STAR SUMMIT

The third installment of Givler’s urban fantasy saga continues the story of a mortal entangled in a supernatural power struggle that threatens to spill over onto an unsuspecting SoCal populace.

To say that Matthew Carver’s life is complicated would be a vast understatement. His soul was stolen; his betrothed, Ash, is a Faerie princess in exile who is also the Devil’s daughter; and his position as a squire of the Hunt training with the legendary Orion is in jeopardy after a contingent of dragons (the Dragon Dons) filed a grievance with Polaris, aka the North Star, to disband the Hunt. Polaris has called for a Constellation Congregation (the first such gathering in almost 250 years) to resolve the issue, and all of the powerful Constellations have been invited. In a brilliant twist by the author, this convocation is to be held in Los Angeles, disguised as a regular pop-culture fantasy/SF convention (“Will there be any Star Trek people there?”); attendees won’t blink twice when supernatural entities with magical weapons or dragonlike humanoids stroll past. With so many enemies harboring long-standing grudges gathered in one spot, chaos quickly ensues. Although the main characters’ various backstories can get a bit convoluted, there is a lot to love here. Givler’s unique take on constellation-inspired mythology is reason enough to read the series, but the ensemble cast of deeply developed characters also gives the narrative a strong emotional impact. It’s the pacing that makes the novel so compulsively readable—the final 100-plus pages are essentially one extended epic fight scene that is so well choreographed that readers will have trouble putting the book down before its conclusion. The descriptions are undeniably immersive: “The asphalt of the road had turned to putty and was sticky underfoot. Steam sizzled off everything as the rain fell on the superheated street. The whole block was burned and blackened, like it had been in a toaster oven for too long.”

Excellent and innovative worldbuilding, memorable characters, and nonstop action—highly recommended.