Thorn is living in the end of times, though an its ambigous end of times, seraphs and demons are still fighting in a post-apocalyptic-ice-age. Thorn is part of a new species, neomages, who are able to bend leftover creation energy to their will. Specifically she is a stone mage, and since mages present a threat to both humans and seraphs they are confined to luxurious Enclaves. Thorn is passing for a human, working as a jeweler, in a remote icy town. When her ex-husband Lucas is kidnapped and her friends are threatened, she risks revealing her true identity in order to save her adopted family.
BloodRing is
a fastpaced page turner. Lush imagery and really interesting world-building (especially the magic-working of the gems) add to the tale. Though the book does NOT end on a cliff-hanger, it fails to wrap up a number of the mysteries. Who is the Amethyst Mistress? Why did Lucas haul all that amethyst back to the store/house for his ex-wife? did he really cheat on Thorn voluntarily and what is his latest wife up to?
“Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books” The Archived is absolutely beautiful and original. I devoured this book in one sitting. The Archived is the story of Mackenzie Bishop who is a Keeper of the Archives, a vast library where the stories of everyone who has ever lived are kept. She is tasked with retrieving the recently dead and taking them to where they will become the Histories. Schwab is brilliant, balancing grief and regret and love and life like a master. Amazing book.