Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Release Date: April 2, 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction
The stunning finale to the Defy the Stars trilogy from the New York Times bestselling author of Star Wars: Lost Stars and Bloodline.
Hunted and desperate.
Abel only has one mission left that matters: save the life of Noemi Vidal. To do that, he not only has to escape the Genesis authorities, he also must face the one person in the galaxy who still has the means to destroy him. Burton Mansfield's consciousness lives on, desperate for a home, and Abel's own body is his last bargaining chip.
Alone in the universe.
Brought back from the brink of death, Noemi Vidal finds she's something more. Noemi must find her place in a universe where she is utterly unique, all while trying to create a world where anyone--even a mech--can be free.
The final battle between Earth and the colony planets is here, and there's no lengths to which Earth won't go to preserve its domination over all humanity. But together, the universe's most advanced mech and its first human-mech hybrid might have the power to change the galaxy for good.
Defy The Fates is the third and final installment in author Claudia Gray's Constellation Trilogy. The story picks up right where Defy The World ended with a shocking cliffhanger. Now, the author has a choice: Does she make readers believe that everything is going to be fine, or does she twist the story so radically that it will fundamentally change the lives of both main Abel, the galaxy's most advance artificial cybernetic intelligence mech and Noemi Vidal, a solider of Genesis who has put her life on the line time and time again in order to save her planet from being crushed by Earth?
Let me start by saying that Abel spends a whole lot of time making choices that affect both his and Noemi's lives. Some of the choices don't really make any sense, and some make sense if you are trying to send a message that it doesn't matter who are what you are in order to find love and a happy ending. Abel also believes that once his choice is made, that Noemi will no longer think highly of him, or love him any longer now that choice has been taken away from her.
That being said, I think Noemi's heroism will always be the one thing that I will remember after reading this series. From the beginning, she volunteered to be a sacrifice in order to stop Earth from invading Genesis, then she met Abel who had spent 30 years in confinement aboard a ship once called Daedalus. Abel and Noemi are the only mech and human to ever step foot on every single one of the planets that the author has created from the start of this series, to the end of the series. Noemi has a fascinating story that I won't spoil because it's huge.
I said after the end of the previous novel that I saw what the author had planned for her, and whether I agreed or not, the choice wasn't mine to make. I am glad that the author once again gave story time to such characters as Virginia, Harriet, Zayan, Ephraim and Delphine. Whether you like them or not, and I do love Virginia, they add another layer to the story and also are characters who Abel and Noemi can call on for help since Genesis has turned into something she no longer recognizes. In one way, the author definitely makes a case for racism with the choice made against Noemi.
Yes, this book does have more more romance than the previous books, and that comes after Abel makes a choice for Noemi which will have lasting consequences for both of them. I will say that I think the author spent too much time on the whole Abel, Mansfield & Gillian plot. Had she wrapped that storyline sooner, the end of the so called Liberty War would not have felt as rushed as it did. As it is, the ending is really just one chapter when everyone comes together in order to decide the fate of both Earth and Genesis.
great cover.
ReplyDeletesherry @ fundinmental