TRINE FALLACY

A magical realm marches to war while a teen hero explores her potential in this second installment of a YA fantasy series.

Sixteen-year-old Mirana Pinal is a powerful Trine from the Kin-Deren province of Kinderra. Many people in her world have Aspects, enhanced skills in Healing, Seeing, or Defending. But Mirana possesses all three magical talents. After a devastating battle at Two Rivers Ford—during which many of her own people, the Fal’kin, and their enemy, the Ken’nar perished—she’s in the Sün-Kasal province with Trine Tetric Garis. The older Trine is her mentor, teaching her that life and death are intimately connected, as are their magical counterparts, the Light from Within and the Power from Without. Mirana doesn’t like killing, not even animals to eat. Yet she must prepare for a prophetic battle with the Dark Trine for control of Jasal’s Keep, the Kin-Deren seat of power, and, eventually, the rest of Kinderra. Meanwhile, Teague Beltran, Mirana’s childhood love whom she left behind for his own safety, heads to Edara in the Varn-Erdal province. If the Ken’nar succeed in overrunning the capital, the Dark Trine will be one step closer to Jasal’s Keep. Though Teague possesses no Aspect, his herbalist skills make him valuable to Defender Prime Liaonne Edaran, ruler of Varn-Erdal. Elsewhere, Mirana must withstand the Dark Trine’s manipulation while mastering her powers over life and death. Donnelly’s high-stakes sequel grapples with the complexities of lingering love and the ethics of war. Teague’s romantic life nearly comes full circle as he ponders the safety of Illenne il’Talz, a new love interest, given that his fate is tied to the coming cataclysm. The Dark Trine’s evil is marked by the Soul Harvest, a spell that results in the “erasure of self-preservation and free will.” With her narrative building slowly toward chaos, the author gives epic fantasy aficionados some truly grim moments, as when Liaonne “hacked at the body until it became an unrecognizable heap of flesh and torn metal armor.” A stunning twist two-thirds into the story electrifies the pace and gives the series a darker tone, making the next volume unmissable.

A mature and deftly plotted fantasy sequel by a shrewd author.