The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts – a Review

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Description:
After the sickness known as the Doom destroyed civilization, magick has become commonplace, and Fallon Swift has spent her young years learning its ways. Fallon cannot live in peace until she frees those who have been preyed upon by the government or the fanatical Purity Warriors, endlessly hunted or locked up in laboratories, brutalized for years on end. She is determined to save even those who have been complicit with this evil out of fear or weakness—if, indeed, they can be saved.

Strengthened by the bond she shares with her fellow warrior, Duncan, Fallon has already succeeded in rescuing countless shifters and elves and ordinary humans. Now she must help them heal—and rediscover the light and faith within themselves. For although from the time of her birth, she has been The One, she is still only one. And as she faces down an old nemesis, sets her sights on the enemy’s stronghold, and pursues her destiny—to finally restore the mystical shield that once protected them all—she will need an army behind her…

Review:

The Rise of Magicks by Nora Roberts is the 3^rd and final book in her Chronicles of The One trilogy. I loved the two previous books in this trilogy, and I have to say that Nora Roberts once again gives us a masterpiece in this satisfying thrilling conclusion.

Note:  The Rise of Magicks is not a standalone, do not read this book if you have not read the previous books.

Background of Chronicles of One: a post-apocalyptic dystopian, with a bit of fantasy, that starts with a lethal virus (The Doom) that will destroy most of the world. A new beginning will start with the survivors, which will pit the dark (evil) and the light (good) against each other that will divide and separate all. Magic (witches, fairies, elves, etc) rises, causing division among those with newfound powers that are used for good, and those who are evil and want to hurt others, and the humans with no power at all, bent on destroying all magic.

It has been 20 years since the Doom, and in The Rise of Magicks, our heroine, Fallon Swift, after years of training, has become extremely powerful. She brings everyone together working toward building an army to fight the violence that threatens them, such as Purity warriors to want to kill all magickal people, the corrupt government and the evil darkness that they must defeat to survive.

As the members of her team, from New Hope, and other communities that they have rescued and trained towards winning this war, Fallon’s plan is to head for Arlington, one of the biggest compounds, as well as two other camps in other cities.  Fallon knows she needs add many more people to fight and free those imprisoned, building her army to the thousands they will need to weaken and destroy the enemy.   Many of those they rescue are the tortured innocent humans, as well as the magickal witches, faeries, elves, who will stand with them against the evil.

What I loved about this story was seeing all my favorites from the previous books, who are loyal to Fallon, whom they know as The One, and seeing them all work together for a common goal; bring out the light and destroy the dark.  It was also wonderful to meet so many new characters that would rise up beyond their terrible torture and be willing to fight for The One. Fallon was a wonderful heroine, whom I loved from the time she was born in the second book, and as she gets older, it was nice to see a romance in the background of the story.   The wonderful characters that supported her were equally so great; Lana, Duncan, Mallick, Simon, Tonia, Katie, Rachel, Hannah, Fred, Arlys, Colin, Mick, just to name a few.  Great cast of characters.

I do not want to give spoilers, as that would ruin the story, and you really need to read this trilogy.  What follows is an exciting, fast paced, nonstop action-packed, at times dark and intense adventure, with everyone working together and preparing for the war of good vs evil.  The battles were many, and each one had me on the edge of my seat; and in any war, there are lives that are lost.  The last half of the book was intense and captivating. Fallon and her team, old and young, were amazing.

The Rise of Magicks was a fantastic finale to this wonderful epic trilogy, which is no surprise, as Nora Roberts always gives us a masterpiece. There is so much to love about this dark, tense and magical world, in a dystopian fantasy that was a thriller a minute.  If you enjoy an exciting, mind boggling adventure, in a fabulous dystopian world and fantastic characters, you need to be reading Chronicles of The One trilogy. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher