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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Review: Spellfire


Spellfire (Nightkeepers #8)

by Jessica Andersen 

Blurb:

Imprisoned and tortured by the demoness who tricked him into betraying the Nightkeepers and the woman he loves, Rabbit must endure excruciating pain to protect the diminished Skywatch army as the end-time approaches. Although an ancient prophecy says his unique powers are key to winning the final battle in the doomsday war, he hasn’t just lost his credibility—he’s lost his magic.
Myrinne is far from the woman Rabbit once knew—she’s got magic now, and despite emotional scars, she’s strong enough to help the Nightkeepers. And yet she’s not prepared to handle the fiercely driven man he’s become or the new, dangerous feelings that spark between them.
With the barrier ready to fall and a xombi outbreak in the human world, Rabbit and Myrinne must forge a new partnership amid dangerous instability and the threat of an undead army. In the end, it will be up to Rabbit to master his ferocious magic—or all will be lost. For him, for the woman he doesn’t have the right to love anymore, and for the fate of the world…

Review:

Spellfire is the long awaited conclusion to an awesome trilogy that has taken readers into the mystical and mostly unknown world of the Mayan and the descendants of their priests—the Nightkeepers. I have been hooked on this story since the beginning and have loved learning all about a new culture, even if some parts of it were more myth than fact.  Jessica Andersen’s imagination certainly knows no bounds and Rabbit and Myrinne’s book was the perfect ending to a series that that has captivated me and so many others since the very start.  
Rabbit has led a very tough life, full of disillusionment and rage, but he’s finally able to become the man all his fans knew was hidden deep inside the immature jerk he showed the rest of the world.  If you haven’t read any of the other stories in the series you might feel a bit baffled as to the depth of change Rabbit goes through in this book, but you won’t feel completely lost as there are enough details in this book to fill you in.   Rabbit’s story picks up right where Magic Unchained ended, with Rabbit being held captive and tortured by the demoness that played with his mind through that novel.   He’s almost lost the will to live, ready to give his life to pay for his past mistakes, but the demoness threatens the only thing he really cares about any more—his witch girlfriend, Myrinne.  Finally motivated, pissed off to the nth degree to be honest, Rabbit is able to escape his chains and battle his way to freedom, with the last minute help of his friends.
Myrinne (Myr to Rabbit) finds herself in a strange new situation once Rabbit is captured.   During his last minute attempt to keep her from dying, Rabbit’s magic has transferred to Myr and now she is a Mage, sort of.  Her fear of repeat danger keeps her from celebrating the long awaited return of Rabbit and she decides that maybe it’s time to move on.  But when she’s confronted by the demoness and her minions, the only one that can save her is of course the one man she doesn’t want to see.  Determined to due whatever is needed of her to help prevent the apocalypse, she agrees to work with Rabbit to hone THEIR magic, but refuses to let the heat and emotion he’s always pulled from her lead them into another disastrous relationship.
As the end time draws nearer, the team is faced with many challenges, even more than simply understanding how Rabbit is supposed to be the one to affect the final battle for good or evil.  There were so many twists and turns in the overall plot of this book that affected that whole series that at times you might find your head spinning a bit. I can honestly say I never saw the ending to this one coming.  Things changed so drastically for the Nightkeepers and crossed into territories not really explored in previous books, though they were slightly hinted at so the changes weren’t completely out of left field.  You will find yourself leaping from your chair and saying WTH a few times, I guarantee.
Rabbit and Myr’s relationship is rocky to say the least.  Having to get over him almost killing and then giving himself to save her life isn’t something that is easily forgiven or forgotten.  They spent so many years wrapped up in each other, often to the detriment of their individual growth during the most important formative years.  Rabbit was the center of Myr’s life for so long and Myr was the only one to accept Rabbit, but they held each other back for sure.  Only by having their time to grow and handling the crucial changes in their situations, are they finally able to mature and become the mages and warriors they need to be to prevent the apocalypse.  I enjoyed reading the way they were able to come together again once they matured.  We are able to fully appreciate the love that might have been based in their adolescent infatuation, but is a true and abiding love between two settled and tested individuals that are willing to work hard to build a life together.
Happily there was a side romance for the only single member of the Nightkeepers left—Anna.  In the course of events dealing with the xombi epidemic that has hit the central Mexico area, Anna runs across a very sexy and sweet Australian doctor.  They immediately are drawn to one another and throughout the story they get to have some great scenes together.  I’m happy to report that Anna too got her HEA and was able to finally be all she’d ever wanted—a seer, a wife, and a mother.
This series has been building up to this book for so long I was afraid I would be disappointed when I finally read it, but I was thrilled to find out that this book was all it was hyped to be.  Rabbit and Myr were both great characters to read about and I enjoyed seeing them finally come together for the long haul. The plot of the end of the world was full of twists and turns and blending of new and old beliefs, educating the reader about myth and legend while giving them a modern version they could relate to their personal lives.  I was thrilled to see the way the end time prophecy was handled and that in the end the good guys prevailed even though they weren’t sure they were the good guys at some points.  I will be telling everyone to read this story once the end time has passed without the world ending, just so everyone else can see why there was never any doubt we would be fine. *wink wink*

 Rating:  4.5 stars 

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