I really enjoyed reading this series. I'm not going to write reviews for each book because I read them one right after the other and the lines of where one stopped and the next began have become rather fuzzy in my mind. I also feel like I would just be repeating myself a lot. If you read my review of the first book in the series, Storm Glass, then you know I was fairly new to Jeff Wheeler's books, having only previously read The King's Poisoner. Little did I know at the time how much I would be pulled into both series, plus the Muirwood series, or how interconnected they all were. For the most part, it's been a fun ride, with some minor gripes on my part, especially concerning Muirwood. I still think after finishing this series that the author laid the religious aspects on too thick. It got slightly annoying to me in this series, but not nearly as bad as Muirwood.
There were some heartbreaking things that happened in this series, and also some really great things. Book 4, Prism Cloud was particularly heartbreaking and a bit of a downer compared to the other books. I knew things would somehow end up being set straight in this one, and I'm mostly happy with the way things ended. I was also pleasantly surprised that a couple of my favorite characters from Kingfountain appear in this book.
It's funny how initially I liked reading about Cettie more than Sera, but by the end of the series it had switched. I still liked Cettie as well, but I think with the path she went down for a while, her chapters got a little depressing compared to Sera's. I think the way the author handled the choices Cettie made was really well done. While I was disappointed in the way her story ended up going for a while, it also felt necessary, and gave some insight into the other side of things. I did feel like the bad guys were a little bit over the top a few times though, but that may have had a lot to do with the way the narrator was narrating those parts.
One thing I really enjoyed about this series is the world building. The floating estates, the air ships, the gates to the other world...it had a bit of a steampunkish feeling to it. It's my second favorite series that Wheeler has written, right behind Kingfountain, which had a more medieval/Authurian feel to it. The Legends of Muirwood would be a distant third in my opinion. It felt rather bland compared to the other two, and then there were my other complaints that I won't rehash here.
Now that I've read these books and the other series as well I would recommend to anyone wanting to read Wheeler's books, to start with either The Legends of Muirwood or the first three Kingfountain books and switch over to Legends of Muirwood before reading the last three Kingfountain books. I'm saying that as a person who didn't like Legends of Muirwood very much, and I think if I had started there I wouldn't have continued to any of the other series. Anyway here is how I would recommend reading them:
Kingfountain books 1-3
Legends of Muirwood trilogy
Kingfountain books 4-6
Covenant of Muirwood trilogy
Harbinger series
Although I haven't read it yet, I'm placing Covenant of Muirwood in there ahead of Harbinger, because things in that trilogy take place before Harbinger, and there are people and events referenced in the Harbinger series that take place in that series. Had I known, I probably would have read it first.
One final note- I really love the cover art for this series.
Mirror Gate by Jeff WheelerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
Though relations between Princess Seraphin Fitzempress and her father have been strained, Sera’s royal position has remained unchallenged. Filled with self-doubt, she struggles to grasp the Mysteries—her greatest trial yet.
An education in the enigmatic magic is a necessary one, should Sera plan to rise in her station and invoke her powers during war. But the emperor’s death now leaves both Sera and her ambitious father eligible for the throne—a contest the prince regent intends to win. Even if it means an alliance with a rival empire.
Sera’s hope lies in Cettie, a waif raised in the world below, whose life has intertwined with Sera’s in the most unexpected ways. The Mysteries come easily to Cettie, and her studies have begun to yield new insight into her growing powers. But those same powers put Cettie in the path of those who would destroy her.
Now as the threat of war ignites and an insidious sickness spreads throughout the kingdom, Sera and Cettie will need to gather their courage and fight for each other’s lives… and for the future of their endangered world.
Iron Garland by Jeff WheelerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
For three years, Sera Fitzempress has been a pawn in a gilded prison—the floating manor of Pavenham Sky. Disgraced and exiled from society, she has been isolated from the downtrodden she’s determined to liberate. But although Sera may seem subservient on the outside, the stubborn princess has only become emboldened.
Now in charge of her family’s estate, Cettie Pratt has grown into an independent young woman, although she continues to be tested by the high society of the clouds. Advancing in the magic of the Mysteries, Cettie is also a useful tool of defense during turbulent times. However, as more of Cettie’s mysterious past comes to light, her greatest challenge may be a reckless stranger with a dark secret.
The fog of war is drawing in, and with it comes a startling new enemy who may unravel secrets that both women would prefer stay hidden. But their secrets may be the only way to stop the coming darkness…
Prism Cloud by Jeff WheelerMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
Friendship is strained to its breaking point in Wall Street Journal bestselling author Jeff Wheeler’s fourth Harbinger novel.
When the emperor is assassinated, Sera Fitzempress is the noble most eligible to inherit the empire. Her upcoming marriage to the prince would cement her position. And as a champion for peace, Sera is the only promise of hope for staving off war between the worlds of Kingfountain and Muirwood. But standing between her and her enemies is just one devastating secret.
Sera’s best friend, Cettie, a girl born of a lower class, has made a shattering discovery: her entire existence has been a lie. Now Cettie must give up the only life she’s known and fought for and leave behind the man she loves to stop Sera’s wedding. For this discovery could bring the whole of Kingfountain to ruin.
As Cettie struggles to determine her true loyalties and loves, her allies fall to wicked plots, and she becomes increasingly alone on her journey to a destiny she never wanted—one that could ignite an unstoppable war.
Broken Veil by Jeff Wheeler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Young Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
Rescued from a world of
poverty, Cettie Pratt has avoided a bleak destiny—until now. Deceived
and manipulated, she has been groomed for the ultimate betrayal: to
destroy her best friend and stop peace from uniting two war-torn worlds.
Her path leads her to a mysterious underworld where appearances can be
deceiving.
Sera Fitzempress knows the value she has to her
enemies. As heir to the empire, she must keep her foes at bay and
prevent them from unleashing a being of unspeakable evil upon the world
while fighting a brutal war. But her enemies are more cunning than Sera
expects, and the key to their plans is none other than her best friend.
Neither
woman knows what to believe. Neither one knows if she can trust the
other. Both Cettie and Sera have made decisions that have irrevocably
changed them. But the decisions they have yet to make will determine the
fate of their world…
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