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Step through the portal into a world ravaged by chaotic spirits and corrupted magic in the third book of The Call of the Rift high fantasy series.
Kateiko Rin lives a quiet life with her parents and her people in the coastal rainforest. Everything changes when her estranged uncle washes up on their shores, harried and half-dead, trailed by two blue-eyed children no one knew existed. To protect her family, Kateiko secrets away her young cousins. Caring for them includes hiding their ties to the Rúonbattai, a warlike cult trying to claim the land for themselves along with as many lives as they can. With the immigrant mage Tiernan and his companions Jorumgard and Nerio, Kateiko enters into the fray, facing strange, dangerous magic that unwinds the fabric of time. She must end the war before it tears the land, and her family, apart.
In the third book in The Call of the Rift series, Jae Waller invites us into another dimension and introduces an alternate version of her captivating heroine in a world full of familiar and unknown faces, including many we thought long dead.
Kateiko Rin lives a quiet life with her parents and her people in the coastal rainforest. Everything changes when her estranged uncle washes up on their shores, harried and half-dead, trailed by two blue-eyed children no one knew existed. To protect her family, Kateiko secrets away her young cousins. Caring for them includes hiding their ties to the Rúonbattai, a warlike cult trying to claim the land for themselves along with as many lives as they can. With the immigrant mage Tiernan and his companions Jorumgard and Nerio, Kateiko enters into the fray, facing strange, dangerous magic that unwinds the fabric of time. She must end the war before it tears the land, and her family, apart.
In the third book in The Call of the Rift series, Jae Waller invites us into another dimension and introduces an alternate version of her captivating heroine in a world full of familiar and unknown faces, including many we thought long dead.
460 pages, Hardcover
Published May 18, 2021
3 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
About the author
Jae Waller
5 books39 followersJae Waller grew up in a lumber town in northern British Columbia, Canada. She has a joint BFA in creative writing and fine art from the University of Northern British Columbia and Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Most interesting past job: streetside florist with a charity for unhoused people in Vancouver.
Now living in Melbourne, Australia, she works as a novelist and freelance artist.
Now living in Melbourne, Australia, she works as a novelist and freelance artist.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 7, 2023
(Disclaimer: I knew Jae Waller a bit from the internet before reading any of her books.)
This one was a little bit jarring after the first two in the series! It follows a different Kateiko in a different world, and while she catches up to the Kateiko from Flight and Veil in age by the end, it begins with her several years younger - only fourteen - with narration to match. It's fun to see a younger Kateiko, but it's also kind of weird (that is: unusual; I'm not used to it) to skip backwards in maturity like that.
The shoirdryge effect is fascinating and alienating at the same time. On the one hand: seeing the same characters (and events) from a different perspective (as well as seeing characters who were only mentioned in passing before, since they were largely dead there but living here), learning things which Kateiko-from-the-first-two-books never knew but which probably hold true for her world as well - all that stuff adds a ton of depth and complexity that I love, while keeping a simple first-person narration (from a teenage perspective, even, which helps too) that doesn't allow the reader to become mired in it. On the other, I've had two books to imprint on Kateiko Sohikoehl and her world, and it took quite a bit of effort to not just think of this new Kateiko as... the other one. She's an immersive narrator! It's just hard to step into the mind of someone almost-like-but-different from someone I'm already used to.
By the end of the book this had settled a bit, partly because she'd pretty much caught up, partly because I had a whole book of this Kateiko and her world to get used to her. The beginning was also a bit harder because Kateiko-from-this-book went through a series of aliases very quickly; I couldn't get a grip on her partly because she couldn't get a grip on herself.
Neat stuff in here: everything I liked about the previous two books except the particular (versions of) characters and world I've grown to know continues to hold true - excellent cultural worldbuilding, solid characters, natural dialogue, immersive narration. Also: every book in this series seems to be both queerer and significantly more explicit about the horrors of colonialism than the last. This one got to be a bit hard to read in places, knowing that these particular horrors were in no way a product of fantasy.
I have one quibble, but it is a very minor quibble: I think there's something wonky going on with the genetics here. We see a total of three children from two different sets of parents where one parent is Aikoto and the other is Sverbian, all three of them with the light eyes of their Sverbian parent. Pretty sure the Aikoto population is entirely dark-eyed, confirmed by the fact that the eyes of these children are pointed out as remarkable. So... I guess brown eyes are a recessive trait in this world? Either that or both Aikoto parents had recessive light-eye genes (from earlier generations of itheran ancestors?) and all three children happened to inherit it, which is possible but feels very unlikely! I realise that I'm very much overthinking this, but it is the sort of thing that, once noticed, bothers me until I feel compelled to express it.
Anyway, having gotten used to this Kateiko, I'm really eager to read more and see how everything fits together. Once I got over the weirdness of (sort of?) switching protagonists (and entire worlds, really), it's a fascinating and very compelling device.
Selling points: excellent cultural worldbuilding; linguistic funness; gay rep; lesbian rep; ace rep; deals seriously with the horrors of colonialism; a really great bit about avoiding someone miserable because his misery made Kateiko miserable, and the ensuing guilt about the consequences of that avoidance; fresh perspective on familiar characters/places/events; look I don't even know what this list is for at this point, it's the third book in the series, it's not going to incite anyone to start here.
Warnings: suicidal ideation; attempted suicide; forcible separation of families; cultural genocide via adoption; character death.
This one was a little bit jarring after the first two in the series! It follows a different Kateiko in a different world, and while she catches up to the Kateiko from Flight and Veil in age by the end, it begins with her several years younger - only fourteen - with narration to match. It's fun to see a younger Kateiko, but it's also kind of weird (that is: unusual; I'm not used to it) to skip backwards in maturity like that.
The shoirdryge effect is fascinating and alienating at the same time. On the one hand: seeing the same characters (and events) from a different perspective (as well as seeing characters who were only mentioned in passing before, since they were largely dead there but living here), learning things which Kateiko-from-the-first-two-books never knew but which probably hold true for her world as well - all that stuff adds a ton of depth and complexity that I love, while keeping a simple first-person narration (from a teenage perspective, even, which helps too) that doesn't allow the reader to become mired in it. On the other, I've had two books to imprint on Kateiko Sohikoehl and her world, and it took quite a bit of effort to not just think of this new Kateiko as... the other one. She's an immersive narrator! It's just hard to step into the mind of someone almost-like-but-different from someone I'm already used to.
By the end of the book this had settled a bit, partly because she'd pretty much caught up, partly because I had a whole book of this Kateiko and her world to get used to her. The beginning was also a bit harder because Kateiko-from-this-book went through a series of aliases very quickly; I couldn't get a grip on her partly because she couldn't get a grip on herself.
Neat stuff in here: everything I liked about the previous two books except the particular (versions of) characters and world I've grown to know continues to hold true - excellent cultural worldbuilding, solid characters, natural dialogue, immersive narration. Also: every book in this series seems to be both queerer and significantly more explicit about the horrors of colonialism than the last. This one got to be a bit hard to read in places, knowing that these particular horrors were in no way a product of fantasy.
I have one quibble, but it is a very minor quibble: I think there's something wonky going on with the genetics here. We see a total of three children from two different sets of parents where one parent is Aikoto and the other is Sverbian, all three of them with the light eyes of their Sverbian parent. Pretty sure the Aikoto population is entirely dark-eyed, confirmed by the fact that the eyes of these children are pointed out as remarkable. So... I guess brown eyes are a recessive trait in this world? Either that or both Aikoto parents had recessive light-eye genes (from earlier generations of itheran ancestors?) and all three children happened to inherit it, which is possible but feels very unlikely! I realise that I'm very much overthinking this, but it is the sort of thing that, once noticed, bothers me until I feel compelled to express it.
Anyway, having gotten used to this Kateiko, I'm really eager to read more and see how everything fits together. Once I got over the weirdness of (sort of?) switching protagonists (and entire worlds, really), it's a fascinating and very compelling device.
Selling points: excellent cultural worldbuilding; linguistic funness; gay rep; lesbian rep; ace rep; deals seriously with the horrors of colonialism; a really great bit about avoiding someone miserable because his misery made Kateiko miserable, and the ensuing guilt about the consequences of that avoidance; fresh perspective on familiar characters/places/events; look I don't even know what this list is for at this point, it's the third book in the series, it's not going to incite anyone to start here.
Warnings: suicidal ideation; attempted suicide; forcible separation of families; cultural genocide via adoption; character death.
June 30, 2021
Author Jae Waller continues her fantastic and fascinating The Call of the Rift series with the third and latest installment, CREST. Crest builds on the events of the first two books and delivers a lush and danger-filled tale that will draw readers in from the very first page.
Readers familiar with this series have witnessed Kateiko’s physical world grow with each installment as she journeys to various new parts of this land, and in CREST the world expands even more, only this time with a whole new dimension. There’s an unknown magic at work that puts our characters in an alternate reality where things aren’t quite as they are in the normal world. Characters we’ve lost are revisited, characters we’ve only heard of in recalled stories are present, and it’s an experience for Kateiko that brings both joy and sorrow in equal measure.
As with the previous two installments, several important themes also play big parts in this tale, mainly colonialism, injustice, death, and in this particular book, war. Waller delivers a fantasy series that gives readers plenty of food for thought, and I love that she doesn’t sugarcoat the brutal side of life or gloss over the negative aspects that her characters are facing.
This series has quickly become one of my favorites with its lush world, immersive and magical storylines, and characters you can’t help but root for. The inclusion of real-world themes only helps to solidify why this series is a must read for teens and adults alike. 5 glorious stars, and I can’t recommend this series enough.
*Many thanks to ECW Press for providing a free copy for review.
Readers familiar with this series have witnessed Kateiko’s physical world grow with each installment as she journeys to various new parts of this land, and in CREST the world expands even more, only this time with a whole new dimension. There’s an unknown magic at work that puts our characters in an alternate reality where things aren’t quite as they are in the normal world. Characters we’ve lost are revisited, characters we’ve only heard of in recalled stories are present, and it’s an experience for Kateiko that brings both joy and sorrow in equal measure.
As with the previous two installments, several important themes also play big parts in this tale, mainly colonialism, injustice, death, and in this particular book, war. Waller delivers a fantasy series that gives readers plenty of food for thought, and I love that she doesn’t sugarcoat the brutal side of life or gloss over the negative aspects that her characters are facing.
This series has quickly become one of my favorites with its lush world, immersive and magical storylines, and characters you can’t help but root for. The inclusion of real-world themes only helps to solidify why this series is a must read for teens and adults alike. 5 glorious stars, and I can’t recommend this series enough.
*Many thanks to ECW Press for providing a free copy for review.
April 2, 2021
It took me a week to read the second book, and less than 3 days to finish this one. I could not put this book down. Getting to see a whole new slate of characters that I had only heard of second-hand in the first two books was so exciting. And seeing the same characters from entirely different perspectives made the world so rich, and the characters so alive.
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December 31, 2020Aroace character
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August 1, 2021Sci-Fi, Indigenous culture
-too old for our age category?
- Sex
-Book 3 in series
Great read but better suited for high school.
-too old for our age category?
- Sex
-Book 3 in series
Great read but better suited for high school.
May 19, 2021
I loved reading this book. As I've come to expect from this series, the immersive setting, riveting plotline, and relatable characters keep me interested from the start to the end. The issues this story faces head-on (like injustice and racism) are intense, but it's overall a really entertaining story. And it's so much fun to compare the characters of Crest world to their Flight/Veil counterparts! :D
January 25, 2023
I listened to the audiobook before ordering the hardback copy, but this hit harder tonight. Jae matures as a writer throughout this series, none more so than in the final battle and aftermath, which at once both distracted and validated my own aching grief that kept me up at this hour of the morning. A gripping story continues, further developing the intricate world and lore she created. And I'd forgotten our very own Squid Squad writers group had been mentioned in acknowledgements, each of us by name! Right back at you, mermaid sister ❤️
Follow @jaewalrus for updates on Wake, the next book in the series x
Follow @jaewalrus for updates on Wake, the next book in the series x
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews