Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Stormcaster by Cinda Williams Chima
Series: Shattered Realms #3
Publisher: HarperTeen, Paperback, 535 pages
Content Warnings: Instances of self-harm

Evan Strangward learned to be ruthless from a young age and as a result managed to gain control of a major port and the ships that sail it. However, the empress from the north is gaining power and Evan needs to take drastic steps to stop her. Meanwhile Lyss finds herself between a rock and a hard place and needs to figure out how to best save her queendom from the formidable empress.

At this point, it’ll be surprising to hear me say that I really enjoyed this book, but as with the first two, I really enjoyed this book. Evan is a character that we had briefly seen in the previous books and I’d been curious when we would see more of his cards. Stormcaster gave us a lot of insight into his background, but it also provided a lot of development into the events that were occurring when book two ended. This series really is the definition of the saying ‘it’s a small world,’ but thats something that I really love about it. Even some of the characters in these books don’t know for sure that they are on the same side. It really builds this tension that we as the reader don’t necessarily have, but we feel through the characters.

Speaking of tension… Stormcaster is heavy on the intrigue. Every character in this book is planning or plotting something. Everyone has a goal, someone they are trying to save, or an endgame they are trying to achieve. There are even instances that those with the upper hand find that in the end they don’t actually have it. It really is quite a ride. I can also feel that with only one book left things have started to come together. I have a couple of predictions and assumptions for the fourth book, but really I’m just looking forward to reading it.

All in all, Stormcaster was another huge win for me. I can’t really fault much of anything in this series thus far and I am so hyped to see how it’s going to tie up in book four. 5/5 stars.

Shattered Realms Series:
1. Flamecaster
2. Shadowcaster
3. Stormcaster
4. Deathcaster