Book #73 of 2024: Heroes of Havensong: The Last Ice Phoenix

[thistlechaser]

Heroes of Havensong: The Last Ice Phoenix by Megan Reyes.

Quick synopsis: The four Heroes are still trying to stop the bad guy, and three of the four split off on side quests while the fourth is still under the bad guy's thumb.

Brief opinion: The least middle grade-ish Middle Grade book I've ever read. Long, multiple main characters with an array of motives, very complex bad guy, and mature lessons.

Plot: Cusak, the bad guy, has a plot so long and twisty that it would make George R.R. Martin green with envy. He has so many balls up in the air. Sort of like: Manipulate Person 1 to use him to blackmail Person 2 into giving us object to use to bribe Person 3 so we can use 3's power to manipulate Person 4 who is related to the person we really need: Person 5. See, Person 5 is the father of Person 6... and so on.

While that was going on, Blue (dragon boy) and River (his Rider) were off trying to get items to cure a plague Cusak let loose on a magic island as part of his plotting.

Wren is off doing her own quest, while Shenli is trapped in Cusak's complex net of blackmail and manipulation. Shenli's heart is in the right place, but he's a 13 year old boy and has no chance against a mastermind like Cusak.

As the story continues, each of the four Heroes gets more and more powers. Most of them unique or ultra-powerful skills and abilities. (Only Shenli got a normal one: He learned to use a sword.)

The story ended with Cusak's plan coming together and him seemingly succeeding in at least the early part of his plan.

Writing/editing: Both were perfect.

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I really like how the author handled the chapters. In both books, each chapter had a subtitle that always started with "In which..." and gave a nice teaser for the chapter without spoiling anything.

Shenli, the Hero stuck under Cusak's control, was the most interesting character to me. He's in a bad position and has to make hard choices.

I liked that the story was giving younger readers real world knowledge:

"That's what history is, dear," said Ivan quietly. "Stories retold by the people who hold the most power."

"Even if the stories are lies?" Wren asked.

"History books are one-sides versions of the truth."

Also, I think the author was gently thumbing her nose at fandom:

"The Maderon twins."

Wren wrinkled her nose. "Maderon?"

"The combination of Madera and Aleron's names, fused together."

Wren laughed. What a funny thing to do, squishing names together like that.

What I didn't like was that this story felt really long (MG books usually take me 4-6 hours to read, this one was long enough that it was about 10 hours). Two of the Heroes were together, the other two were on their own, but it felt like all four of them were off on their own side quests, with just the bad guy pushing the main plot along.

Unfortunately my attention kept wandering as I was reading. There were so many characters (all with fantasy-ish names), I kept losing track of who some of them were.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3 stars / Okay. Book 3 comes out in 2025, though I'm not sure if I'll pick it up.