"This is all that's left?" Bill Jennings, Director of the Joint National Security Agency and Homeland Security Office glanced up at his assistant. Six names on a piece of official letterhead had been passed to the aging Director. Bill was two months away from retirement and the president and other high-ranking officials were already vetting candidates to fill his position. Bill shook his head at the list of children still living. Another piece of paper resting under his hand listed the names of the dead. There were nearly seven hundred of those and he still wasn't sure they'd gotten information on all the children involved. He worried about many other children listed as missing—had they been abducted? How could he explain these things to the president, let alone someone coming in to take over his job? Bill sighed heavily. "Where are they now?" he asked. "These six," Vince Jordan, Bill's assistant, tapped the paper containing the names of the half-Elemaiyan children still living, "are relocated, but we've seen how unsuccessful that has been in the past. You know where the seventh one is, through Mr. Winkler." "Yes. I do know where the seventh one is," Bill agreed. "Do you think, sir," Vince mused aloud, "that we might put these six," he tapped the paper again, "where the seventh one is?" Of the hundreds of Bright Elemaiyan children born to human parents, only seven remain. Six of those have been relocated, but the Dark Elemaiya are closing in to destroy them. The seventh, Ashe Evans, resides in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma. Government authorities, in an effort to save the relocated six, approach the residents of Cloud Chief seeking shelter for the children and their human families. Ashe must find a way to keep them safe as murders begin to pile up outside Cloud Chief's protected boundaries.
Connie Suttle lives in Oklahoma with her husband and three cats.
Connie holds an MFA in Fine Art (film production and animation) and taught courses at the university level before moving on to bookstore management. Nowadays, if she isn't writing or editing, she's dreaming up her next book.
Shadowed begins approximately a year after the first of the series, Bumble ended. Ashe and his best friend, Sali, are the typical teenagers. They are planning different ways they can finagle a cell phone from their parents. Been there, done that myself. Ashe does find out there are others similar to him when a group of teenagers and their families are relocated to Cloud Chief to keep them safe. This is a hard review to write as I could inadvertently spoil the book for those who haven’t read it yet. Reading Shadowed was extremely relaxing for me. The only thing I can think is Ms Suttle’s Blood Destiny Series moves so fast with so many characters, action and plot lines, that Ashe is easier on my nerves. Having said that, there is no lack of plot, characters or action but the pacing is different. More mature readers will enjoy all the nuances of the teen and parents miscues. It was funny really, being a parent myself, I wanted to shake Ashe’s parents a couple of times. That’s just how Ashe sucks you in. I should be rooting for the parents but I wasn’t!! Even without his special powers, Ashe is a young man I wouldn’t mind having for a son.
You can read the Legend of the Ir’Indicti Series by itself or to make it more enjoyable, you should also read the Blood Destiny Series. Several of the characters appear in both works (just a teaser, there is a surprise visitor to Ashe, you won’t want to miss). It allows you to see more depth and find out more background of the characters.
This is probably the third or fourth time I’ve read this book and it never gets old. Going on to read the next in this series. It is a YA book but I guess just because I am over 60 just means I’m young at heart. Very enjoyable.
This so far leaves me questioning and guessing from all subtle clues hidden like gemstones in a larger mountain. I wouldn't even have these thoughts if I hadn't read the Blood Destiny series first. I continue on....
Returning to the western prairies of Oklahoma and the fair little ghost town of Cloud Chief, Shadowed is the continuing story of Ashe Evans, a shapeshifting teenager, and his family and friends. A "paranormal" community, technically, but being surrounded by vampires, werewolves, and other shapeshifters is perfectly normal for Ashe.
Approximately a year has passed since Ashe began discovering his wonderful talents in Bumble, and how he and others of his kind were the target of a conspiracy of murder by outsiders. In Shadowed Ashe's adventures continue as he becomes entangled in the lives of a group of outsiders brought to Cloud Chief by sympathetic government agents in an effort to save their lives.
The group consists of six half-blood children with the potential to develop special abilities, the result of Bright Elemaiyan seeding of their own eggs into the human population on Earth. Along with the six children are their human siblings and parents, scared by events that lead the government to bring the group to Cloud Chief as a refuge against abduction or death by the Bright or Dark Elemaiya. Cloud Chief, due to its special nature as a paranormal community, its location, and the fact that it is essentially hidden from all non-residents by witch's spells, is thought to be the perfect haven for the dwindling group of half-Elemaiyan children.
Little did anyone know how a couple of particularly nasty residents of Cloud Chief would make the newcomers' lives a nightmare! Ashe and his circle do their best to welcome the newcomers, and to make them feel a part of the community. But while the community itself is protected, the towns and area surrounding Cloud Chief become embroiled in the desperate search for the half-blood children by both the Bright and Dark Elemaiya.
At war for ages, the Bright and Dark Elemaiya give no thought to how their self-destructive behavior affects other races. The Bright Elemaiya are only interested in abducting the half-blood children (with their budding paranormal abilities) to press them into service in the war, and the Dark Elemaiya wish only to prevent the Bright Elemaiya from achieving that goal. If that means destroying the half-blood children and their families, and all who aid them, then so be it.
At thirteen years old, Ashe Evans faces the typical struggles of anyone that age, complicated by his special abilities. While his abilities are very useful to the adults in the community who are investigating a string of murders in nearby Cordell, Oklahoma, they also manage to land Ashe in hot water with his parents when he uses them in unsafe or unauthorized ways. He is constantly walking a fine line, trying to balance the use of his power to help his community with the struggle to limit their use for his own personal reasons.
As if his own abilities and those of the rest of the Cloud Chief community (including the newcomers, who are only just discovering what they can do) weren't enough to deal with, Ashe meets someone who is even more powerful! At first skeptical of his new acquaintance's presence, they soon bond in a friendship that serves them well, even though no one but Ashe can see him!
Shadowed does indeed pick up where Bumble left off, with Ashe growing into his paranormal abilities and using them to protect his home and family as best he can. The looming shadow of the embattled Elemaiya who are desperate to either capture or kill Ashe and the other half-blood children, casts an oppressive blanket of death and destruction on the small community of Cloud Chief, Oklahoma. It's up to Ashe to find a way to protect and defend the ones he loves, and to thwart the efforts of the warring sides of the Elemaiya.
This is a wonderful second book in the Legend of the Ir'Indicti series. Any age group will find reading enjoyment in this continuation of Ashe's story. The ending is such a surprise it leaves you with a "can't wait for the next book feeling".
How strange. I thought that I had reviewed this when I originally read it. I'm reading this for the umpteenth time. I absolutely love 9 year old Renegar. Still really like this series and still love 9 year old Renegar.
I cannot, CANNOT wait to read book three! So love this author; Connie you just reached the top 10 of my fave all time authors. That's hard to do at my age with all the books I've read....you have special talent.
I really like Ash. This book is very good, I think a little better then the 1st one. I like the appearance of a certain blue alien. I can't wait for the next book.
Everything Connie Suttle writes is worth reading. I started reading her YA series because they are connected with Lissa's story, but I found myself enjoying just as much.
I am a little confuse I think I should have read this series before Lissa series. I am unsure where Ashe fit in, I am glad however that I got introduced to a young Renegar.