“I can either be your doctor or your boyfriend,” Eli said. “And if I have to choose, I don’t want to be your doctor.” [p. 165]
Lazurus Lenkov first appears in Troth as an angry, unstable war veteran with PTSD, jealous of his older brother Ulysses' relationship with ex-demigod Sam Sterling and plagued by occasional flashes of foresight. Laz, unsurprisingly, is the focus of Lazarus, Home from the War, a novel which not only explores his character in more depth but also gives a different perspective on Ulysses.
Laz experiences a PTSD-related flashback at the local store, and is tended by Eli Sobel, a British neurologist. Things escalate quickly (Laz breaks into Eli's car and fixes the timing belt; Eli tells Laz that there's more to life than being useful, and perhaps Ulysses is being less than reasonable asking Laz to risk himself) but peril, magical and otherwise, threatens their fragile relationship. Though there's a resolution, there are plenty of unanswered questions to be picked up in future novels in the series.
I really warmed to Laz, and indeed to Sam (who tells Eli 'you're family'): Laz never intended to go to war, and the details of his military experiences are minimal, but he met a Buddhist monk in Thailand who seems to have been a powerful influence. (Hopefully we'll find out more about him, too.) Eli was a good foil for Lazarus, but perhaps not as richly characterised. He's clearly got some ideas about how to reach out to the community of magic-users, who typically avoid non-magical healthcare options. And he's good at dealing with Laz's lack of self-confidence, and fascinated by the neurological underpinnings of his foresight.
Looking forward to the next in the series, due later this year!
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