Friday, June 3, 2016

#Saturday Review - Let The Wind Rise by Shannon Messenger (Young Adult, Fantasy)

Series: Sky Fall # 3
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Release Date: April 26, 2016
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy


The breathtaking action and whirlwind adventure build to a climax in this thrilling conclusion to the “remarkably unpredictable” (BCCB) Sky Fall trilogy from the bestselling author of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series.
Vane Weston is ready for battle. Against Raiden’s army. Against the slowly corrupting Gale Force. Even against his own peaceful nature as a Westerly. He’ll do whatever it takes, including storming Raiden’s icy fortress with the three people he trusts the least. Anything to bring Audra home safely.
But Audra won’t wait for someone to rescue her. She has Gus—the guardian she was captured with. And she has a strange “guide” left behind by the one prisoner who managed to escape Raiden. The wind is also rising to her side, rallying against their common enemy. When the forces align, Audra makes her play—but Raiden is ready.
Freedom has never held such an impossible price, and both groups know the sacrifices will be great. But Vane and Audra started this fight together. They’ll end it the same way.



Let The Wind Rise is the third and final novel in Shannon Messenger's Sky Fall Trilogy. This is a series that features 17-year old Vane Weston, as the last Westerly Sylph in existence, and 17-year old Audra, an Easterly Sylph who was once his guardian while he was living with human parents. Sylph's are air elementals who can ride the wind, twist it into weapons, and translate the winds songs. As the story picks up, Audra and Gus are prisoners of Raiden, the most powerful and dangerous Sylph in existence. He's also the man who wants to rid the world of humans after he collects the final power of Four. 

Vane, on the other hand, has to deal with fellow Gale's like Os who wants him to become their King and put all his efforts into training and learning a new way to fight back and not running off to save Audra who is no longer a guardian. Something that goes against his peaceful upbringing. Vane refuses to allow Audra and Gus to remain prisoners of Raiden, and ends up going on a mission alongside Audra's mother and betrayer Arella, his supposed fiance Solana, and Aston who is perhaps the only known Sylph to ever escape from Raiden's brutal prison.

Audra is one of the rare sylph's who is able to speak Westerly. In fact, she has a westerly shield still trying to protect her. Audra knows that she has the means to escape if she really puts her mind to what Aston told her. But, Raiden also is a tempting force who has more than once suggested that she become his queen. Audra isn't one to fall down and go all weak kneed because someone wants to force her into making difficult choices. Her choice to break her bond with Vane was in an effort to save HIM and keep her knowledge of Westerly away from Raiden. After all, she gave up 10 years of HER life to ensure that he remained hidden. Something that isn't far from her mind now that she's no longer a guardian.

Let's clear up some things. First, this book was two years in the making in which I could have honestly given up hopes of seeing a third book. I am saying this because unless you take notes, or have a great memory, it will behoove you to go back and read Let the Sky Fall, and Let the Storm Break first. I believe that Audra is the better character between her and Vane. Vane, because of his heritage, is not a fighter. He doesn't have the ability to use fight back like Arella, or even Solana. 

Even though he is in the final scene/battle against Raiden, I give all the praise to Solana for understanding her new abilities, and not falling prey to them, or joining Raiden in his desire to control the winds for his own selfish reasons. Like the first two books in this series, Messenger alternatives first person narratives between Audra and Vane. It's probably good that Messenger did it this way so that readers can understand what is happening to them and not from someone else's perspective. 






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