This is book pretty
unique in the series. Unlike previous books in this long running series,
there’s no central couple. Instead we have nearly everyone here. All the previous
couples, all the previous major characters are all here to greater or lesser
degrees all focusing on the greater development of the world rather than
focusing on a single central romance
And this is
absolutely excellent.
This is the fifteenth
book in the series - that’s a long long long series. That’s a lot of characters
and, while each book has been a romance, there has also been a truly epic and
amazing metaplot burning along. The defections from the Psy Council, the
greater rebellions against the Council machinations. The establishment of new
factions, new networks and webs of alliances through to the massive change of
the Fall of Silence and the creation of The Trinity Accord.
A lot has happened and there needs to be a book to address all of this and establish it without having to work it in around another romance.
This gives us the
chance not only to establish the world, update us on where it is and further
the world building and metaplot but it also lets us catch up on many of the
characters who have kind of fallen by the wayside. Like Sascha and Lucas who
should be so important in the series but haven’t been prominent for a while
after they basically set this in motion (in fact, I think the Leopard pack in
general has been neglected compared to the wolf pack). We see more of Faith and
see her abilities in use again. Alesha appears again with her scientific
skills. Even better, while we revisit a lot of these characters we also see a
lot of cross-contact. We see characters talking to each other and forming links
that we haven’t necessarily seen before which I think does a really excellent
job of bringing these characters together and setting up a greater network and
alliance which is what the Trinity Accords are all about. I mean theoretically
we know these various characters probably interact but seeing scenes and
contacts really underscores the society being developed and remembering all the
characters which may have slipped aside.
We also have more
development of Black Sea, the Aquatic Shapeshifters who run in a very different
way to other organisations while still linked with all the caring and love that
characterises a shapeshifter pack for even the weakest and least important
members. At the same time I like that this contrasts with a shapeshifter pack
that has so completely failed to uphold those basic conditions: because it
would be so easy for us to go with the idea that Psy = bad while Changelings =
good. Similarly I also like the awareness of what humanity brings to the
equation - since they’re so often the “and there’s also this” element, and how
they are essential to everyone’s survival as well as providing the creativity
for society.
This book just brings
so many threads together: while it advances the plot I think the main focus is
just to set a baseline after we’ve reached a somewhat new beginning for the
series after The Fall of Silence. We began with survival, facing down the
Council and now as we’re entering a new era it’s really good for this book to
kind of raise a hand and say “This is what we’ve achieved so far!” and recap
the vastness of of the last 15 books.
Despite this - the
book is really well paced despite not having a singular plot to focus on and
move us forwards - I think it’s because after fifteen books I’m more than happy
to spend some time exploring this wonderful world and the characters we’ve come
to know. It really really works.
And racially this series is very very diverse. Obviously so many of these books have main POC: starting with Sasha and Lucas. The Psy normalise being mixed race. And they’re very open about it - we don’t have ambiguous “olive” or “tan” descriptions- they have express descriptions of their race and their ancestry. And these characters are in such very prominent roles: the sheer number of POC characters in major roles in this series - Sahara, Lucas, Vasic, Savannah, Vaughn, Devraj - I can’t seriously list the sheer number of POC in this large series; it is very very racially diverse
There are no LGBTQ
characters - which is true of the whole series and I really cannot stress just
how many characters there are in this series - and all of them are straight
which is really glaring. One of the problems with erasure is how obvious and
problematic it becomes after several books in the series.
I do love this book -
it’s different but exactly what this huge, awesome series needed: and just
perfect for setting us up for the excellent adventures to come as this world
moves into its next era.
