( )

This is a three part series, kicked off by Ward Against Death. In this opening book we meet Ward, a young man with powers to bring people back from the dead. From the outset I really liked him, he was an interesting character to follow and the idea of him having these abilities really fascinated me. He’s very honourable, doing the right thing and up for pretty much anything. The other protagonist is Celia Carlyle, who while was not my favourite character had an interesting dynamic with Ward and allowed for some pretty interesting dialogue. She’s a very kick-ass character, and I know plenty of readers will love her.

The story is very well written, and is excellently paced. The reader is never bored, but the world building and explanations of events aren't rushed through either. I liked the mystery elements, trying to figure out who killed Celia, as well as unravel all the secrets. There are a lot of different characters and laws at play in the story, and although that can sometimes get confusing I enjoyed that aspect because for me it made the story easier to immerse myself in. After I got the hang of the different titles – like Innecroestri, Dominus etc – I flew through the book, enjoying all the different aspects coming together.

The one thing I wasn't too keen on in Ward Against Death was the romantic elements in the story. While I wasn't all that fond of Celia, I felt the romance between the two was a bit lacking. Most of the time they act like they hate each other, and at times it was a little frustrating. That however doesn't get in the way of a really great story with lots of magic and mystery. If you’re looking for a new character to love and a new series to be completely addicted to, Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer is definitely one you should read. ( )

Read the full Review at Witchmag's Boekenplank

It took me a while to get into this story. Normally, I’m not really fond on undead people and I prefer warm werewolves over cold vampires (even when they sparkle ;) ). I’m glad I decided to read this book anyway, thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

The whole story revolves around who killed Celia. This is the first time I’ve read about someone who tries to find her own murderer, which leads to very funny situations in the book ;) The world where the story takes places has also been built very nicely, with interesting aspects, like the Seers and the Quayestri. They give more dept to the story and it was very interesting to read about them.

Normally I can’t resist the temptation in a whodunit to skip to the end to find out who killed the person. Not with this book. I enjoyed the story too much to “bother” skipping to the end. Although I had the feeling that finding out who murdered Celia wasn’t that significant, the why she was killed was three times more important. And it didn’t really help that the entire city was Celia’s enemy ;)

Ward *deep sigh* is adorable. He’s so sweet, nice, very distracted and often nearly in tears, this all makes you want to cuddle him even closer ^^. You can’t do anything else but love him. He grows tremendously in the story. At the beginning he is very unsure, easily near tears and very shy, but as the story continuous, he comes slowly but surely out of his shell and stands a lot more firmly in life.

Celia is something else. I can’t remember reading about such a strong, distrusting heroin. The distrust got a little boring after a while, especially when she uses it on Ward. You also read the story through his eyes, so you know he would never do the things she’s accusing him of.

Overall rating? 4 hearts. I loved reading it and can’t wait to read the next book, in which hopefully Ward keeps his lovableness and we’ll finally know what kind of spell Ward DID cast on Celia ;)

Of course I wasn’t listening, I was thinking!

A typical Ward statement. It describes exactly how he is and proves that men can’t do two things at a time ;) ( )

Reviewed by: Valerie
Book provided by:Publisher
Review originally posted at Romancing the Book

To have the power to bring one back from the dead…fascinating topic. What happens when you DO bring someone back and they insist they have been murdered? The storyline was so captivating that I just had to give this book a try.

Book one of this series chronicles the bizarre place that Ward finds himself when he brings back Celia Carlyle from the dead. Her character immediately intrigued me. Ward described her as extraordinarily beautiful but from the moment her eyes opened, she was all action and I didn’t get the impression that someone so high society and beautiful was uppity since she jumps right into a sewerage pipe to escape with him. The plot of the story grabbed me since she’s convinced someone did indeed murder her. Ward’s discomfort and disbelief that someone could hurt such a gorgeous young girl made him very endearing in a puppy dog sort of way.

There was unexpected humor in the scenes where Ward brings Celia back to life as she is quick and nimble the minute she becomes conscious. Their incessant bickering also lent a lighthearted tone to the story and was one of the things I enjoyed the most. He was so lost and cowardice at times that she simply overpowered him yet in his mind he is a eighth generation necromancer with great power and should not be wary of or fall victim to her pleas for help.

As Ward and Celia ran for their lives, she began to question her true mortality and seemed to soften a bit yet still remained sharp and every vigilant to the danger around them. She struggled several times with wanting to leave Ward behind but, again, in this area she was soft. I laughed as she tried to seduce him but instead frightened him. As their fondness for each other built, the action never stopped.

A very enjoyable first story in this series. Card has many questions to answer in the sequel! ( )

I love the idea behind Ward Against Death. Magic and necromancers, a lost civilization's secrets influencing the present. Overall I liked it, but it didn't quite meet my expectations for the genre it's in.

The plot itself didn't quite feel right, too convenient at times. The story tried hard to seem convoluted, but didn't quite achieve it's goal. There also wasn't quite as much backstory to either character as I would have liked, or for the world itself. I liked Ward for most of the book, kind of weak and clumsy, but honorable and not an oathbreaker. But suddenly at one point it felt like he had a personality switch to being completely sure of himself, which wasn't quite believable. And then at a crucial point in the story, when there's build-up to something that could be completely awesome the confidence suddenfly fizzles, giving the conflict a lackluster ending. I loved Celia. She stayed constant throughout the story. Strong, as honorable as an assassin can be. She had a mind of her own and wouldn't let anyone say no to her.

The writing was very well done. I could see the world in my mind, the streets and sewers and the underground cave. Everything was described beautifully. I will definitely give the sequel a try, in the hopes that more backstory is provided. I'd love to know more about the Ancients, and especially about how powerful Ward really is.
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