Tomes of Shadowstalking
Tomes of ShadowstalkingWelcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.
This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.
That said, on to the review!
The world is not in good shape, not with the different kingdoms of the Night World splintering apart to make their bid for dominance in the chaos predicted to rein at the end of the millennium. But that chaos may be averted if Circle Daybreak, the witches' Circle turned rallying point for the good folk of the Night World and their human allies, can convince the four Wild Powers spoken of in prophecy to stand with humanity against the forces of darkness. To that end, Raksha Keller and her team of troubleshooters have descended upon North Carolina to rescue a potential Wild Power before their Night World enemies have a chance to kill her. But everything goes wrong, from Iliana Harman's complete denial of possessing anything remotely resembling witchcraft to the sudden inclusion into their circle of a young man who just happens to be the prince of the shapeshifters, Galen Drache. And nobody ever said anything about a force put to sleep long millennia before suddenly awakening, something along the lines of a dragon!
Witchlight is the third of the Night World books focusing around the four Wild Powers. As you might expect, another Wild Power is found in this book, but is it really a Wild Power when the girl--who may be a lost witch of the Harman clan--doesn't seem to have any powers whatsoever? And of course, seeing as how the soulmate principle seems to be appearing in each and every one of the Night World novels, there is another match made in...well, destiny, maybe. Another match made in destiny. And, like the others, there are problems to this particular match working out. Or at least, that's the way it all seems. But you get the picture. Fortunately, this time it isn't anyone belonging to the Harman (see Spellbinder, Dark Angel and Soulmate) or Redfern (see Secret Vampire, Daughters of Darkness, The Chosen, again Soulmate, Huntress, and Black Dawn) clans--and while Quinn and Thierry aren't necessarily of either clan, Quinn has a strong tie to the Redferns and Thierry was actually turned by the mother of the Redfern clan who was herself a Hearth-Woman (later, Harman)--but two people from the other kingdom in the Night World, the shapeshifters. It's about time.
Especially good about this book is that the author provides a history of the kingdom of the shapeshifters. We more or less received a history of the witches in Spellbinder and one of the vampires in Soulmate, but nothing had been said about the shapeshifters. As a point of fact, nothing was really mentioned about them--excluding werewolves of course--until Black Dawn and now here. It makes a nice change of pace from the stories about the vampires and the witches. I'm not necessarily certain how far a story could go with only the shapeshifters involved to carry it along, but this one did all right...with some assistance from the witches and vampires that went along for the ride.
While a YA novel--like all of L.J. Smith's other books--Night World: Witchlight does a bit more with the YA angle than most of her other books do. Sure, the teenagers have to go to school and all, but only the story about Gillian really looked into the more social aspect of teenage life. Well, here's a chance to see what members of Circle Daybreak do when they're called upon to socialize!
Buy this book in paperback or visit the Cosmic Tomes Bazaar for other titles.
Looking for something that's no longer there? Check in the Archive to search for it.
Comments? Suggestions? Just click here to send me e-mail. Also, if this review prompted you to read the book, then let me know. I appreciate knowing I made a difference in somebody's life.
Back Home Back to Starfire Reviews
Get your own Free Home Page