by Jamie Foley
publisher’s synopsis
The Jade Witch sacrifices everything to save her people from one enemy—by forging an alliance with another.
A desperate chieftess.
Brooke’s treetop city is a charred husk of its former glory. Her people demand revenge against the Emberhawk tribe, blind to the larger threat: the ravenous Malaano Empire. Determined to subvert a bloody war, Brooke accepts a marriage alliance she knows she’ll soon regret.
Meanwhile, an Emberhawk prince is seeding a rebellion, and if Brooke’s secret support can re-forge the Tribal Alliance, they just might stand a chance against the Imperial threat.
A hollow assassin.
Lysander is a former slave who has forgotten how to live free. After being forced to abdicate his throne, losing his loved ones and his hearing, he feels he has nothing to live for… Unless he can convince Brooke to teach him the magic of thought-speak, with which he could hear far more than his ears ever could.
A stolen throne.
Ryon’s fractured heritage catches up with him and threatens to tear him away from Kira. As they maneuver to protect Imperial princess Vylia, their worst fears come true… along with nightmares they never dared to dream.
Silverblood does not disappoint. Sometimes the second book in a trilogy is weaker, but Silverblood is not. This story kept the action going the entire time.
Also, I’m still in awe over the cover. I still think it’s amazing that Jamie designed her own covers. And I can’t wait to see the cover for the third book, Lotusfall. Because it is going to be gorgeous.
So to jump into my review of Silverblood.
I’ll start off with the characters. As in Emberhawk, all of the characters were well done. Silverblood adds three more POV characters, Brooke, Lysander, and Vylia. I really liked all of the new POVs. Jamie did a nice job of keeping all of the character voices distinct.
For those of you who wanted Vylia to be featured more in Emberhawk, don’t worry. Vylia features a lot more in Silverblood than she did in Emberhawk, and will definitely be in Lotusfall.
Also, Granny Zelle. I almost laughed out loud during the first scene that Granny Zelle is in. Seriously, she is amazing and hilarious. I need more Granny Zelle. 🙂
As in Emberhawk, the worldbuilding was well done. We get to see more of the worldbuilding in Silverblood, which was super fun. And there is still more worldbuilding yet to be explored, which is awesome.
The plot great. Jamie did a nice job of balancing all of the plot threads–there is a lot going on in this story. Lots of twists and turns too. It was well done.
(Slight, vague spoilers below)
Some readers might feel like Felix is a Deux ex Machina at a certain point in the plot, but I don’t think he is for a couple of reasons. First off, I was fine with Felix saving a certain character, because I didn’t want that character to die. Also, Jamie has established Felix’s powers before this point in the book, both in Emberhawk and Silverblood. We know what Felix can do, and that it is normal to the story world. We also know that he is present before that scene, and almost waiting to spring into action. So I didn’t find that scene with Felix to be a Deux ex Machina.
(end slight spoilers)
Also, I have a feeling that I’m going to need a seven-years-later epilogue at the end of Lotusfall. Those of you who have read Silverblood know why.
And that ending. Let’s just say that I really need to know what’s going to happen in Lotusfall. Because I have a very strong feeling that that book is going to be explosive and awesome.
Cautions: brief attempted assault; five kisses; light/moderate romance; non-graphic moderate/heavy violence
Hailey Huntington 