Rift: A Nightshade Novel (edition 2012)

This is going to be a good series; I think I like this one even more than the Nightshade series, maybe. Ember longs to be from under her father's watchful eye and hopes to have a life of her own choosing. She has no desire to be a wife to some rich aristocrat just to carry on the family name and wealth. It just so happens that when her mother was giving birth to her, things weren't going so well and they both almost died. Conatus agrees to save her in exchange for the daughter she bears, Ember. On the day she is supposed to leave her father tries everything to put a dent in her departure but no matter how hard he tries Ember is destined and determined to leave. Barrow, a member of the Guard that Conatus sent to retrieve her, proves to be a force that won't budge to the whims of her father via a very visually gruesome fight scene. Once Ember arrives she must go through a test to prove that she is on the right path, and this will truly decide her place in Conatus. However, her father is still persistent about her not being there, goodness this man is stubborn!

The romance between Ember and Barrow is just right not too much, too soon but just enough heat to make it swoon-worthy. Alistair, her best friend from home is also a member of the Guard and he longs to be with Ember. The sparks fly when he sees that she is interested in Barrow. Ember she is strong, stubborn and fierce. She is a natural fighter with spirit and not one of those wimpy female leads but she is proactive. Alistair is a spineless weasel. Barrow is a fantastic fighter with a subtle strength to him. I like that he is more level minded and careful with Ember whereas Alistair is more aggressive, sneaky and single-minded. Though this book is not entirely about the romance but about the darkness that is infiltrating itself into the very hearts of the Guard own warriors.

The writing is good and the plot is steadily paced. The narrative seems to follow the perspectives of Ember and Eira. Ember is trying to show that she is capable of being a valuable member at Conatus and Eira is not entirely satisfied with her position in the Circle, she longs for something more. It is interesting to see what lead to the events in Nightshade. Mostly, what works for me is the characters mainly Ember and Barrow, the scenes with them are my favorites. I recommend this to the readers of fantasy fiction and those that also like the Nightshade series.
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Very exciting prequel to the Nightshade series. Of course, with a very strong female MC who knows how to fight and take care of herself

Full review can be found on my blog: (un)Conventional Bookviews.

Rift is the first book in the prequel series concerning the Nightshade universe. I was completely engrossed in this story, I loved Ember, as I usually love strong female protagonists. I also really liked to understand more about what happened during the Nightshade novels, the mythology, the hunger for power, the fight against evil, and the true companionship among the the guardians of the world.

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Review available on Goodreads!
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/419789085

I fell in love with the Nightshade trilogy from the start and was so excited to find that it had a prequel series. Rift lives up to the Nightshade series in terms of beautiful writing, amazing characters, a wonderful plot, and a bunch of twists and turns along the way. And, of course, a breathtaking cover. I know authors tend to have little or nothing to do with what their cover looks life, but Cremer's covers are always so beautiful and full of character and emotion, just like her books and characters.

Ember. I always love a strong lead female character. And Ember, at least for the most part, strays away from the normal girly talk such as boys. She wants nothing to do with them, so she takes up a position in the Guard as a warrior as a debt her father owes. And man does she kick ass doing it. She's pictured on the cover with half of her signature ringed weapons she calls Sadness and Sorrow. Another thing I love about her. A very unique weapon of choice. I love her strength. Not just her physical strength, but her emotional strength. She's in emotional turmoil and still has the ability to shove everything aside for the sake of her duty and for her mission and comrades. When severely wounded, all she can think of is how she can help her fellow knights. Even when she thinks that her being in the guard will cause trouble for everyone and risk their safety, she suggests to return home to where her father will surely wed her off to some man she cares nothing about. She puts others before herself, something that I haven't seen in a female character in a while.

Barrow. I suspected he was supposed to be the dreamy love interest, and I was correct. Even so, he's a strong character meant to cause tension between Ember and Alistair and he does his job well. For the record, I am biased toward Barrow. I think Alistair's a jerk and I hope he suffers some sort of fate in the upcoming book or books. So if I had to choose a love interest, yes it would be Barrow. Even Ember was surprised when she learned that Barrow stayed behind on an important mission while everyone else left and she was stuck in bed with severe wounds. Although, I don't think she knows he stayed to make sure she was okay, he's risking his reputation as a hardcore warrior and knight to make sure that Ember is okay. Now, I was kind of annoyed when he said he'd no longer be her mentor, and how he didn't even explain his reasoning to Ember, but when you learn his reasons you can understand and sympathize with him.

That's another thing I love about Cremer's writing; you fall in love with the characters and learn to care about them. [When Sorcha was killed, I shared the pain and grief that the characters felt. She was a wonderful character and I wish we could have seen more of her. (hide spoiler)]

Tying into the Nightshade trilogy isn't really apparent right away. I expected some shapeshifters of some sort and got none. There is some portal weaving like the chasers had, but until Bosque Mar shows up, it's really more of a stand alone series so far rather than a tie in. I'm not saying that's bad. It's actually a good thing. It's like how Cassandra Clare and The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments. It's a good idea to not have too much tie-in so that readers who pick up the prequel first can still understand what's going on.

I loved this book. I would have finished it sooner than I did had I not gotten sick and slept for two days. I look forward to finding and reading the next installment and learning what happens next. ( )

Background: Ember is a noble daughter of a Lord who has been promised to Conatus upon her sixteenth birthday. She is whisked away by the Knights of Conatus and begins her destiny there. Set in the time period of the Great Schism and the 100 Years War, darkness is brewing throughout their lands, and the Guard of Conatus stands to save them. But lurking in their ranks is someone also partaking in the dark magic and something must be done to stop them.

Review: I have not read the Nightshade series but was blown away by this prequel. I LOVED it. I received this copy as an Audio book from Random House Audio and could not wait to get back into my car to finish listening…and for the record I HATE driving so that was awesome! Ember is our main character who is strong, independent, clever, and brave. Barrow Hess, her mentor is strong, masculine, and apparently very good looking…
Following Ember as she is taken from her home (willingly) where she was under her father’s thumb to this adventure of a life in the ranks of Conatus was wonderful. I was nervous when she was and frustrated with her when her father was an idiot. Her and Barrow’s relationship was also fun to follow, I was not sure if it was going to progress at all or if the characters stubbornness was going to draw a line, you will have to read to see. :)
Being a huge nerd, I loved the historical references to the Schism and the War in this novel; even jokes were made about them, which I was laughing out loud about in the car. I am eagerly awaiting Prequel #2 Rise. ( )

This is going to be a short review simply because I loved this book so hard that I cannot form the words to explain it. If you loved the Nightshade series, or if you love history (real and fake), this novel will appeal to you as much as it did to me.

When this novel is described as a "prequel' to Nightshade, the publishers really mean a prequel. As in 500 years earlier. With the exception of one character, you are not going to be hanging out with any of the Nightshade gang. This is the story of the Witch's War, how they got their magic, who is who and what went down. It answers a lot of questions that I had from the Nightshade series, but it offered an entertaining read all of its own caliber.

I love history. Real, fake, I love it all. Seriously love it. I am taking two AP history classes next year just because I like it that much. If you love history, or have just a mild fascination, Rift would be a great novel for you. It is heavy on the history, so if you are a fan of Nightshade, but not necessarily historical fiction, don't be fooled into thinking that the two series are one in the same.

What I really appreciated about this novel is that the "fake" history of the Witches' War is mingled in with very real and accurate history of the medieval times. In addition, the language is spot on. Often times in historical fiction, especially in YA, the language makes the characters sound either naive because the author wants them to sound more proper, or the language is an odd mix of current and historical lingo. The only way I can describe it is that the language used in Rift sounds right, like there is no doubt that those characters really would speak like that if they were alive during that time period.

Overall, I do not have a single negative thing to say. I loved it so much I can't even explain. ( )