09/16/2019
Roberts’s rushed-feeling follow-up to 2018’s Of Blood and Bone concludes her Chronicles of the One trilogy, which details how 19-year-old Fallon Swift—who is prophesied to save the world—raises an army to prepare for the ultimate showdown between good and evil. The book is set some 20 years after mankind was nearly eradicated by a virus unleashed by a broken magical shield. The survivors either remained human or evolved into creatures with supernatural powers known as Uncannys. Fallon spends much of this volume making alliances and taking out strongholds run by intolerant humans and Dark Uncannys in a buildup to taking back New York City for the good guys. Fallon’s goal is to deduce the proper time to close the shield that started all this, and to settle the score with her evil cousin Petra. While Roberts retains her ability for using humor to break up the heavy-handedness of fantasy writing, her usually on-point pacing is off. There’s a romance between Fallon and her coleader, Duncan, who had a nicely unfurling flirtation in the previous novel but here go from resisting each other to deeply in love to practically engaged in a heartbeat. Showdowns are built up as epic but end before readers can fully absorb them. Fans will see flashes of Roberts’s talents here, but will wish that she had fleshed things out. 1,000,000-copy announced first printing. (Nov.)
Magnificent . . . perfectly balances magic, adventure, romance, and steely resolve in the battle of good vs. evil while reminding us that while the battles may save us, it's the home, hearth, and community which sustain us. Brilliant and inspiring.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"Deftly wielding her own brand of literary magic, Roberts once again merges mesmerizing characters, inventive plotting, and propulsive pacing as she presents the compulsively readable finale to her altogether bewitching Chronicles of The One trilogy." —Booklist
"The final volume of 'The Chronicles of the One' (Of Blood and Bone; Year One) is a full fantasy, postapocalytpic version of Robert's tried and true storytelling mastery. Characters will come full circle, leaving no loose ends in this fast-moving, robust story." —Library Journal
★ 2019-09-04
In the conclusion to Roberts' Chronicles of The One, Fallon Swift and her army vanquish violent, fearmongering leaders, but in order to reintroduce light to the world, she and her two closest magickal allies must face the darkness and their most dangerous foe back where the Doom began.
Nearly twenty years after the Doom (Of Blood and Bone, 2018, etc.), Fallon Swift has become a powerful witch and raised an army of both magickal and nonmagickal people determined to bring down the corrupt U.S. government as well as Jeremiah White and his anti-magickal Purity Warriors, both of which prey upon magickal people. But as she travels across the country preparing for battle and surveying the land, Fallon finds small pockets of decent, tolerant people who have started or maintained their own mixed communities, much like the successful New Hope. Inspired to protect them and help them build, she works with her family and friends to plan a revolution dedicated to the motto "Light for Life," so all people can live in peace and security. Creating communities and helping them thrive has the added benefit of providing a place for survivors when Fallon and her allies take over PW strongholds and government research facilities, safe spaces which become breeding grounds for more soldiers willing to fight for the cause. Fallon and her army take bold and inspired actions to gain ground against the darkness, but there's no question that in order to truly vanquish the evil that's grown since the Doom, she'll have to face it at its source. Meanwhile, Fallon's relationship with Duncan grows ever stronger, and the dance around their attraction moves toward a powerful commitment, though facing off against evil never guarantees survival. Roberts' magnificent trilogy concludes with another title that perfectly balances magic, adventure, romance, and steely resolve in the battle of good vs. evil while reminding us that while the battles may save us, it's the home, hearth, and community which sustain us.
Brilliant and inspiring.
Julia Whelan, who narrated earlier installments of the Chronicles of The One, lends her versatile vocal skills to the third and final installment of the trilogy. Fallon Swift may be The One, but she won’t go into the final battle of good versus evil alone. Along with other community leaders—both with and without magick—Fallon embraces her destiny to save the world. Whelan’s ability to portray a large cast of characters, giving each a unique voice, is laudable. Each character is discernible from the rest—no matter their gender, age, or regional accent. Her soothing tone and even pacing keep the lengthy story moving for the listener. Overall, Whelan deftly presents another production worth listening to. A.L.S.M. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine