According to prophecies, I’m the veil witch meant to save Faerie. The problem being, nowhere in those prophecies was it mentioned that I could pull it off twice.
They say desperate times call for desperate measures, but I doubt they meant anything as risky as what I have planned. But things have gone from bad to worse to downright abysmal. Bethany and the other witches remain captured, and all signs point to them running out of time. Meanwhile, everyone’s favorite High Mage is on the loose and working with his new High Demon sidekick. Their objective? That’s the problem. I’m still not quite sure. Although, it’s a safe bet that part of their plan involves subjugation of the human race. Since their trained pet, Silas, is the only teammate holding the keys to the veil, I figure I should target him first. The challenge there is that he’s only been seen hanging out with a power hungry vampire. As you can see, it’s a real poop storm. That’s where my little plan comes in. Namely, hopping into a vampire body and infiltrating the vampire community to do a little recon. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, it turns out I’m sort of the Typhoid Mary of supernatural bad news. Just when I thought things were bad in my realm, I find out they don’t hold a candle to what’s happening in Faerie. Yes, the demonic trio has been performing evil pet tricks there too. When facing a hydra, dealing with one head won’t do the trick. You have to chop off all three. Which is exactly why armies are amassing in Faerie to march toward Vintain’s new lair. Stop the presses, because it looks like Vintain now has an army of his own, comprised partly of fae creatures long thought to be extinct. An epic battle is in the making, to be fought with magic, for magic, on a magical battlefield. But at the end of the day, it may still come down to me. It’s entirely possible that I may be the only one possessing the power to stop Vintain from taking back Faerie and handing the human realm over to the demons. In that case, if I go down, a whole lot of people go down with me. No pressure or anything.
J.S. Malcom is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Realm Watchers urban fantasy series, of which Autumn Winters is just the beginning. J.S. lives in Richmond, Virginia, a town full of history and ghosts (not to mention, many other supernatural creatures, including Autumn and Cassie).
Realms of Lightning and Dragons closes the story arc begun in Realms of Mirrors and Demons. There are so many satisfying moments. I won't give away the good stuff, but just trust that some nasty pieces of work finally get exactly what they deserve.
I was stoked to revisit Faerie at length again. It keeps growing, which pleases me to no end. Lots of books about Faerie trot out the same formula, so you always kind of know what's coming or what you'll find. Malcom's version of Faerie always offers something new and original, whether it's talking hawks that are smarter than most people, lift-operating griffins, lemurs that can read your most embarrassing thoughts, or bean sidhe that give the Dementors a run for the money in creepiness. I've said it before and I'll say it again: There seems to be so much more here that we haven't seen yet.
The cast is still awesome. Cassie's crazy brain and inner narrative are hysterical. There are some points in the story that are made better by the off-the-cuff humor. Especially the bizarre bits. Most protagonists of urban fantasy just roll with the weirdness, but Cassie rolls while making priceless commentary. She's one of my most favorite protagonists for just this reason.
Autumn plays a larger part in the story this time around, as does Julia. At this point I'm seriously hoping (suspecting!) that Julia may get her own series. I'd love to read some more books from Autumn's POV, and I think there is a ton of potential for Julia. Both ladies play such a crucial supporting role, and I'm thinking that The Fae Witch Chronicles/Veil Witch world has just about grown to the point that 3 narratives would actually work.
I definitely think this book is the most comical out of them all, which is saying something. There is vampire body swapping. Vampire. Body swapping. We've already been exposed to the Vamanec P'yrin so body snatching isn't really anything new in the Veil Witch universe. Except... It's Cassie doing the swapping and the vampire being 'worn' is a buxom hottie. The whole spiel and narrative during this swap-sequence... It's so wrong that it's just right. This book is off the chain. I nearly choked on a cup of mead near the end due to laughing so damn hard. As a general rule I don't LOL at books. It's so rare that it always surprises me.
I look forward to whatever comes next.
Ye olde disclaimer: I was given an ARC of this book by the author (but I still purchased a finished copy anyway!) in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions, comments, etc are entirely my own.
J.S. Malcom has done it again with this incredibly enjoyable adventure! The story is ever-evolving with all kinds of magical beings woven throughout. There are some surprises I never saw coming! A particular not-so-nice witch has a dark secret. Cassie develops nicely as a character. She is finally sharing things with her sister more readily. She's also finally addressing her emotional scars from having had her body snatched at a young age. She grows up in this one and her relationships flourish. As a reader of the whole series, I've been discouraged by her self-defeating patterns, so it's a refreshing turn of events that she is finally able to address her fears and open up to happiness.
I don't want to write too much because I don't want to spoil anything. Just know that this is another page-turner well worth the short time you'll be reading it! (I always race through these stories in about 3 or 4 days max!) If you've been following the series, don't stop now! If you haven't, go back to book 1 and do it!
As usual, I'm already ready for the next book. So glad this author is prolific!
I have been addicted to J.S. Malcom’s Fae Witch Chronicles since it’s first volume, Realms of Ghosts and Magic. Somehow the author has been able to maintain the series extremely high quality of writing and maintaining a growing story arc while giving each individual book its own well-drawn plot. That’s certainly true of the latest entry to the series, Realms of Lightning and Dragons (Book 6). Another epic adventure for Cassie as she heads into the perfect trifecta of a “poop storm” but I’d never bet against our gal here and we readers benefit from a thriller of a story. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
I flew through this book! I love reading about Cassie and Autumn and this book brought everything together in such a nice, neat little package. I love the twisting plot lines that we've been exposed to in the last few books and it really is a work of art seeing how all these puzzle pieces created a picture of such depth and beauty. There was action, and character development, and battles against evil demons, vampires and Seelie. I laughed out loud at times and even got teary at the end. For a fun, action packed series this book really was the cherry on top! And there are still a few loose ends out there so that was comforting to know that Cassie and Autumn will return to kick butt again.
I love this series. It has so much action and suspense throughout it. Cassie is an exceptional character. The support characters are also extremely well developed. When reading a series story sometimes it is hard to remember what happens from one story to the next when there is a time gap between books. However, J.S. Malcom does a wonderful job helping to remind what happens in the last books. This story has you on the edge of your seat. The start of this story is just a little bit slower but boy does it get interesting. It is definitely worth reading and it will not disappoint. I voluntarily review an advance reader copy of this book.
I was introduced into this world through Cassie - not realizing Autumn had started the Veil Witch saga already. No problem, the writing was such that I had no problem catching on and immersing myself into one of the best series I’ve read recently! I certainly hope this is not the end... seems like there’s much more to learn about the witches, the mages, the seelie, unseelie, and all that move in the veils. Don’t stop now!
I’m a huge fan of this author and she does a great job in the UF world. It’s a big world and she does a good job at keeping everything in line and you are never confused. Cassie gets pulled into the politics of covens, Fairies and she is still dealing with her traumatic past. It was a great continuation and there a lot revealed and I finally got my romance!!!
I absolutely love the veil witch series. I hope this isn't the last we see if Autumn and Cassie, I feel like there is still a lot of scope left with their stories. Or maybe that will be covered in later books?! Highly recommend this series of you like fantasy. A different take on the fae world which I really enjoyed.
This is my second read through of this series . The first time this book had not been released yet. I can’t say that I’m thrilled with the ending though. It felt rushed in some areas, Cassie was annoying as hell in this book and, the wrap up was not what I expected at all. Still overall the series was good. The narrator was good as well! I’ll be lookin for more from J. S. Malcolm
If you like books with vampires, witches, faerie creatures this is the series for you. Plenty of action and humor to keep you entertained. This is part of a series so pop back to book one and enjoy the life and times of Cassie the veil witch.
I've loved this series, as well as the initial books that tell Cassie and Autumn's history. There's always something happening, plenty of action and suspense which kept me reading. I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys books involving magic and lore.
Absolutely loved this series wish I read autumns first but will go back to those now look forward to reading more I hope that Cassie has more adventures absolutely brilliant highly recommend
Excellent series! Wonderful characters, lots of action, and laugh out loud humor. I can so relate to Cassie even though I share little in common with her. Looking forward to more in the series yet to come!