Demon Rising (The Magic Wakes Book 3)

Charity Bradford
Genre: 
Science Fiction

Married mages Landry and Talia Sutton led an exploratory team to Planet Orek to recover an artefact and narrowly escaped with two refugees in tow. Now they are returning home to Planet Sendek, while team member, Craig Gibbs, keeps busy with decoding the ancient artefact in hopes that it can explain how their home planet can harmonize the coexistence of magic and technology. The Suttons are unaware that Craig has plans to hand Talia over to the enemy when they get back to Sendek, and Talia is too fearful of losing Landry to acknowledge that her prophetic visions and her dragon guardian may help prepare her for what is to come. While they were away, a powerful fallen dragon named Korigorath has released demons into their world, and Sendek is amid a planetary crisis!

“Demon Rising” blends science fiction with magic and fantasy. It ambitiously continues a tale of conquest and a supernatural battle initiated in previous books. However, it is a transitional volume as much of it takes place while travelling in between Orek and Sendek. While on their spaceship, Landry, Talia, Craig, and the two Orekians, Da’rehl and Madhi, all have secrets they are holding back from the others. Some of these secrets are well-meaning and driven by fear, but they collectively hamper communication and burden the crew with lack of transparency. Dragon ancestors that meddle but withhold vital information, and magic that doesn’t always work as expected, add layers of obscurity to a slow-paced narrative that favors the contemplative and patient reader. The promised confrontation between Landry and Korigorath drives momentum throughout this book, but is postponed until the next one.

 

Joan Lai