The Spirit Rebellion

Warning: this review contains spoilers for The Spirit Thief.

This book, which takes place shortly after the events of The Spirit Thief, begins with Spiritualist Miranda Lyonette returning to the Spirit Court after helping to defeat the would-be usurper of Mellinor. Miranda expects praise and gratitude from her fellow Spiritualists, but when she arrives, she finds herself promptly arrested and charged with treason. Meanwhile, Eli Monpress – the self-designated “greatest thief in the world” – has just been hired to steal an ancient and valuable sword. The problem is, it’s in the treasury of the Duke of Gaol, whose citadel is famously impregnable. Then again, Eli never could resist a challenge....

After enjoying The Spirit Thief so show more much, I promptly acquired the next two books in the series. This novel is book 2, and it’s every bit as good as its predecessor. Once again, Eli – aided by his loyal friends Josef and Nico – is propelled into an adventure much bigger than the one he expected; and once again, he rises magnificently to the occasion. There’s a bit more development of his character in this book, as we learn a few interesting things about his history before becoming a thief. The secondary characters become more developed as well, and there are some great scenes with Josef and Nico in particular. This series has a lot of stories going at the same time, and while it never gets confusing, it makes me impatient to read the next book and learn more about these characters! Luckily, I have The Spirit Eater ready to go, and book 4 comes out next month. This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite fantasy series. show less

More theatrics, swash-buckling adventure and mishaps then you can shake a broom at--it must be Eli! Aaron delved deeper into Eli's background in this one--including the man who taught him everything he knows, a further study of why the 'Shepherdess' is a creepy and fascinating creature and a less than subtle hint at who could be Eli's biological father.

Poor Miranda, who is trying to only do what's RIGHT but is constantly thwarted from doing it the proper way, gets into even more troubles...and we learn a great lesson about at what cost order comes at.

Welcome back to the Eli Monpress show! Did you miss the rogue? I know I did! Aaron provides us with another “easy job” gone awry as Eli, Nico, and Josef attempt to retrieve a magical show more blade as payment for having a specialist fix Nico’s concealment cloak. Instead of taking the easier course of action that would have taken more time to accomplish, Eli practically hand delivers himself to the Duke of Gaol and his “thief-proof” fortress.

Miranda, the Spiritualist who was tasked with bringing Eli back to the Spirit Court for punishment and inadvertently became the vessel for the Great Spirit of Mellinor, is facing the consequences of her actions. Though to be fair she’s less on trial because of what she did and more because of who her mentor is.

A lot of what I enjoyed about the first book–Eli’s irreverent attitude, Nico, the bantering and antics–were still present in this novel. Indeed this book followed a similar course to The Spirit Thief in that for as many plots as Eli hatched, he needed to think of at least twice as many ways to counteract the problems he encountered.

There is, however, a certain urgency to the novel. Even though the third book, The Spirit Eater, is not the final book, the events are the culmination of something that’s been building from the first book. Namely the demonseed inside of Nico. We get a taste of what’s in store for Nico early on as she meets another woman who houses her own demonseed. Resigned to her fate, she is thankful just for each day she can cling to her mind. She doesn’t fill Nico, or us, with much hope. Later when we see what happens when Nico let’s the darkness in her out (even a smidge), it’s horrifying.

We learn more about Eli’s past, especially how he came to become a thief and why its important to him to earn that million gold standards. We also see more of Benehime and the League of Storms, though after what almost happened, I can’t imagine the League is going to have a good time with Benehime. I have a hunch as to who Eli’s birth father is, based upon the prologue and a note he sent to the Spirit Court.

I found the fact that we saw the drawbacks to not only Eli’s power but also Miranda’s Spiritualist rules interesting. They were both at a disadvantage through various parts of the book, but like anyone worth having books about, they are resourceful and have allies they can count on. Aaron is more careful to point out that neither Eli’s haphazard hope for the best attitude nor Miranda’s by the book principles can solely win the day. As in The Spirit Thief, it’s when they worked together they found a solution to the trouble. show less

The Spirit Rebellion is the 2nd book in Rachel Aaron's The Legend of Eli Monpress. It follows The Spirit Thief.

In the first book of this entertaining series readers were introduced to the charming wizard/thief Eli Monpress and his two partners in crime: swordsman Josef Liechten, wielder of magical blade Heart of War and Nico, a young woman who carries a powerful malevolent demon in her slight frame. People also met dogged young Spiritualist (sort of a magical mountie) Miranda Lyonette and her loyal ghost hound; Gin. Despite following Eli and co on a mad adventure in the kingdom of Mellinor readers were left with many unanswered questions. How did Eli come to be a wizard and a thief? How did Josef come by his legendary sword? What show more exactly is the true nature of the demonseed that infects Nico and why is she so devoted to Josef? I was also curious about the Spirit Court (the organisation that Miranda works for) and the true nature of her relationship with Gin.

In The Spirit Rebellion some of these questions would hopefully be answered. Although his caper in Mellinor was not entirely successful Eli wasn't too concerned. He and his two companions had escaped relatively unscathed, they were still at liberty, although the renumeration had not been exactly as much as he had hoped for he had made some profit out of it and he had achieved his main goal of increasing the bounty on his head, which seems to be a matter of personal vanity for Eli as much as anything else. Nico did however require a replacement for her magical cloak which had been destroyed in Mellinor.

Things weren't looking quite as hopeful for Miranda. Her failure to capture Eli had raised some suspicions about her in the Spirit Court (very pleased that readers got a look inside this organisation) and even lead an accusation of betrayal suggesting that the acquisition of the Great Water Spirit Mellinor had been planned along with Eli all along. Knowing that her accuser; Hern, was pursuing some personal agenda Miranda and Gin went on the run and would have to clear their names without the backing of the Spirit Court.

An old acquaintance of Eli's provides a new cloak for Nico, but as payment demands a Fenzetti blade, known for their magical properties. The only Fenzetti blade that Eli knows of is in the Duchy of Gaol, whose controlling Duke has erected a thief-proof citadel. This has got trap written all over it, but Eli never refuses a challenge.

Eli and Miranda are once again on a collision course and will they be forced to work together again to save themselves and another kingdom?

One thing I neglected to mention in my review of The Spirit Thief was the novel and fun magic system that Rachel Aaron has come up with for her series. The basic premise is that everything has a spirit (fire, water, wood, etc...), but only wizards and Spiritualists can effectively communicate with the spirits. Spiritualists bind willing spirits into jewellery, typically rings, wizards don't require channels like rings, but use their powers to talk to the spirits and coerce them into helping. Eli's success is largely built on his ability to charm spirits into doing almost anything he asks. Rachel Aaron writes the spirit sequences very well and it's obvious that she has a lot of fun with them. The conversation between Eli and a rather dim witted cart wheel was, for me, a comedic highlight of The Spirit Rebellion.

At some stage all the major protagonists will face death and danger. Eli and Miranda up against the Duke and Hern. Josef and Nico square off against the giant bounty hunter Sted, retained by the Lord of Storms to take Nico's demonseed.

Things become a little darker, but the light touch is still there and this series has been a delight thus far. I'm hooked and will soon be searching The Spirit Eater for answers to the questions that The Spirit Rebellion raised. show less

This is a great second entry in a series -- not just the same characters having another adventure, but the characters growing, changing, and getting more of their backstory revealed.

The Spirit Rebellion is the second in The Legend of Eli Monpress series by Rachel Aaron. The story takes a slightly darker turn as Miranda deals with the results of her actions from the first book and Eli is on to his next robbery.

Thanks to their escape in Mellinor, Niko needs a new coat. Who better to make a customer coat for her rather specific needs than a master Shaper wizard? Which, of course, comes with a high cost: an incredibly rare, if useless, sword made from bone metal. The catch? The easiest one to steal happens to be kept in the "thief proof" citadel of the Duke of Gaol. As a master thief this presents the ultimate challenge, even though the closer they get to Gaol the more it looks like a trap aimed specifically at Eli. show more After all, what is life without a little risk? Meanwhile, Miranda returns to the Spirit Court having failed in her mission to capture Eli Monpress. It looks as if Miranda's career as a Spiritualist may be in jeopardy.

Impossible object for Eli to steal? Check. Evil, OCD bad guy who is hell bent on capturing Eli? Check. Lots of oppressed spirits? Check. More about demonseeds? Check. This book takes the foundation Aaron has laid down and builds upon it. We even get a little more background on Eli. And quite a bit of fast paced action. About the only thing we don't get is too much more depth in the other characters. I hope that Miranda, Niko and Josep are fleshed out a bit more in the third installment.

You still can't go wrong if you're looking for a nice, lighter fantasy to read. This one hit the spot. show less

Just like The Spirit Thief, this was a fast, fun, engrossing read.If you like your adventures leavened with some humour and a whole lot of mayhem, you can't do better than reading Rachel Aaron's Eli Monpress books. Seriously. These are simply a "rollicking good time," to use an overburdened phrase that actually does apply in this situation.Eli is in his usual good form, Miranda is caught between a rock, a West Wind, and a very hard place when it comes to keeping her vows as a Spiritualist and also protecting her spirits, and Josef and Nico are, as always, badgering Eli and trying to deal with Nico's awakening Demonseed. We get to see more of the League of Storms, which is starting to fascinate me, and also hear about the Shaper Wizards, show more who Awaken objects and make the mundane do wonderful things. I'm really looking forward to finding out more about these other groups in later books.I'm also looking forward to finding out more about Eli's past - we got a few tantalizing glimpses here, including an introduction to both his birth and adoptive fathers - and about Nico's little demon problem. Can't wait to start the next book! There are cliches all over the place in The Spirit Rebellion, and the Duke of Gaol reminded me of no one more than Lord Farquhadt from Shrek (which got a little annoying at times), but just as with The Spirit Thief, these little annoyances are easily overlooked in favour of a really well-executed romp through a nicely developed fantasy world.My one real quibble is that it followed the Exact. Same. Format. as The Spirit Thief - oh look, Eli is doing stuff, Miranda is doing stuff, we have a climactic swordfight for Josef about 2/3 of the way through the book, Eli and Miranda do stuff together, and...wrap. But hey, the formula works. So I can't really complain too much, eh? show less

Not as great as its predecessor The Spirit Thief, but still rather delightful with a little more history behind Eli and his companions. I think Rachel Aaron has set up the stage rather nicely, and she seems to building the momentum at a satisfactory rate for the remainder of the series.

The title is a bit misleading since the actual rebellion does not happen until later. After the leaps and bounds that Eli had us taking in the first book, I am a little disappointed with The Spirit Rebellion in that it takes a little longer for the action to explode on the pages. I was a little impatient for Miranda and Eli to butt heads again, waiting for them to realize that they were both in the same city, trying to figure out the Duke and his show more almost-oppressive hold on his city's spirits. It was like a cat-and-mouse game, but there was too much teasing and not enough pouncing!

When everything starts to pick up the pace (and by that I mean everything starts to fall apart), The Spirit Rebellion reached the same breathless page-turning climax that I had been waiting for since I opened the book. Definitely well worth the wait - even though I didn't like it at the time!

As I mentioned earlier, The Spirit Rebellion gives us a little more backstory on the characters, especially Eli, though it does not give us the whole picture yet. I definitely closed the book with more questions on how Eli turned out the way he did - but I think that was Ms. Aaron's intent to leave more questions to whet our appetites. Furthermore, Nico's predicament as a demonseed on the point of doomsday gets more spotlight, most likely to set up for the 3rd book The Spirit Eater. She is a ticking time-bomb, and I am both curious and terrified to find out how Ms. Aaron plans on handling Nico's future.

I still LOVE the magic system that Ms. Aaron has built - and its complexity just gets better and better as the series progresses.Whereas The Spirit Thief has doors and trees just swooning at the feet of Eli's charisma, the spirits in The Spirit Rebellion are trying hard not to be to save themselves from punishment - it was amazing to learn why they are how they are and rewarding to see how they get out of their tricky situation!

The Spirit Rebellion is quite enjoyable - it may seem slower-paced at first, but it definitely delivers the action on a silver platter by the end and leaves you wanting to come back for thirds! show less