Hello everyone!
I'm back on the grind, so to speak, but is it really a grind when you're doing what you love to do? I wouldn't think so, not really.
Because, at the end of the day, reading gives me peace of mind and it's a hobby I've been cultivating for all my life at this point, which means that in all honesty, if anyone ever tells me I have to stop, I may need to go separate ways with them forever.
No joke!
But anyway, before I run too deep down into the rabbit hole, let's get on with the show, shall we?
Because last week, I reviewed the start of a series, and then realized hey, there's actually a prequel novella that I somehow missed with my OCD-brain.
Did I pick it up? Naturally.
So without further ado, let's look at Levkaseon, a name that sounds totally Swedish to me for some reason, but is probably not!
Now if you recall, last week we took a look at Sarah Westill's Wintersfall, which I enjoyed but didn't completely understand because ... well because I'm an idiot, that's why.
I WISH I had read Levkaseon before Wintersfall, I really do.
Because if I had, I would have totally understood some of the nuances of the plot in that first book better, whereas I could only guess at them reading Wintersfall that first time around.
See, to just sum up the world for you: there's been a cataclysmic event that basically brought on a mini ice age, humanity has largely died out until several pockets managed to claw their way back to survival, forming four or five different nations with their own codes of honour and history and whatnot. They've also evolved, because traits are now passed down genetically, and people who've gotten to that point are called Genetic Heirs (Gen-Heirs), because they're literally written in their genes.
I have to correct myself from last week, I somehow thought they brought this on by experimenting, but nope. Just passing on from one to the other genetically.
So back to Levkaseon, which is basically the heart of what the rest of the books will be, but I didn't get it until I read it.
Five years ago, Ciarra and Terran were married and madly in love. They were also both working for the health board in the city, Terran specifically because he's a MedPath, which is one of the handful of people on the planet who can touch you and figure out if there's something going on inside your body that needs addressing - yep, he knows through touch if there's a virus or if there's bacteria, etc.
This is helpful because, if you remember, there's this whole Human Rabies Syndrome that's popped up and needs controlling, and if you have someone around who can tell with one touch if you're going to die ... well.
Thing is, five years ago Terran discovered someone was weaponizing the virus, or trying to ... and that someone was Ciarra's father. This ended with him being tossed in prison for "stealing" and his marriage to Ciarra dissolved, with Ciarra doing what her father told her to do obediently, since daddy knows best and husband is a crook.
Well, five years later she needs said ex-husband, because something weird is going on with the rabies virus, and its victims.
Is said ex-husband happy?
Nope.
But Voklane (who also happens to be the recruiter in Wintersfall and I'm pretty sure his role is much bigger than we get to know at the moment) convinces him to go do what he does best, so he emerges back into society, which wreaks havoc on him and Ciarra both because, NEWSFLASH, they're still just as in love as they used to be.
Only now, Terran's decided he wants nothing more to do with her because she dropped him like a hot potato when her dad ordered her to.
However, with Ciarra's father sick and her taking on the Guardian role from him, she's beginning to learn all is not well, specifically as she and Terran dig further into the rabies cases and continue discovering that the victims who were bitten were not, in fact, infected.
Which is how the virus is supposed to move from one person to the next.
Terran puts two and two together VERY quickly: the virus has advanced in the whole weaponizing stage, and it looks like it's being distributed through that magical lily dust that's such a problem in Wintersfall, a new drug on the market that people get addicted to very quickly.
See this is what I meant when I said I should have read this book first, because the problem in Wintersfall would have made a whole lot more sense to me then!
But anyway, Terran can see how the virus is being mutated, but he doesn't know how because technically it shouldn't be possible. Ciarra suggests maybe there's someone who can work the virus, a Gen-Heir, but they just haven't heard of someone like that before.
Which is a terrifying thought!
Made more so terrifying when her father is all paranoid and tries ordering her to stop working with Terran, then after she gets home late one night there's no sign of anyone in the house, father OR staff, just two masked individuals burning all her work. She manages to get out mostly unharmed and heads straight to Terran, who realized the stakes are now becoming even higher.
And naturally the problem would sky-rocket when Voklane decides to head out of town for a bit (recruiting Katria, maybe?), because Terran and Ciarra get shot at during work, right before someone decides to actively drop a dust bomb in the middle of the building to infect the people there with the virus contained in said dust.
Combined with the fact that Ciarra's father was absent when she was attacked, they decide to go investigate his laboratory at home and overhear him speaking to someone, swearing he can keep his daughter under control and she'll leave Terran like she did before when he ordered her to, so that they can proceed. If that isn't enough to overplay his hand, what constitutes as the local police arrives to ask Ciarra about a complaint she filed against a person she didn't file a complaint against, making it clear it was her father trying to do Terran dirty again.
But the game is up, so to speak, since they then take the father into custody after having a look at the lab - the other person is nowhere to be seen, however, which causes the older man to mentally shut down, and he's eventually committed to what would constitute as a madhouse nowadays.
During all of this, Terran and Ciarra need to work through their own differences, why they behaved the way they did in the past, and what they're willing to sacrifice for the future, which in Ciarra's case becomes an easy decision when she chooses to marry Terran again, for life this time, and take his family name instead of the ancient one her father carries (this also may not have helped dear ole dad when he heard).
The book ends with the Guardianship transferring from Ciarra's family to Terran's, basically making him the Guardian now, and the two of them committed to continue working with the health services to figure out what's what with this rabies virus, and just take care of the city as best as they can.
... but seeing as there's a full on series following this prequel I am SO hoping we get to see them again in later books!
Even though this is, at its core, a redemption story and a second chance at marriage (which, by the way, that Reader Letter at the end? I was bawling my eyes out. More people need a copy of this book just so they can read THAT ALONE), it also begins a mystery that explains a little bit more why the team is recalled back to Haven City in the actual first book.
Here, we have a slightly different set-up than in Wintersfall, but it really, really explains more about magic lily dust from Alexandria that we have zero to no clue about in Wintersfall, so I highly recommend this as your starting point.
Ciarra and Terran are both very wounded, very believable characters, and I hope we get to see them again sometime in future books, even just as supporting characters. I love the decision they make, that doesn't specify a timestamp on their relationship but gives so much more.
I also really enjoyed the mysterious aspect of the book, and can't wait to dig further into this post-apocalyptic world to discover just who's behind this, and what can be done to stop them.
Also as a side note, I didn't really have much to say about Voklane in Wintersfall but … I'm rethinking my choices now. I think he bears watching, he's fantastic, and does he have a happily ever after written in his stars somewhere? I hope so!
Between fleshed-out characters, interactive action that makes you think as you try to puzzle out a timeline and what's the cause and effect, not to mention the continuous quick chases, I think this is one more read to add to your shelves.
10/10 recommend!
Here, we have a slightly different set-up than in Wintersfall, but it really, really explains more about magic lily dust from Alexandria that we have zero to no clue about in Wintersfall, so I highly recommend this as your starting point.
Ciarra and Terran are both very wounded, very believable characters, and I hope we get to see them again sometime in future books, even just as supporting characters. I love the decision they make, that doesn't specify a timestamp on their relationship but gives so much more.
I also really enjoyed the mysterious aspect of the book, and can't wait to dig further into this post-apocalyptic world to discover just who's behind this, and what can be done to stop them.
Also as a side note, I didn't really have much to say about Voklane in Wintersfall but … I'm rethinking my choices now. I think he bears watching, he's fantastic, and does he have a happily ever after written in his stars somewhere? I hope so!
Between fleshed-out characters, interactive action that makes you think as you try to puzzle out a timeline and what's the cause and effect, not to mention the continuous quick chases, I think this is one more read to add to your shelves.
10/10 recommend!
xx
*image not mine
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