Karsten Knight

Wildefire didn't immediately catch my interest. Which, considering how much I ended up enjoying this book and my expectations for the book, sounds almost sacriligious doesn't it? But its the truth. The beginning caught me--Ashline is in a fight against the classmate stealing her boyfriend. Blood, insults, violence...and that's all before Eve (Ash's probably more than a little insane older sister) gets involved.

This is followed by the consequences of that fight and Eve's involvement. Which leads us 6 months later, Ash is off at middle of nowhere boarding school getting felt up.

Wait a second what?

The sudden shift of focus made me frown pretty spectacularly--as much as Eve terrified me I wanted to know more about her. She disappeared for a good chunk of the book while Ash got acclimated to the school, made some friends, enemies, love interests and played tennis.

Its not so much the story slowed down as it changed course so that when freaky-deeky stuff began happening it all made sense. Or some sense. Knight isn't big on giving us clear, concise answers. Since this is from Ash's POV we only get the answers she gets or figures out. And sometimes Ash doesn't always care so much about the details as 'How can I avoid this?'

Once they help [insert blind character's name] things begin to pick up again and as Ash is drawn further and further in (mostly against her will) an engaging premise emerges that really spoke to my interests. Mythology. Many many mythologies. Want to catch my attention? Just start talking mythology and I'll get hooked. Knight takes something from several different cultures--Norse, Egyptian, Polynesian--and hints at even more.

Admittedly I was a little confused about some of the particulars and much of what I think I understand is based on a principle that could be false. This book isn't so much about the group that Ash belongs--their motivations, agenda, etc. Its more about Ash coming to an acceptance about her circumstances. Taking a more proactive role in her life.

There's some creepifying bits--those...monster things. Eve. In general Eve is an absolute nightmare as a person and sister. I told my younger sister after she finished the book that she should be bowing down in thanks that I am not such a...well. Bitch. That's the only way to put it. Eve is a homicidal psychopathic bitch. I can't really give examples because they lead to spoilers, but her first appearance, and then her second appearance (all within the first 50 pages) are pretty good indicators of what sort of person she is.

At some points the book would focus on the more day to day life of Ash (and co.) with clues as to what was going on, but without the flash of say what happens when they go out for a night of fun or in the forest.

As for the other characters! I loved Rolfe. Possibly my favorite character (yes even before Ash). He had a way about him that I just liked. Raja took a little bit for me to warm up to; Ash saw her a particular way and that colored a lot of my perception of her. Closer to the end I felt better about her. Lily was kind of 'meh' for most of the book, said one thing and then acted another way. I thought I'd like her the best because of first impressions she made a solid one, it just kind of went downhill from there. Ade was interesting and I hope we learn more about him.

So how did this live up to my expectations? Well. It mostly did. I sometimes can't see the ocean for the river--this is the first book in a multi-book series. I might WANT answers now, but that doesn't mean I'll GET them now. Patience is a virtue I've never actually cultivated, but I'm interested to see how the surprises of the ending play out. I mean, its like 'Hey climatic battle!' and then let's just toss these big surprises at you for fun to mess with your head!

I'm not bitter or anything, I swear it.… (plus d'informations)

ALL THE FEELS. No wait I'm way cooler then that. Afterglow, the final book in the wild ride of Ashline Wilde's (see what I did there?) life hits you like a 3 ton slab of rock (that's way more clever sounding when you read the book). A lot happens in this book--reunions, betrayals, death, life, love, obsession, sacrifice, traveling, BBQ'ing, but at its core the book is about love. Sentimental as that sounds, its about love in all its facets.

Ashline realizes something during the final face off with Colt (its not a spoiler, its the final book so if you didn't expect that you live under a rock). His crazy homicidal quest is not just about romance and sex, he's spent the centuries chasing down the one woman who would understand him and love him despite the fact he's a raving loon. Kind of like Rose, who always felt so alone, he's just a guy who wants a connection.

Unfortunately in order for him to have that connection he needs to meld together the perfect woman, but hey these are small things in the course of true love right? Or some homicidal maniac's idea of true love.

I've never made secret my love of these books, but that doesn't mean they're without flaws. Knight picks up a couple new gods/goddesses in the course of this novel and they wander in to move the plot forward or stymie Ashline and her friends' plans, but aren't fully there. Colt picks up deities and trades them out as it suits him, which great characterization for him, but leaves those poor fools with little detail and easily forgotten.

I think I would have also really liked to see more of the Feral Deity Army that are such a big concern for a good chunk of the book, but are treated like wooden soldiers. Colt destroys the Cloak's Tree, whole bunch of crazy blood thirsty and powerful deities get loose, but unless they ALL died in the ending fight between Ashline's forces and Colt's forces, I can't think things stayed hunky-dory. In the end Knight doesn't give a sense of 'We have a mess to clean up', but more 'We defeated Colt! In 50 or so years this will probably start again, but for now we are totally safe!' vibe.

There were tears at the end, when the price of protecting everyone is met, but between the trip to Hawai'i and then the rather awesome epilogue, there's a lot of hope as well. I thought Ashline's plan to make sure Colt could never be a problem again was ingenious. I'm not sure if that's what Jack (ie: the Cloak) meant exactly, but definitely amused me.

As an ending to a series? I think this was perfect. It ties up most of the loose threads, gave us backstory about Colt and Pele Love Round One (though oh oh another question - what was Colt doing that night Pele went RAWR on him?), a satisfying battle and hope for the future happiness for the deities. Death count wise this definitely beat out Wildefire and Embers and Echoes, but like I said the Epilogue is very hopeful if you squint.
… (plus d'informations)

A) Technically a 4.5...yes I removed half a star because I nearly launched myself out of my reading nook to strangle the author over the last chapter. Seriously. Don't mess with my HEA.

B) Technically this falls into the thriller category with a dash of medical science fiction and some mystical woo-woo. And history, since I definitely learned more American history here then I generally expect from my fictional books.

C) Pretty chapter header photos.

What does this all add up to you ask? Well enjoyment of a book outside my normal reading purview. Long time followers/readers of my reviews know that I'm steadfastly loyal to the author--his trilogy about Ashline Wilde, Polynesian Volcano Goddess reincarnate, had me waxing poetic. I've been waiting for further works by him and was taken by surprise at this release.

Sabra Tides is a resourceful, smart ass streetwise girl who doesn't really play by the rules at all and probably created as many issues for herself as she got away from. Her one driving motivation was to save Echo, her 8 year old younger sister dying of cancer. She broke every law, left a trail of bodies behind her and got mixed up in some shitty things to achieve that goal.

Damned if I wouldn't have done the same for my baby sister if I'd been put into that position.

Knight's wordplay here--riddles make up a big part of what moves the hunt along--likely will make sense to Boston residents more so then me. Without Atlas and Sabra talking it out I would have just blinked at the pages stupidly. The depth of knowledge is awe inspiring--both in its use and in the way he weaves the dual tales around it.

I will caution a little...violence abounds and no one in the book is playing for the silver halls. Sabra has to make tough decisions that don't end in hugs and the folk after her don't shoot tranqs. The collateral damage is kind of high actually.

While your milage may vary in how well you believe in what happens (over like a month or so), the ending is satisfying. Folk win, folk die, folk are lucky they're fictional because otherwise I'd wring their necks for putting me through heartache.… (plus d'informations)