Monday, December 15, 2014

Gathering Darkness by Morgan Rhodes (Falling Kingdoms book 3)

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, Falling Kingdoms and Rebel Spring, Stop! I don’t want to ruin one of my favorite series for you.

“The seeds of revolution have been sown…but in Mytica the lust for power reigns supreme.”

Prince Magnus Lukas Damora is back from his victory in Paelsia where he stopped the rebels from shutting down the Imperial Road construction. He comes home to find that Princess Amara Cortas has joined her brother Prince Ashur at court. She says that she missed her brother terribly and couldn’t wait for him to come back home. His father is frantic over not hearing from Melenia for several weeks. King Gaius is greedy and ruthless and will stop at nothing in his quest to find the Kindred, four crystals that hold the essence of elementia (elemental magic). They were lost over a millennium earlier. Any mortal who possesses them will become a god. Magnus is extremely confident that his father speaks the truth about magic. He is determined that he, not his father, will control the Kindred. Knowing that his mother’s murder came at the hands of his father, Magnus is also driven by the need for revenge.

Princess Cleiona Bellos finds herself in an arranged marriage with Prince Magnus. With her father’s dying words fresh on her mind, Cleo realizes that Princess Lucia is the sorceress. Knowing that magic may be the only way to defeat King Gaius and reclaim her kingdom, she makes an effort to become friends with Lucia. The ring she wears from her mother seems to affect Lucia in a way that actually settles her magic. Cleo hopes to be able to sway Lucia to her advantage. She is reading everything that she can find about the Kindred.

Princess Lucia Eva Damora is rightly suspicious of Cleo’s motives but she does have her magic under control when she is around her new sister-in-law. Torn between making her first real friend or keeping her enemy close, Lucia soon begins to mirror her father’s superiority over others.

The rebels are trying to regroup after their devastating losses during the royal wedding and at the Imperial Road construction site. Lysandra and three other rebels were brought to King Gaius so that they could be publicly executed and made examples of. Now in the dungeon with her brother Gregor, Lys is trying to find a way to escape that does rely on Jonas Agallon, who she fears is dead. Gregor is being questioned because he said that a Watcher came to him. King Gauis is eager for information. Meantime, Jonas was saved from some soldiers by Felix Gaebras. Nerissa, an informant, passes word along that Lysander and the three others are in the palace dungeon, he sends a message to Cleo to meet him. Jonas asks Cleo to feed him information from inside the palace. He kisses her and leaves.

Prince Ashur Cortas and his sister, Princess Amara are in Auranos because they too wish to possess the Kindred. Soon the race to not only control Mytica but all magic is on and Prince Magnus finds that he doesn’t know who to trust.

Who is Felix Gaebras? What happens when Cleo finds her feelings towards Magnus changing? Does Cleo reciprocate Jonas’ affections? Why does Cleo’s ring react around Lucia? What does Prince Ashur know about the Kindred? Will Lucia be able to control her growing powers before she spirals out of control?Will Prince Magnus align with anyone? What happens when a Watcher comes to King Gaius in person? Who will find the Kindred and what will they use it for?

Loyal readers will be glad to know that the Falling Kingdoms series will be expanded to six books.

No comments:

Post a Comment