This was the sequel to Ebony Gate, and is the middle book of the Phoenix Hoard trilogy – I quite enjoyed the novel, and thought this one worked better than the first one between balancing the world building and the pacing, but I am also disappointed to see that this is a trilogy. I know there is the bigger plotline that has been moving quickly so I shouldn’t be surprised but man, I want to get into a new long running urban fantasy series and this premise could work so well for that. There are so many characters and politics in this world, it would be perfect. October Daye and The Dresden Files are each almost 20 novels in (and I barely count The Dresden Files as a long running urban fantasy series since it hasn’t released yearly in ages, though the next one is coming out this month) but so many of my favorites from a few years back have wrapped up (Kate Daniels, The Hollows), and I would love to find a new one (I think Mercy Thompson is still going but I didn’t get that into that one).
Emiko is slowly adjusting to being the Sentinel though her blocked passage for qi are interfering with some of the abilities she needs to fully access her abilities. After the last novel, she still needs to figure out how to deal with Adam, the human or wairen, who has accidentally gotten to close to the Dragon/supernatural world, especially since his amnesia is making it a bit difficult.
Meanwhile, she is letting herself enjoy the friendship she is developing with Freddie even if she is cautious of his sister Fiona. Emiko is mentally preparing herself for her upcoming trip back home to Tokyo to support her brother in his post school trial, a big ceremony in the supernatural world that will bring all the various clans together. This will be her first time home in two years, since she gave up the mantle as Blade of her family and since she more recently had to destroy/lose the family sword.
With all this going on, it’s of course perfect timing for Fiona to be the target of a failed assassination attempt. Good thing she is going to Tokyo so Emiko can try to protect her and still make it for her brother’s big day.
As she tries to track down the assassin (who also targets her little brother), Emiko finds connections that tie back to her own past and she finally starts remembering/getting answers about her own blocked powers.
Definitely still a lot going on in this one and quite a few new characters are introduced but it is such a rich world, I really wish they had made it a long running series. Still, will be curious to see how they wrap up the trilogy since we got some answers in this one but there are still lots of questions about the motivations of the different players.
