Review The Morning Star

The Morning Star by Robin Bridges Goodreads | Amazon

Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers August 2013

288 Pages

Last (Third) Book in Katerina Trilogy- The Gathering Storm #1, The Unfailing Light #2

Source: Library, read the beginning of trilogy

Bookologist Analysis: Trilogies are a series of three books. They are very common because of the idea of a set beginning, middle, and end. A trilogy could be thought of as a large book.  The Morning Star was the last book in the trilogy. It was the ending of a world of intrigue of Russian fantasy. The spinning tale came to an end with a soft quiet thud.

St. Petersburg, Russia, 1890

Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, wants to be known as a doctor, not a necromancer. But Tsar Alexander III forbids women to attend medical school; his interest in Katerina extends only to her ability to raise the dead. Twice now, Katerina has helped him by using her power to thwart the forces of darkness—vampires bent on resurrecting the lich tsar Konstantin Pavlovich so that he can take what he sees as his rightful place on the throne. Katerina thought she had bound Konstantin to the Greylands, the realm of the dead, but he has found a way out. Now he is searching for the Morning Star, a sword that will allow him to command a legion of supernatural warriors.

Katerina must find the sword before Konstantin does—and she must travel to Egypt to do so. Along the way, she puts up with unwanted attention from her former fiancé, the nefarious Prince Danilo, and struggles with her feelings for her true love, George Alexandrovich. But with the looming threat from Konstantin, Katerina's focus remains on the sword. Russia's fate will be determined by whoever wields the Morning Star—and delivers the final blow.

The trilogy can be summed up in one word: improvement. The book itself progressed from beginning to end becoming more in depth. Throughout the trilogy I felt the writing become more improved, as in the beginning it was more self-publishing style. Now, it feels like a properly edited book and plot. The complexity of Katerina is now not just her power, but also her entire circle from the tsar to her maid. The circle of people surrounding Katerina also considerably grew from just her parents and her brother and now is Dark and Light Court fae as well. 

There is the constant problem of Konstantin that was dragged out a little with the whole lich tsar. I felt after the first book the worldbuilding went a little downhill. This book was more of a sum up without its individual plot; it was that the book felt a little wonky and was just the final conclusion rather than a book in its own right.  The characters were the definition of grandeur and opulence, but they went down in pathetic ways. They made a big footstep, but left on the quiet wings of a sparrow. 

The traveling component was quite perplexing. Traveling in the Imperial Russian time period is nothing is that I have ever read. You learn the anonymity of travel in those days without the entire hassle of official documents ad Interpol. Overall the plot wasn’t what made this book memorable it was the interweaving of all of the characters, fantasy, and historical fiction.

The Katerina Trilogy when first picked up was something that I expected bit more from. I though our heroine Katerina would be a bit more decisive and cut throat, but we ended with more of a timid moral questioning girl. The final ending lacked grandeur and was a bit anticlimactic however. The books did improve as the trilogy continued, but ultimately I wouldn’t recommend for someone to start the trilogy, but once you start you must finish it. My Rating:«««

Review The Gathering Storm

Yeahh... I finally quit procrastinating! Though it took a power outage (thank you Word for not needing wifi and that laptops have battery).

The Gathering Storm by Robin Bridges Goodreads|Amazon

Published by Ember 2012

 400 pages

Book One in Katerina Trilogy

Source: The Europe YA Map published by Fierce Reads (heard about it), book from Library

Bookologists Analysis: The Gathering Storm is the embodiment of my new obsession of historical fantasy. I liked the new take on the vampire myth and inclusion of fae courts. I can probably now chalk up the rest of the romance, but the plot with the question of necromancy will be interesting to explore in Unfailing Light.

As she attends a whirl of glittering balls, royal debutante Katerina Alexandrovna, Duchess of Oldenburg, tries to hide a dark secret: she can raise the dead. No one knows. Not her family. Not the girls at her finishing school. Not the tsar or anyone in her aristocratic circle. Katerina considers her talent a curse, not a gift. But when she uses her special skill to protect a member of the Imperial family, she finds herself caught in a web of intrigue--and pulled between two young men who belong to very different and warring royal bloodlines. The time has come for Katerina to embrace her power as a necromancer, but which side will she choose--and to whom will she give her heart?

The Gathering Storm definitely had a kickass heroine that was at first timid then knows that she can’t let her powers control her. Katerina has hopes of attending medical school; but she can’t do that because Russia doesn’t allow women to attend medical school, so she goes to find one in Switzerland. She had a proposal with Danilo who is beautifully viciously dark, but realizes despite the darkness in herself she is drawn to the light, so she turns her back on the dark. Being a necromancer isn’t really the best surprise, but Katerina going and fighting the evil residing in her because it doesn't feel right. I really enjoy feeling the vibe of girl power in a time just when women’s rights were blossoming. The book also explores the definition of gray area between good and evil, seduction and love, and dreams and reality.

The Gathering Storm is also about drawing something in. I mean you feel the wonderful 

worldbuilding with tenseness between Light and the Dark Court. The fact that the book takes place in Russia is a huge bonus, but with the addition of the visit to Montenegro (that’s what I’m considering it in the Europe Challenge 2014).  You feel the shock of learning about the supernatural world and its intrigue (Montenegrins are idiots- lesson from the book).  Thankfully it was still easy to follow all these new complex characters like Danilo (why must there always be a love triangle), George (another arrogant royal boy), Elana (there’s a reason it was called Mean Girls), and Katerina (what would a book be without a main character). Throughout, the book I  had to remind myself that the book was not real, but rather a world built upon glittering royalty and under the hand traded fae secrets.

I felt frustrated though by the lack of growth after the middle of the book. I felt by then I was comfortable enough to be able to predict the book. I could tell you which guy Katerina would choose. You could tell who was evil and who the heavenly angel was. I will tell you however that the book didn’t hit a complete wall there. After that I felt the book was okay, but not terrific.

This book throughout itself made you see the mess of humanity and the unnatural (what the supernatural is called). It makes you see that fantasy really isn’t fantasy, but rather a group of people with messy situations put in some weird incredible worlds who try to do their best. The Gathering Storm really spoke to the truth in that and how despite books being fantastical they're also about people based on their feelings and lives. Rating: «««« ¼