FLIGHT OF THE FEATHERED SERPENT
From the Three Keys series, volume 3
by Dana Alexander
An immortal continues to recover powerful keys in order to prevent a dark force from consuming Earth in this third installment of a series.
Tarsamon, the Dark Lord, plans on tipping the balance of good and evil in his favor, which entails killing all humans on Earth. In Ardan, the realm of immortals, a spiritual order called the Soltari controls the governing body, the Alliance, which has implemented a counterattack of sorts. Dr. Sara Forrester, an immortal in human form, is the Light Carrier and will gather three hidden keys that can save humanity. The Soltari blocked Sara’s memories to avoid distracting emotions. But she’s still drawn to her love, Cerys, who’s Dr. Kevin Scott as a human. Sara, Kevin, and elven allies from Ardan head to the Yucatán Peninsula to meet Topetine, guardian of the second key. Despite numerous measures to hide Sara’s energy from Tarsamon, the army of dark shadows tracks her down. She and Kevin may have trouble focusing on the operation as they’re both torn between keeping their distance and succumbing to their mutual passion. Sara, meanwhile, must also contend with her growing wariness of the organization with which she’s aligned herself. Alexander’s (A Light Within, 2019, etc.) fantasy is energized from the start, particularly as it opens in the midst of a mission. At times, it resembles a video game: Sara progressively acquires new (or forgotten) abilities and earns “another level of protection” with each key recovered. It’s certainly exciting, but the narrative likewise boasts tension, as more than one individual from Sara’s group winds up an abductee while she has good reason to distrust people supposedly on her side. The author’s lucid prose makes otherworldly realms easy to visualize: “The sky was black as soot with the smallest shred of steel-blue on the outer edge of a would-be horizon if the sun ever rose here.” The novel predictably ends on a cliffhanger, but a memorable one.
A zealous, entertaining entry in a fantasy saga with a determined heroine.