4.0. It was so nice to jump back into the Watcher world. It had been a while since I read the previous series, but I think West gives enough details to remind readers what happened in the previous books.
Plot:
Jess has spent the past few years waiting to gather the perfect group of vessels to make the trip to Alternate Earth, the world she and Mason rescued Faison from in Oblivion. She believes her goal is to stop the princes from opening the seven seals and causing Armageddon, but when the group arrives, they find that there is a new leader. As they try to find out more information, they must figure out what their ultimate purpose is and decide who to trust along the way.
Characters:
Jess and Mason are still in love and happily married, and he continues to be very supportive of everything she has to do to make things right. The vessels return, along with Brand and Lily, Malcolm, and Lucifer. Because it’s alternate earth, several of the characters have doppelgangers (Malcolm’s is hilarious) that are completely different than in the origin, and it’s interested to see how they interact with their counterparts. There are a few new characters, too. The biggest addition is Ravan, who has manipulated the media into believing she is honorable but actually has a shocking background.
Writing:
There are a few grammatical and spelling errors here and there, but this one was actually pretty well edited. Alternate Earth is labeled as new adult, but while there are situations that intimate someone’s about to have or did have sex, West doesn’t go into a whole lot of detail. There’s not much language, but there is some violence. If the book were a movie, I’d rate it a PG or PG13.
The Bottom Line:
I definitely plan to continue Alternate Earth. I actually read the Redemption series first, so I’m looking forward to finding out what I missed. While all of the characters are great, Lucifer has always been one of my favorites. He goes missing at the beginning of Cataclysm, so I can’t wait to read Uprising and Judgment and find out what he’s been up to.