Book Review
Title: Oracle of Illaria (Illaria #2)
Author: Dyan Chick
Genre: YA/Fantasy
Rating: *****
Review: After the dramatic ending of Heir of Illaria I couldn’t wait to get into the second book in the series. Unlike the first book which was told entirely for Etta’s perspective Oracle of Illaria opens with Max’s perspective. This opening wasn’t as explosive as the first but it was interesting as we learn Max has been in a relationship with the daughter of the necromancer King, Nora and that she is now pregnant with his child. Due to this Max is going to join the King in order to learn his weakness and deal with his sister in the meantime and they seem to have a plan for that. They plan to use Max’s shadows to get to Etta through Ashton. Despite all this deception Max doesn’t want to be like Nora’s father he wants to be a good King, and as historically all the rulers of Illaria has been men he should have the upper hand but his fire alignment goes against him as all the ruling monarchs have had a water alignment like Etta.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, we see Etta has been sending scouts all over Illaria in the hopes of finding out where Max has gone and what the King is doing. When they return they learn that Nathan has died and Ashton was injured as the King appeared in the ruins they were scouting and Ashton later tells Etta that he is worried there is a tracking spell on him. Another scouting team tell Etta that Max has joined the King and he appears to be learning necromancer from him which neither Etta or Saffron can believe but given his actions in the previous book, they know it is possible. Things get tense then as Ralph and Patrick kidnap Etta and Ashton in the hopes of giving her to the King but they both end up dead and Etta is sensing that something is trying to get into her mind and for a moment she left it. They kidnapped Etta because the King has put a price on her head if she is captured alive, which means everyone is now their enemy and with the growing whispers that Etta isn’t strong enough to rule, Ashton and Etta are concerned but they have to get back to the camp before anything else happens. It turns out that Ashton was right to be worried as the King put a tracking spell on him and he is going to send Max to drain Ashton’s essence in order to use Etta to open a bridge to the underworld and unleash the Darkness to its full potential. As they are attacked hundreds of undead separate Ashton and Etta but it isn’t long before help arrived but Ashton has been taken ad he is being tortured most likely by Max and Etta immediately wants to run to save him but her life is more important and she is stopped by Saffron and the others.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Master Flanders tells Etta that Ashton’s essence has been removed from his body, so while his body still lives his soul is somewhere else. In her brief encounter with the King she learns of the Black Onyx, a powerful stone that removes people magic temporarily but it doesn’t affect Etta. Master Flanders tells her of the other stones including the Astral Stone which would give her the power to travel into the astral realm and retrieve Ashton’s essence and bring it back to him but they don’t have much time. The only way to get the stone is by visiting the Oracle, Delphina in the Black Tower as she is the keeper of the stone and it is one of the few places the King won’t travel because he is afraid of what Delphina would tell him. It is decided that Celeste and Etta will travel alone as that is the safest route for now and it involves them travelling to Sir Henry’s, the to a port town where they can get passage to the island where the Black Tower is located. Throughout all of this Etta has the threat of King looming over her as he still wants her as his Queen and he can sense a darkness in her that he believes will only grow stronger and like Max she will end up going to him in time. During this time Etta is also struggling to come to terms with her power and authority as Queen which causes some tension especially when Saffron tells Etta that she doesn’t ask for permission she grants it, as this isn’t the way Etta thinks, she doesn’t think herself above everyone else. In fact, she sees herself as one of the people as she was raised that way but there still seems to be so much that Etta doesn’t know which puts her at a disadvantage as Max and the King can exploit her naivety to get what they want.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, through Max’s perspective we see he is becoming more like the King as even the Reapers start following him but he is also hurt because Ashton was his apprentice and he will never join Max after what he has done and I have a feeling he is only going to fall further into the darkness before the end of this series. Etta and Celeste begin their journey to the Sacred City but it isn’t easy after only a day of being on the move they run into a group of the King’s soldier but a boy they had met earlier, Wiley comes to their rescue. He know who Etta was and take her to see Sir Giles who used to be with the Ravens but left when Etta was 10 and he explains her mother’s power as a water sorcerer and what really happens at the Battle of the Dead. After leaving Sir Giles behind they finally arrive at Sir Henry’s but once again he is the only person to tell Etta the truth. He explains that Delphina is Master Flanders’ daughter, and that in the past the Black Tower was a sacred place for those who saw the future to serve the Gods but it is now like a prison and he put Delphina there himself. Master Flanders is one of the few people Etta has never questioned but now she really doesn’t know who she can and can’t trust but I have the feeling that the Oracle herself will provide the answers that Etta is looking for.
As we cross the halfway mark in the novel, they finally make it to the port town but before they even think of heading to the docks, Etta notices that there is a huge crowd at the gallows and immediately heads to stop the hanging of a girl who they are claiming is her. We can see a slow change in Etta as she has no problem killing three guards and freeing the prisoners, although on man kills the remaining guard. It turns out this man is named Calder and the guards that were going to hang him were responsible for killing his wife and unborn child and he wants to accompany Etta and Celeste to the Sacred Island. The journey there is relatively uneventful but once they arrive on the island they realise nothing is as it seems here. All three experience something like an out of body experience confronted by themselves although it affects Etta the most and magical vine try and attack them but they continue onward to reach the Oracle and get off the island as soon as they can because it just doesn’t seem right.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, the group finally reach the Oracle and she tells Etta that she will have to make a choose between saving the people of Luxor from an attack by the King’s guards where they will win or saving Ashton. Knowing that he would want her to save the innocent people they head to Luxor since the stone isn’t with the Oracle anyway but she tells them where it is located and they plan to head there after the battle. In Luxor they meet an earth sorcerer named Dax and his pregnant wife, Kaylin, Dax helps in the fights with the King’s men and another time has risen up in support of the Queen. Immediately after they rest for only an hour before heading to find the Astral stone so they can save Ashton and Etta is praying they will make it in time. The trio decide to head through Greenville before heading to Delios where the stone can be found but what Etta doesn’t know is Max has already sent Nora ahead to find the stone that she needs. By the time they reach the abandoned city the tower is in ruins but they find the stone and head back to the Oracle. Upon returning the Oracle informs them that she doesn’t have the astral stone but the lost Dragon Stone but it seems like all hope of saving Ashton has disappeared. Until the Oracle tells her there is a way for her to save him but it is considered very dark magic second only to raising the dead and that it might change her forever but Etta has to do it to save Ashton. The magic involves Etta drinking poison and the Oracle using magic to grant her a second life so she will be defying the Gods by cheating death but she has to find Ashton’s essence and return it to his body before returning to her but if she doesn’t do it in time she will be stranded in the Astral realm forever.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Etta manages to save Ashton but Calder told Master Flanders that they didn’t find the stone and he knows exactly what his daughter had done in helping the King create a bridge to the Darkness and now Etta’s only hope of saving her Kingdom is learning to control the Darkness and fight against it. However, all that is swept under the rug to have Ashton back but she is still furious when he tells her it was Max who took his essence not the King. Before the end of the novel, we get a brief chapter from Max where he encounters a real dragon thought to have been extinct but we know that Etta is in possession of the dragon stone which is rumoured to have the power to summon and control dragons and with Celeste in possession of a dragon egg, this is definitely going to come into play in the finale which I can’t wait to get into.
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Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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