Lifeblood

January 15, 2017
Tenley's joined Troika, but Myriad's not out of tricks, and the war between the afterlives is far from over.After Firstlife (2016), Tenley (fair-skinned, with vague "Native American" heritage) is dead at Myriad's hands, but the battle rages as she wakes to her Troikan Everlife. This puts Irish-accented, bronze-skinned Killian in the awkward position of defending himself by killing attacking Troikans while protecting Tenley by killing his fellows in Myriad. By the time the Troikans get Tenley to safety in their realm, the casualty count is high enough that she doesn't receive the warmest of receptions--people are concerned she's more loyal to Killian than to her own people. Tenley hardly has enough time to grieve her losses before Gen. Levi sends her through her paces, as they need to get her to her full potential as a light-generating Conduit as quickly as possible. Myriad has managed to infect a human, biracial black/white Dior, with Penumbra, an almost mythical plague said to create an Abrogate (the Myriad equivalent of Conduit)--and only Tenley can help Dior. Despite Tenley's thoughtfully expository narration, readers who skipped the first title are likely to be hopelessly lost. Returning readers will find that the chessboard-strategy maneuvers and star-crossed romance are satisfyingly bolstered by themes of forgiveness and personal responsibility. Tense, philosophical, and enthralling. (Fantasy. 13 & up)

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February 1, 2017

Gr 10 Up-In this sequel to Firstlife, Tenley "Ten" Lockwood has chosen her allegiance to the otherworld realm Troika, much to the dismay of the Myriad realm. When the book opens, Ten is training to be a Conduit for Troika, an important position responsible for the light that powers the souls in the kingdom. Ten's ultimate goal, however, is to end the war between Troika and Myriad-a complicated task, considering that her love, Killian, is aligned with Myriad, and neither side wants to concede. When a plot goes awry and uncovers a mole in Troika, Ten stops at nothing to rescue her friends from the Myriad clutches and convince both sides to cease their fire. Her heart says Killian is loyal to her and not to Myriad, but her head says differently. Interspersed between the chapters are emails between various officials of the realms, again hinting at possible betrayals and setups. At the end, readers are left with a semblance of hope and an extensive list of work to be done, setting up the third book in this trilogy nicely. The otherworld realms contain numerous intricate politics and rules; a new rule or policy is introduced in almost every chapter. Still, this is a fast-paced fantasy, and familiarity with Firstlife isn't necessary to get caught up with all the happenings in each of the various worlds. Told in Ten's stream-of-consciousness voice, the narrative includes quite a few graphic descriptions of violent deaths and some hot-and-heavy scenes between Killian and Ten.

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