Stormbringer trilogy: Isabel Cooper
Originally I wasn’t going to review this series. I picked it up on whim, wasn’t sure I felt strongly about it at all after the first one, but grabbed the other two anyway, and here we are. Just three books, it seems reasonable to do them all at once.
* I would like to point out that I really think the covers for books 2 & 3 should be swapped. Book 2 is about an aristocrat-healer, while 3 is about a priest-knight who carries a sword for a living. My head cannon works much better with the swap!
So!
If you tire of romances that emphasize the need for one to protect the other as a key point of tension or romance, have I got a trilogy for you! Three books where not a single lead spends time worrying about whether the other can care for him/herself. Everyone is competent, recognizing complementary skills when present and, while taking nothing for granted, relying on the other person to do their job without anyone looking over their shoulder. Very LGBTQA+ friendly. These books move at a leisurely pace, with dry humor and conversations among equals. It is tonaly different from a lot of others I’ve read in the genre, and while it can come across as slow, the more I read the more I appreciate it.
The Stormbringer
A human general has been frozen in time for a hundred years, having trapped the evil wizard bent on destroying the world along with him. He’s awoken from this stasis a couple of months after the evil wizard’s minions—having survived and rebuilt a century after the world was devastated by massive storms that have left humanity a shell of its former self—released said evil wizard back on the world. The woman who frees him is a Sentinel—warriors reforged/enhanced by the gods with abilities that make them something other, and the protectors of humanity—with the help of her sword, embodied by the dead wizard/former lover of said general. All together they have to warn and rally humanity against this revived threat, if they can survive the obstacles in their path, both old (and known to the general) or new (and known to the Sentinel). There’s interesting conflict as the general and the wizard-sword come to terms with their new relationship (the general not having realized the passage of time and now his lover is dead but still present, the wizard having morned and then lived the rest of his life only to be able to reconnect with the man he loved so much) while the general and Sentinel deal with their attraction and not wanting to hurt the sword they both care for. There’s some action and eventually some additional side characters that help flesh out this world of magic-with-limits and various gods. It’s not terribly dynamic—both characters are utterly competent and smart, adapting well to challenges and their new partnership. They are all very much adults, to the point that, when the ensouled sword has to remind them they are all adults, time has passed, and he’s perfectly happy to grant his blessing on a relationship, you wonder why they even needed the teenage reluctance to communicate, when they are otherwise so mature about everything else. It’s an interesting world, and interesting interpersonal dynamic, plenty of wry humor, and largely devoid of the usual melodrama and miscommunication many in this genre rely on for tension.
The Night Born
Our heroine is a Sentinel working as a diplomat to recruit a city-state, which had escaped rather unscathed from both the war one hundred years ago as well as the aftermath, to join the new war. The council gives her two weeks to convince them, leaving plenty of time to get to know the leading man, the black sheep of an aristocratic family who cools his heels holding down their council seat when he isn’t busy running a medical clinic for those too poor to seek out the official healers at the temple, a calling his family seems to view as a somewhat embarassing hobby they barely tolerate. After he proves he knows which end of a sword to hold while still being a compassionate healer through an assassination attempt and a ball with a very demonic ending, he winds up sheltering her while she recovers from serious injury as the city seeks to arrest her for a double murder. He learns his family is behind it all, through worshiping the devil and performing regular child sacrifice, in addition to a partially failed attempt to reincarnate evil in a baby they since misplaced. Fortunately for him, he gets to complete seminary/medical school in only two weeks and can join the warrior-lady where she is needed on the front lines. The action is better in this one, the betrayal genuine, and again both leads are capable and confident, treating their relationship like adults. Dry humor and honest discussion characterize most of their interactions. Again, an interesting world, with nice people you can root for getting together.
Blood and Ember
I like the two leads in this final installment of the trilogy. We find out where the lost demon baby is, now grown into a priest-knight who has dedicated his life to truth and justice, and now must travel to the place the world fell apart to find out if the part of him that is the devil is going to save or destroy the world. A Sentinel who has worked with him for years volunteers to help guide him there, with the expectation that if things go badly she will have to be the one to kill him before the world ends. There is a lot of travel, hunger, and fatigue in this one, with quiet conversations that have both of them falling through lust into love, even when opportunities for more than a kiss are rare. These actually have a moment where the gallant knight reacts to protect the woman, and she gives him an icy glare and he promptly apologizes. It is immediately suspected to be a sign of his corruption, though, lol. As with the other books this is really just about the two of them, their conversations wry, intelligent, and considerate. Their relationship feels more durable, perhaps, than the other two, possibly due to the lack of distractions and any forces that might disapprove, so they can spend more time eyeing each other appreciatively. A satisfying ending to this gentle, articulate series.
Bottom line: An interesting world, with characters worth liking and rooting for, filled with kind, intelligent conversations between people with important jobs to do and immense respect for one another. I’ve said it so many times, but plenty of dry humor. Slow pacing, not a griping page turner, but a pleasant story and a lovely contrast to some of the other books I’ve been reading. A refreshing palate cleanser.
