Falling in a Sea of Stars (Green Rider #8) by Kristen Britain

  

 My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre:  Fantasy
Content: A makeout scene

 

After Sacoridia's victory over Second Empire, Karigan G'ladheon's life as a Green Rider should have settled into an ordinary routine. But her father's abrupt departure to rescue Laren Mapstone, leader of the Green Riders and the woman he loves, from the far distant land of Varos, has left Clan G'ladheon's business in disarray and Karigan's hands full.

Even as Karigan tries to sort out the clan's mess, a darker, more perilous crisis casts its shadows over her: Mornhavon the Black has reawakened. Moreover, he has freed two undead wraiths from their imprisoning tombs to hunt Karigan down and bring her to him in Blackveil Forest.

In a deadly confrontation with one of the wraiths amid the frivolity of the Harvest Ball, Karigan is left vulnerable to the intrigues of another old adversary she thought destroyed long ago. Haunted by the unceasing rhythm of the dance, she falls endlessly through the frigid dark of the heavens, and even Westrion, god of death, cannot save her.

King Zachary, bereft and hopeless, keeps vigil for her safe return. If they are not reunited, her loss may destroy him - and any chance Sacoridia has of overcoming Mornhavon's dark designs. 

 

Going into this I thought it was going to be the last book in an eight book story arc. I somehow missed the memo from the author that it was getting split into two books. I have mixed feeling in this. On one hand I'm happy to have more Green Rider, but on the other hand I don't see why the author needed to split this into two books. While I enjoyed a lot of this, it had a quite a bit of filler that wasn't really necessary to the plot. The whole side plot involving Karigan's clan wasn't needed and could have been left out. It could also have just been put into a novella. I also wondered why the author chose to bring back a villain that had previously been dealt with instead of advancing the plot with Mornhavon. In the fist half of the book, it seemed like that was where it was going to go, but it barely touched on Mornhavon. There was also a lot of repetition in this book. 

As far as the romance between Karigan and Zachary goes, not much happened to advance that either. I don't like the mistress angle that the author is teasing us with and I don't care if Estora has given them her blessing because the marriage is a marriage of convenience. It just doesn't sit well with me, and I hope it doesn't go that way. I do feel like there is some foreshadowing concerning Estora in this book, and if I'm right, then I'll be happy. 

Karigan's mirror eye was mentioned heavily in this book. It felt excessive, so I couldn't help wonder if there was some heavy-handed foreshadowing going on about that too. There was even a horse that had a missing eye restored in the book and I'm trying to figure out why that was included and what relevance it has to the rest of the story. Was that a way to show that Karigan's eye could also be restored to normal? Who knows at this point. This book was all over the place so it could mean absolutely nothing.

The parts with Miss Bunch and Miss Bay were delightful as always, and I enjoyed how they took in a certain little girl and helped her to become a better person. 

Overall, I enjoyed this despite those disappointments I mentioned. It isn't the worst book in the series. That, in my opinion, is still Mirror Sight, but this one is probably my second least favorite. 

Thanks to NetGalley and DAW for providing me with an ARC of this book.