This trilogy has been way more than I could have ever imagined.
If you are a fan of Nora Roberts, or if you just recently found her, this trilogy is very different to anything she has written before. The author penned an amazing post about why she embarked on this otherwise extremely different path of her career. I actually read the article twice, once when she published it in 2016 and just yesterday, when the publisher sent me a copy of it with the book.

The Rise of Magicks – Nora Roberts

The Rise of Magicks
(Chronicles of The One #3)
by Nora Roberts

After the sickness known as the Doom destroyed civilization, magick has become commonplace, and Fallon Swift has spent her young years learning its ways. Fallon cannot live in peace until she frees those who have been preyed upon by the government or the fanatical Purity Warriors, endlessly hunted or locked up in laboratories, brutalized for years on end. She is determined to save even those who have been complicit with this evil out of fear or weakness—if, indeed, they can be saved.
Strengthened by the bond she shares with her fellow warrior, Duncan, Fallon has already succeeded in rescuing countless shifters and elves and ordinary humans. Now she must help them heal—and rediscover the light and faith within themselves. For although from the time of her birth, she has been The One, she is still only one. And as she faces down an old nemesis, sets her sights on the enemy’s stronghold, and pursues her destiny—to finally restore the mystical shield that once protected them all—she will need an army behind her…

ARC generously provided in exchange for an honest review.

The Rise of Magicks – Nora Roberts

MY THOUGHTS

For me, it always has been hard to continue a series after a year long break. To keep all the characters straight. To remember all the battles that have been fought. And to connect all the dots. Surprisingly it wasn’t as hard to get into The Rise of Magicks as expected. But I still needed a chapter or two to become accustomed again with the story and its cast.

I finished the book in two days, and it kept me quite busy and enthralled with its 454 pages. I even got goosebumps at one time. And I definitely loved the overall feel-good theme. Especially how LIGHT banishes the DARK, again and again. After only a short time of becoming familiar with the characters, it was like revisiting old friends again. There are so many fantastic characters in this trilogy. Partially because the POV of the entire trilogy is told from the view of the ONE and her family. Another reason why they story isn’t as dark as it could have been.

Besides meeting favorite characters, what I think I enjoyed the most was how with each battle, skirmish and confrontation LIGHT surged forward in its never ending quest to banish the DARK side. I loved how the author emphasized this by giving the novel an overall feel-good vibe. Same with seeing places that were lost to the DARK, built back up and flourish again. There was a noticeable progress, hope and successful integration in every page of this book. All of this made for a very satisfying read.

But,

there were a couple things I felt were missing.

This novel had a lot of battles going on, and I didn’t feel like the length of the fighting scenes compared to the amount of battles that were fought. But I must also say that I’m someone that reads Kate Daniels who is known for her fighting scenes. The biggest issues was for me that the battles were just too easily won. It’s supposedly this HUGE battle between good vs evil, LIGHT vs DARK, and I felt the gravity of it all was just not met.

Now I also know that the author doesn’t write high fantasy or anything that comes with epic battles like e.g. in Lord of the Rings. But the feeling I got from the books, the overall plot, the message, all of it didn’t mesh with what was delivered on he pages. The epicness that I had built up in my mind since I read Of Blood and Bone was missing.

Of course, whatever I felt was missing in the end worked towards delivering a feel-good novel. With a ‘light banishes the dark’ kind of feel, which was of course the heart and soul of the entire novel/trilogy. I just felt that for a 454 page novel, with a lot of substance, and a plot that covered multiple years that this last book might have been better split into two. But this is just me, mulling over the fact that the book felt LONG at times, and maybe even a tiny bit repetitive.

Nevertheless,

as I mentioned above, I devoured the novel in two days. And I believe many readers will love it, especially if they aren’t as bloodthirsty as I am apparently – lol. I wish there would have been a longer epilogue, but that’s something I always wish for. Anyway, this epic saga, that covered multiple generations, is finally concluded, and I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next.