Elitist Book Reviews

In FIREBRAND (EBR review) we met the Sithe brothers Seth and Conal. They were exiled beyond the Veil to the world where full-mortals live, as part of a promise to their queen that they would find the bloodstone. By the time BLOODSTONE begins, four hundred years have passed, and Leonna, Conal's mother, is coming to the conclusion that they will never find what they're looking for, that it doesn't exist.

After FIREBRAND's exciting introduction to the series, BLOODSTONE had a lot to live up to. While not as good as the first book, this continuation of the story isn't afraid to take us where the hard decisions have led Seth and Conal on their quest to be free of Kate NicNiven's control.

The great thing so far about this series is its forward momentum and fascinating characters. In FIREBRAND it was Seth's PoV, but here the narration has broadened to Finn (Conal's niece) and Jed (mortal; Finn's friend and son to Seth's lover). At first I found it annoying because I like Seth's narration and it took the majority of the book to understand why the extra PoVs--and teenagers at that--were necessary for the storytelling. Still, Seth is the one whose PoV carries the story: how he views people, his sense of loyalty to his brother, and his often poor decision-making skills. And the strange thing is that even though I hate some of his choices, I still completely understand why he makes them. He is a fascinating person who wavers between bad-boy and sentimental loyalist. Finn and Jed's stories aren't as crucial as Seth's, but they're still interesting. Jed is a bit of a wild card since he's full mortal, and even though he's tied to important characters, ultimately he's powerless. His character arc is the biggest in the novel, but it was painful to watch him flail about in a situation he had no control over.

There's an unfortunate four-hundred year gap between books, which hinders a fleshed-out setting in favor of a fast-paced story, and as a result we don't learn more about the Sithe world, magic, and the Veil. Not that these tidbits aren't important to the story. The Veil makes the Sithe forgettable to mortals and this makes Finn's high school existence miserable. Adding to her teenage angst is the death of her father, a grieving mother who leaves her to be raised by secretive uncles (who are forbidden by their mother to tell her about the Sithe world), and her witch of a grandmother whose search for the bloodstone occupies her time (because if she doesn't focus her attention she'll want to kill herself to follow her dead husband).

However, the surprises in store do make up for what we miss in the world-building--Phillips takes the story in an unexpected direction. We start out in the mortal world, but most of the action takes place in the otherworld, where Conal teams up with his old comrades-in-arms, Kate NicNiven (the Sithe queen) continues to manipulate events to her advantage, and everything that can go wrong does go wrong. Seth, Finn, and Jed all come to discover that even when they try to make the right decisions, there's no guarantee the results will be what they expect. Phillips weaves these shadowy characters into a complicated and twisty story in a way that is thoroughly engulfing, leaving us with the question of: What will happen next? Because by the end you will want to know.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: A couple handfuls
Violence: Fairly frequent; gory details sometimes glossed over
Sex: Referenced

Find the first two books of the Rebel Angels here:

FIREBRAND

BLOODSTONE

Seth MacGregor is Sithe, and lives in their realm beyond the Veil, apart from full-mortals. Abandoned by his witch mother, he lives in his father's clan as an outsider, unruly and wild. He idolizes his older brother, Conal, who will inherit their father's captaincy of their dun/village.

Conal is loved by many, which draws the irritation of their queen, the beautiful but cruel Kate NicNiven. And when Kate exiles Conal to the human world, Seth chooses exile, as well.
In the human world it's the end of the sixteenth century, when superstition and religious upheaval lead to brutal witch hunts. When Conal and Seth draw the attention of a new priest in town, they decide to return to the Sithe and risk Kate's wrath.
FIREBRAND surprised me because the cover looks like your average corny fantasy. Fortunately it's more than that. Tautly written, the prose is lovely yet not flowery. If you're a fan of Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Chronicles (if you love traditional fantasy, Cornwell's historical fiction series is worth reading) or even Mary Stewart's Arthurian series, FIREBRAND has the same feel--setting up the world and a people in a way that builds on each other.

The first person PoV character Seth is a complicated man. We follow him from his youth as he struggles to hold his own among a hard and warlike people. He's hot-headed, dark tempered, and utterly loyal to Conal. Philip did a great job portraying a young man in a culture foreign to ours, yet she was also able to make it feel real to readers. Seth's narration of those around him shows an ability to understand people, even if he doesn't like most of them.

The differences between the Sithe and human worlds felt pretty basic, which is really my only complaint with FIREBRAND (hopefully this will be remedied with sequels)--although these differences are enough for now to make the prejudices between the people believable. The straightforward story moves between Seth's father's dun, Kate's underground court, and the human world, and it was easy to visualize the places and people.

The strength of FIREBRAND is Seth himself and the story of his life and how much his brother Conal influences it for the better. It's easy to see why Seth idolizes his brother and is willing to sacrifice his own well-being in order to follow him. A lot of the story does revolve around what Conal does, which made me wonder why Seth was the PoV narrator, but I'm willing to see where the series goes. They spend the story of FIREBRAND at the mercy of Kate and the world around them, until they finally take matters into their own hands in an exciting final chapter that turns their world upside-down.

FIREBRAND is a quick read and would be appealing to many different readers, teenagers and adults alike.

Recommended Age: 15+
Language: A mere handful of instances
Violence: Bloody battles, yes
Sex: Implied and referenced but nothing on-screen

Find this good start to the new Rebel Angels series here:

FIREBRAND