Fall of Thrones and Thorns by Jennifer Ellision

The Fall of Thrones and Thorns

Threats of Sky and Sea, #3

By:  Jennifer Ellision

Publish Date:  September 27, 2016

Genre:  Young Adult, Fantasy

Pages:  234 Print

Source:  Xpresso Book Tours

War hurtles in, a typhoon over the sea.

After Bree’s life was torn apart, Nereidium had represented a haven to her. A place that—if she could save it—was beyond the King’s reach.

And, at last, she’s arrived upon its shores. But things in Nereidium are not what they should be.

The land is plagued by a rash of mysterious earthquakes, the likes of which it’s never known. The governors are distracted by old traditions, while Bree and her friends grapple with changing identities and the sense that the longer they wait to take action… the greater the danger from Egria grows.

Bree is tired of living under the shadow of King Langdon’s power. And she’s tired of waiting for him to be the first to act.

In this final chapter of the Threats of Sky and Sea series, it all comes down to Nereidium or Egria. To Bree or the King. It’s kill… or be killed.

And not everyone will escape the battle unscathed. 

In this third and action-packed installment of Threats of Sky and Sea, Bree and her crew return to Nereidium with the realization that Bree, not Aleta, is the heir to the water wielder’s throne, and that Bree possesses previously unknown powers she is now getting to know. Bree is reunited with her Aunt Helen, and gets to the see the land that will become hers.

I like these stories with characters that can manipulate the very elements themselves. It reminds me of the movie, The Last Airbender, which I really enjoyed.

I didn’t get a chance to read the first two books so right off I found there were lots of characters to keep track of. Interestingly, the author writes the chapters from the viewpoints of many of these characters and while at first I wasn’t sure how I felt about this, after a while I liked seeing what was happening from these different POVs. It also helped with the cracking pace of the story and I kept turning the pages. One thing I would like to see more of in differing POV novels is that the different characters have very distinct voices from each other, something which is difficult to do and that I rarely find. In Fall of Thrones and Thorns I felt all the chapters were written in the same tone despite being told by different characters, though fast-paced and overall well written.

It’s great to see how everyone in Bree’s crew are very supportive of each other and take care of the others, protecting everyone with their differing element control powers.

Along with the premise of the book being about element wielders, the scene where the earth shaker element Adept binds some of Bree’s crew into becoming a tree and latched onto that tree is fantastic. I could see CGI film makers having a field day with this. Some good back and forth on the battle scenes too so Bree and her crew really have to fight to get the ending they want.

I wanted Bree’s relationship with Prince Caden to develop more but the story is primarily about the power struggle between her, her crew, and King Langdon who has gone element-power mad in Egria. Still, the ending falls a little flat with nothing really developing between Bree and Caden beyond friendship despite their interest in each other. As Prince and Princess of two nations who have a past, you just want them to have something more going on.

Overall the story is fast-paced and cleanly and well written so for me this just squeaks through to 4.0 stars. If you’ve read the first two books, check this out to at least get good closure, and the series if you enjoy stories with characters who wield element control. My thanks to Xpresso Book Tours and Jennifer for the ARC!

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Jennifer Ellision was born and raised in South Florida and lives in perpetual fear of temperatures below 60F. She spent a great deal of her childhood staying up past her bedtime with a book and a flashlight. When she couldn’t find the stories she wanted to read, she started writing them. She has an OTP, loves character analysis, and is a master of the fangirl flail, with a particular soft spot for fan fiction. She frequently bursts into song (and they are often of a Disney persuasion). Sailor Moon is one of her favorite things on this planet. Threats of Sky and Sea is her first novel series.

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