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The Last Oracle #7
The Book of Harmony
With the Mercy’s attacks on the Wardens neutralized, Helena prepares for her upcoming wedding to Malcolm Campbell. But when Helena steps into the oracle’s space and finds herself somewhere unfamiliar, the mystery threatens to destroy the Wardens’ tentative peace.
Having no explanation for the oracle’s strange behavior, Helena reaches out to a new ally she hopes can answer her questions. Is the oracle trying to communicate with her? Is it under attack again? Or is Helena traveling through time?
Having no explanation for the oracle’s strange behavior, Helena reaches out to a new ally she hopes can answer her questions. Is the oracle trying to communicate with her? Is it under attack again? Or is Helena traveling through time?
263 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 2, 2020
123 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Melissa McShane
94 books860 followersMelissa grew up a nomad, following her family all over the United States, and ended up living in the shadow of the Wasatch Mountains with her husband, four kids, and three very needy cats. Her love of reading was always a constant during those uncertain years, and her love of writing grew out of that. She wrote reviews and critical essays for many years before turning to fiction, and was surprised at how much she liked it. She loves the fantasy genre and how it stretches the imagination.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 3, 2020
This is seventh in a Contemporary Fantasy series and character, story arcs, and even some plot carries over across the series. So I definitely recommend reading in order. Also recognize that this makes it hard not to spoil events in previous books.
As always with Melissa's books, you can take this review with some skepticism. I do my best to be honest in all my reviews, but seeing as we're married I wouldn't blame anyone for doubting my success here.
So having read the others, you kind of know what to expect. This book has the wedding in it, and I kind of loved seeing Helena's approach to her wedding. It actually mirrors Melissa's attitude a lot, now that I think on it. We didn't have a wedding planner, but neither of us had any really elaborate expectations, either. So some things worked out, but others not so much. And that was okay. Not that there's a lot of wedding stuff on-page or anything, as there was plenty going on what with Abernathy's exhibiting strange behavior again and ominous reports that the quiescence of the Mercy is about at an end.
This one differs a bit in that I remembered details of the plot in advance of them happening (my memory is bad and it has been a year or two since they were written so I don't usually remember specific details until they reappear). Interestingly, I think it worked very well as a reread as the tension was more heightened by knowing what was coming than it was lessened.
And I think I'll leave it at that. I really love the development of Malcolm and Helena's relationship. I love how hard it is for them to be protective without being restrictive and striking that scary balance anyway. It's hard knowing that they are both at the forefront of a sometimes-desperate war; each forced to accept that the other has dangers that they can't do anything about. Their support for one another is all the stronger for how it sometimes requires not doing things they'd really like to do (like lock the other in a closet until the bad guys go away).
Five stars for a story that didn't let me go despite knowing some major plot twists that were on their way. And I wept for the Oracle.
A note about Chaste: While this culminates with Malcolm and Helena finally married, they're already living together and sex is mentioned. There's nothing more than kissing on-page, but there are non-explicit references to naked times so while I find it chaste, others may differ.
As always with Melissa's books, you can take this review with some skepticism. I do my best to be honest in all my reviews, but seeing as we're married I wouldn't blame anyone for doubting my success here.
So having read the others, you kind of know what to expect. This book has the wedding in it, and I kind of loved seeing Helena's approach to her wedding. It actually mirrors Melissa's attitude a lot, now that I think on it. We didn't have a wedding planner, but neither of us had any really elaborate expectations, either. So some things worked out, but others not so much. And that was okay. Not that there's a lot of wedding stuff on-page or anything, as there was plenty going on what with Abernathy's exhibiting strange behavior again and ominous reports that the quiescence of the Mercy is about at an end.
This one differs a bit in that I remembered details of the plot in advance of them happening (my memory is bad and it has been a year or two since they were written so I don't usually remember specific details until they reappear). Interestingly, I think it worked very well as a reread as the tension was more heightened by knowing what was coming than it was lessened.
And I think I'll leave it at that. I really love the development of Malcolm and Helena's relationship. I love how hard it is for them to be protective without being restrictive and striking that scary balance anyway. It's hard knowing that they are both at the forefront of a sometimes-desperate war; each forced to accept that the other has dangers that they can't do anything about. Their support for one another is all the stronger for how it sometimes requires not doing things they'd really like to do (like lock the other in a closet until the bad guys go away).
Five stars for a story that didn't let me go despite knowing some major plot twists that were on their way. And I wept for the Oracle.
A note about Chaste: While this culminates with Malcolm and Helena finally married, they're already living together and sex is mentioned. There's nothing more than kissing on-page, but there are non-explicit references to naked times so while I find it chaste, others may differ.
Read
February 3, 2024Re-read 1/6/24: Having turned a corner in my flu recovery (it was severe for about three days and then there was just the endless coughing) I ended my re-read here. I was so concerned readers would think a wedding was the end of the series I put a little note at the end about when Abernathy's would return. This one, I really have no memory of writing. That is such a strange feeling.
Read 4/5/20: I put this whole review behind a spoiler tag because I didn't want to think too hard about what parts of it are spoilers for this or other books. So read at your own peril.
Book 7 of this series is solidly in the middle of the series arc, with the enemy having been temporarily thwarted...or are they simply taking a different approach? With Helena and Malcolm engaged and finally living far, far away from his poisonous mother, of course much of the story revolves around the plans leading up to the big day, but it wouldn't be an Abernathy's story if something wasn't happening at the oracular bookstore. However, I wanted this one to be a little slower paced than The Book of Havoc, while still ramping up the tension.
Darius Wallach may be my favorite of the side characters. He's tough, smart, and doesn't care what anyone else thinks, which makes him perfect whenever the Wardens come up against something that needs sideways thinking. He's interested in learning what makes Helena able to see through illusions, and I tried very hard to get that subplot into this story, but it turned out there wasn't room. That will have to wait for book 8, The Book of War.
It's been too long since I wrote this, and I can't now remember how the main plot developed, other than that I knew from the start what would happen if the Mercy tried what they try in this book, but I had no clue how it would end, or what that would mean for Abernathy's. Some of what Wallach says about time travel comes from my husband, who it turns out has strong opinions on the subject.
And glass magic. This has to be the thing I love best about having developed the aegises and the six kinds of magic, the way glass magic turned out. From having been developed by Hitler for use against the Allies in World War II to how it's used in this book, I have always had fun working out what clever new thing a glass magus could do next. (Harry and Harriet Keller are my other favorites, which is interesting because they and Wallach are of the same older generation. I love having characters in their 70's interacting with the younger main characters; it adds so much dimension to the story.)
After concluding this book with a wedding, I took some time off from the series (to write all of Company of Strangers, as it happens, as well as Whispering Twilight, the fourth Extraordinaries book). The last two books were written a year and a half later, in part because I wasn't sure whether I needed two or three installments to finish the series and in part because a wedding is such a natural stopping point. Hence the note at the end about this not being the final book, just in case anyone thought otherwise. I've always been a fan of stories in which the heroine and her hero get together and go on to have more adventures rather than their wedding, or whatever, being the end point of the story. So The Book of War and The Book of Destiny feature them as a happily married couple--remember how I said I wasn't going to jerk readers around by breaking them up? However, that doesn't mean there aren't threats and challenges in store for them...
Two more books until the end of the series!
Read 4/5/20: I put this whole review behind a spoiler tag because I didn't want to think too hard about what parts of it are spoilers for this or other books. So read at your own peril.
Book 7 of this series is solidly in the middle of the series arc, with the enemy having been temporarily thwarted...or are they simply taking a different approach? With Helena and Malcolm engaged and finally living far, far away from his poisonous mother, of course much of the story revolves around the plans leading up to the big day, but it wouldn't be an Abernathy's story if something wasn't happening at the oracular bookstore. However, I wanted this one to be a little slower paced than The Book of Havoc, while still ramping up the tension.
Darius Wallach may be my favorite of the side characters. He's tough, smart, and doesn't care what anyone else thinks, which makes him perfect whenever the Wardens come up against something that needs sideways thinking. He's interested in learning what makes Helena able to see through illusions, and I tried very hard to get that subplot into this story, but it turned out there wasn't room. That will have to wait for book 8, The Book of War.
It's been too long since I wrote this, and I can't now remember how the main plot developed, other than that I knew from the start what would happen if the Mercy tried what they try in this book, but I had no clue how it would end, or what that would mean for Abernathy's. Some of what Wallach says about time travel comes from my husband, who it turns out has strong opinions on the subject.
And glass magic. This has to be the thing I love best about having developed the aegises and the six kinds of magic, the way glass magic turned out. From having been developed by Hitler for use against the Allies in World War II to how it's used in this book, I have always had fun working out what clever new thing a glass magus could do next. (Harry and Harriet Keller are my other favorites, which is interesting because they and Wallach are of the same older generation. I love having characters in their 70's interacting with the younger main characters; it adds so much dimension to the story.)
After concluding this book with a wedding, I took some time off from the series (to write all of Company of Strangers, as it happens, as well as Whispering Twilight, the fourth Extraordinaries book). The last two books were written a year and a half later, in part because I wasn't sure whether I needed two or three installments to finish the series and in part because a wedding is such a natural stopping point. Hence the note at the end about this not being the final book, just in case anyone thought otherwise. I've always been a fan of stories in which the heroine and her hero get together and go on to have more adventures rather than their wedding, or whatever, being the end point of the story. So The Book of War and The Book of Destiny feature them as a happily married couple--remember how I said I wasn't going to jerk readers around by breaking them up? However, that doesn't mean there aren't threats and challenges in store for them...
Two more books until the end of the series!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2020
7 books in and still going strong. Definitely a series where you should start with book 1 and move your way through. Each book builds on the other in both plot and character development and there really aren't any you can skip.
Note: I've thought a bunch about it and this is my very favorite cover, thus far.
Reading this book was so fun. Our band of merry characters has grown and changed so much from when Helena first walked into Abernathy's for a job interview. People I disliked in the beginning have become close friends and the combined danger of the Mercy and the Invaders keeps driving the narrative forward with questions of how it will all end and how many of our favorites will still be standing when it does.
This time Abernathy's is, again, in danger, but from a very different source and Helena must balance figuring out what's happening to her charge while trying to prepare for a wedding, as if the wedding itself wasn't stressful enough. I find I love this juxtaposition. I've seen it in a couple of books and it almost always works for me because I enjoy the reminder of all the normal, wonderful, life events that people still want even in a world of the supernatural. Bridal showers, cake tasting, tuxedo rental... all those things are still important, even as the deeper mystery unveils itself.
Also...this book does a lot with glass magic, which may be my favorite aspect of the magic system. ((Paper is also cool because origami is neat.))
So overall...go read it. Read the whole series. And hold onto your hats...because it's not over yet.
Note: I've thought a bunch about it and this is my very favorite cover, thus far.
Reading this book was so fun. Our band of merry characters has grown and changed so much from when Helena first walked into Abernathy's for a job interview. People I disliked in the beginning have become close friends and the combined danger of the Mercy and the Invaders keeps driving the narrative forward with questions of how it will all end and how many of our favorites will still be standing when it does.
This time Abernathy's is, again, in danger, but from a very different source and Helena must balance figuring out what's happening to her charge while trying to prepare for a wedding, as if the wedding itself wasn't stressful enough. I find I love this juxtaposition. I've seen it in a couple of books and it almost always works for me because I enjoy the reminder of all the normal, wonderful, life events that people still want even in a world of the supernatural. Bridal showers, cake tasting, tuxedo rental... all those things are still important, even as the deeper mystery unveils itself.
Also...this book does a lot with glass magic, which may be my favorite aspect of the magic system. ((Paper is also cool because origami is neat.))
So overall...go read it. Read the whole series. And hold onto your hats...because it's not over yet.
June 5, 2021
I love this series! It's one of my all-time favourites, and book 7 does not disappoint.
A magical bookstore, being run by an - in the beginning anyway - awkward, slightly dweeby girl that nobody expected much of anything from. This is basically the life I secrectly wished for when I was younger . . . heck, I'm STILL wishing for this life, and I am WAY past an age where anyone would call me a girl! This really is the best of the best in my opinion.
Melissa McShane is a fabulous writer! She writes wonderful, likable and relatable characters who aren't perfect but are people you want to go on adventures with, and whom you can root for even when they're making questionable choices, because you know they mean well and are trying their best to do the right things.
McShane also writes exciting, suspenseful dramatic and magical - literally! - stories that will keep a reader on the edge of their seat about what's going to happen next, while also wishing they were IN THE STORY experiencing all the adventures right along with the characters. It's just a delight to go on the thrilling adventures McShance conceives for these characters and I am delighted every time I get to re-visit Helena, Malcolm, Judy, Viv and Abernathy's even when things get dangerous.
There are only two books left in this series, and I'll be rationing them to stretch out my opportunities to re-visit this world as long as possible. Fortunately, I also love McShane's Extraordinaries series and I have several more books to read in that one too. For now, though, if you haven't read the books in this series and a magical bookstore sounds like your kind of jam, then I HIGHLY recommend this series! Start at the beginning - you won't be sorry!
A magical bookstore, being run by an - in the beginning anyway - awkward, slightly dweeby girl that nobody expected much of anything from. This is basically the life I secrectly wished for when I was younger . . . heck, I'm STILL wishing for this life, and I am WAY past an age where anyone would call me a girl! This really is the best of the best in my opinion.
Melissa McShane is a fabulous writer! She writes wonderful, likable and relatable characters who aren't perfect but are people you want to go on adventures with, and whom you can root for even when they're making questionable choices, because you know they mean well and are trying their best to do the right things.
McShane also writes exciting, suspenseful dramatic and magical - literally! - stories that will keep a reader on the edge of their seat about what's going to happen next, while also wishing they were IN THE STORY experiencing all the adventures right along with the characters. It's just a delight to go on the thrilling adventures McShance conceives for these characters and I am delighted every time I get to re-visit Helena, Malcolm, Judy, Viv and Abernathy's even when things get dangerous.
There are only two books left in this series, and I'll be rationing them to stretch out my opportunities to re-visit this world as long as possible. Fortunately, I also love McShane's Extraordinaries series and I have several more books to read in that one too. For now, though, if you haven't read the books in this series and a magical bookstore sounds like your kind of jam, then I HIGHLY recommend this series! Start at the beginning - you won't be sorry!
October 19, 2021
I took quite a long break from Last Oracle series, because I had many other books to read and I wanted to check for myself if I still be interested in the next book after a few months. And I was. I was catching myself thinking what's going to happen next or then I didn't know what to read this book was always a strong contender just because I knew I was going to devour it in one or two days and have a great time with it. It's not very complicated and sometimes a wish it would be a little less predictable, but still I'm having so much fun with this series!
August 19, 2021
Magic bookstore
This is the seventh book in the series and I’ve read them all in a week. I was sold at magic bookstore, but it just keeps getting better. Great storytelling and finally plots that I haven’t read before. I hope a network picks them up, Helena deserves the silver screen.
This is the seventh book in the series and I’ve read them all in a week. I was sold at magic bookstore, but it just keeps getting better. Great storytelling and finally plots that I haven’t read before. I hope a network picks them up, Helena deserves the silver screen.
May 16, 2023
My favorite book of the series so far!! The oracle communicating and fighting are the best things and I enjoy reading every page! And then there was the wedding and the trip 🥹
Favorite part was when the oracle said “not alone, Helena” 🥺🥺
Hoping that Judy and Mike will become a thing in the next book :)
Favorite part was when the oracle said “not alone, Helena” 🥺🥺
Hoping that Judy and Mike will become a thing in the next book :)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2024
Once again, I start by saying how much I am enjoying the series arc and world building. Similarly, I am again left screaming at my kindle as our MC fumbles around with the simplest of tasks… this is master level writing from our author since they have managed to maintain the MC’s total incompetence from book 1.
5star world building.
2star characters.
5star world building.
2star characters.
January 24, 2021
Enjoyed the plotline of this one, but some of the explanations got a little wordy and hard to follow at times. There were also some continuity errors involving Helena's phone, but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this one!
June 13, 2021
unnecessarily complicated
or maybe just long winded? and why do they even talk about helena not running into danger anymore? i do like we’re the oracle is going. but, if that was called the book of harmony, what exactly happens in the book of war?
or maybe just long winded? and why do they even talk about helena not running into danger anymore? i do like we’re the oracle is going. but, if that was called the book of harmony, what exactly happens in the book of war?
February 6, 2023
This installment was fun and different from the others.
As the Mercy and their strategies intensified, Helena continued to make impressive discoveries in helping I. The Long War.
I loved the Bachelorette party - definitely a highlight in this one.
As the Mercy and their strategies intensified, Helena continued to make impressive discoveries in helping I. The Long War.
I loved the Bachelorette party - definitely a highlight in this one.
May 6, 2023
Better than the average entry in the series, so ... still just okay, but a high okay? Fun mystery plot. And it was nice that in a world with magical cross country travel we got to use it a bit more and actually leave Portland.
June 4, 2020
3.5
Not my favorite of the series (I saw the twist coming almost from beginning), but I'm glad that Helena is happy!
Not my favorite of the series (I saw the twist coming almost from beginning), but I'm glad that Helena is happy!
August 17, 2020
Lovely
This was a good change of style and pace. The war continues but this allowed Helena to shine. She problems solved and works with the oracle. The ending was lovey.
This was a good change of style and pace. The war continues but this allowed Helena to shine. She problems solved and works with the oracle. The ending was lovey.
October 14, 2021
Very good series about a woman who's hired to work for an unusual bookstore and learns she's now part of a magical world she had no idea existed.
Read
November 18, 2021I will be rereading.
December 20, 2023
Enjoyed this series. The characters have been a lot of fun.
June 2, 2024
A bit formulaic at this point, wished more would happen in the overarching plot or for Helena to develop more
December 27, 2025
My 100th book of the year, I met my goal with just with just under a week left in the year.
I’ve really been enjoying this series about the Oracle. Helena makes a good heroine.
I’ve really been enjoying this series about the Oracle. Helena makes a good heroine.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews