Becky's View: When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears by Kersten Hamilton

When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears by Kersten Hamilton
♦publisher: Clarion Books
♦release date: August 6th, 2013
♦hardcover, 400 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series: The Goblin Wars, book 3
  book 1: Tyger, Tyger (review)
  book 2: In the Forests of the Night (review)
♦source: ALA midwinter 2013

“People will die.”

Locked doors are opening, and uncanny creatures are tumbling through mysterious portals from Mag Mell, the world-between-worlds, into the streets of Chicago. The Dark Man has marked Aiden with a new song that’s scared him badly, and a frightening new group of sídhe is lurking nearby.

Teagan knows this is war, and she must protect her family. She leaves her flesh and bones behind to join Finn in hunting the evil beings across the city. Meanwhile, their relationship is heating up—almost faster than they can control. But he is still bound to fight goblins his entire life . . . and by blood she is one of them now.

Then the gateway to Mag Mell cracks open again, and the Wylltsons find themselves caught in a trap. As her loved ones begin to die, Teagan realizes that she must destroy the Dark Man and his minions once and for all in order to save those who remain . . .

. . . before it is too late.

Review: Bringing one of my favorite recent series to a close, When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears picks up right where the last book left off and finds Teagan, Finn, Aiden and the rest of the massive cast of characters preparing for their next move to take down Mab, Fear Doirich, and save the magical land of Mag Mell.  

While admittedly, this was my least favorite of the three, it was still great fun to be back with these incredible characters.  There are so many---sometimes it was tough to remember who was who with all the unusual names (and species!), especially after being away from this world for a year.  I would definitely recommend rereading the first two for a refresher, or better yet if you haven’t started the series to read them all at once!  The first 100 or so pages did feel a bit slow, most of it taking place in and around Teagan’s house as the group speculates on new and old dilemmas and prepares for the building danger and their plan of attack.  

 Despite the danger getting more and more severe, you’ll still find the same great humor and heart throughout the story, with Teagan reaching out to help even the nastiest of creatures, Finn fighting back his fate to be who and what he wants despite his legacy, Lucy and Aiden in all kinds of mischief,…even Mrs. Santini, the nosy neighbor from across the street, has her great shining moments this time around.  There are a few new faces, some not so welcome, and some that will help save them all in the end.  With the climactic onset of the war, there are some shockingly heartbreaking moments of betrayal and some very heavy losses.  Hamilton definitely doesn’t patronize us with a sappy happy ending, but gives us the gritty, heart-wrenching, and hard-won triumph that this fantastic adventure deserves.  

Find Kersten Hamilton online: Website  •  Twitter 

Purchase the book:  Amazon  •  Book Depository  •  Indiebound

Review: In the Forests of the Night

In the Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton

publisher: Clarion Books

release date: November 22, 2011

hardcover, 288 pages

intended audience: Young adult

series: Goblin Wars, book 2

rating:




description:
The battle against goblinkind continues . . . but which side will Teagan be on?

Teagan, Finn, and Aiden have made it out of Mag Mell alive, but the Dark Man’s forces are hot on their heels. Back in Chicago, Tea’s goblin cousins show up at her school, sure she will come back to Mag Mell, as goblin blood is never passive once awoken. Soon she will belong to Fear Doirich and join them. In the meantime, they are happy to entertain themselves by trying to seduce, kidnap, or kill Tea’s family and friends. Tea knows she doesn’t have much time left, and she refuses to leave Finn or her family to be tortured and killed. A wild Stormrider, born to rule and reign, is growing stronger inside her. But as long as she can hold on, she’s still Teagan Wylltson, who plans to be a veterinarian and who heals the sick and hurting. The disease that’s destroying her—that’s destroying them all—has a name: Fear Doirich. And Teagan Wylltson is not going to let him win.

Review: In this second installment to the Goblin Wars series, Teagan and her friends have survived their first big fight with Fear Doirich and are back home, safe and sound. Everyone is trying to acclimate: Teagan's dad to having his own thoughts back and step back into the role of "Dad" to Teagan and Aiden; Teagan's aunt and the goblin, Thomas, who they brought back from Mag Mell are getting used to the new world around them. And Teagan is trying to wrap her mind around the news that she herself is a highborn Goblin.

For me, it took a little way into the book to really get acclimated myself. There are a lot of characters to keep track of and a lot to remember from the first book, so if you have the opportunity, I might advise rereading the first book if you haven't read it since it was released. Once I got my bearings, I fell right back in to the story Teagan is still the great smart, strong, character that I loved, Aiden is still stealing the show with his fun antics and amazing magical voice, and Finn is just as charming and chivalrous, with that lovely irish accent making me swoon just a bit. :) Seriously, the only way a character could get away with calling his girlfriend "Girl" repeatedly is with a hot irish accent. For a lot of the book Teagan is having a sort of inner struggle with who she is and holding on to that despite feeling the pull of her goblin blood. It makes her unsure about Finn, since he is born to fight goblins, makes her scared and more protective of Aiden, and makes her want to go back and face Fear Doirich even more.

We get a great dose of Irish lore in In the Forest of the Night. Kersten Hamilton has such an amazing way of working everything we need to know right into the story with such amazing flow. The infamous Maggot Cat and the cat-sidhe are even more distgusting than I remember them being in book one. There is, once again, some really great action this time around and the ending is amazing, and completely unexpected, with a great exciting cliffhanger that hints at the amazingness to come in book 3! I can't wait! Fans of this story will not be disappointed!

Visit Kersten Hamilton's site here!

Purchase in the Forests of the Night: Amazon • BN.com • BookDepository • Indiebound