Watcher and Firebird

The Sedumen Chronicles #5

by Orren Merton

Firebird Alex didn’t know much about the Nephilim until they assassinated her friend in the United States government, kidnapped the man she considers her uncle, and tried to murder her—twice. Now she's learned that they, and their leader "the Watcher,” will stop at nothing to kill her, everyone she loves, and every Seduman on Earth.

Alex must stop their murderous plans even if it means compromising the heroine she’s become.

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 20, 2016

About the author

Orren Merton started writing fantasy and science fiction at an embarrassingly young age, mostly for his own amusement. In 2001, magazines, developers, and corporations began to pay him to write and edit music software related articles, manuals, and books. His Industrial rock group Ember After released their debut album, Grasping At Straws, in 2008. He now has a few fantasy and science fiction novels under his belt, and has no intention of stopping. He lives in Southern California with his family, pets, collection of sci-fi/fantasy memorabilia, and curiously large stuffed animal collection.

Reviews

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book opens with Alex and Rachel trying to demonstrate they are no threat to humankind, and can in fact, be of help. To their distress, the press don’t always paint them in as positive a light as they deserve, but they are handling it.
Unfortunately, things go rapidly downhill for Alex when she is invited to lunch with her contact in Homeland Security, and both of them are targeted by a sniper. Alex is grievously wounded, but after medical intervention and a trip back home to her spiritual house, she recovers, only to find she is summoned to the inquiry into her friend’s death, and somehow she’s being set up to take the blame.
Things spiral downward from thereon, in a novel full of terrible happenings, trauma and loss, at the hands of a shadowy villain with agents everywhere. Alongside human disciples, the creepy nephilim are excellent shreddies – lots of them, fanatical, and very disposable – a force to be reckoned with, and they wreak unmentionable havoc and pain for our heroes.
This is a swift action book, with lots of death, injuries and gory details, battle scenes and torture – not for the faint hearted. The story rolls along at a brisk speed, with only a few minor hiccups. I have only read one other in this series, but I picked up enough background of Merton’s intricate and extensive world building to find that the back story in this volume, especially at the start, was more detailed than I needed, and could easily be pared down to a leaner size without confusing the reader. I also found myself skipping some of the battle scenes as they were on a grand scale I found tough to visualise, but that’s probably me, not the writing.
I had a few minor ‘huh?’ moments, like not knowing how Gryx found Alex in a moving car (he appeared out of nowhere with no explanation I could find), or the way, in the final battle, the villain, H’ythiis seems to be one moment not present, then is the focus of the climactic fight, and once she’s subdued, gets ignored. There were also a few small editing misses (mostly extra or missing words), though not enough to be annoying.
Those issues aside, it was a strong story with high stakes, and a moral dilemma for Alex that is helping her move her culture forward, so a rewarding outcome. If you are a fan of darker fantasy and big action scenes mixed with good character development and intricate, vividly imaginative world building, then this could well be for you.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series gets better and better with each book. Our heroines are growing and dealing with the consequences of there actions. Each book is an incredible action packed read; That includes a great plethora of characters and a wonderful mulitifaceted world. That being said I am enjoying the journey that each of the characters are on. They seem to grow in each book. To me this is important because without growth there is only death. I think as we immerse ourselves in a novel then we should be urged to grow as the characters find there way on the journey of the book.
Wow got a bit deep on that. Anyway this is a must read series for anyone who likes fantasy with edges of Syfy. Lots of strong female characters.

[Dalene · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I would like to thank the author Orren Merton for gifting me this book. I really enjoyed this book, but feel like I missed out, because I hadn't read the first four books. The characters are well developed and written. The storyline is good and I look forward to reading more from this author.