Reviews: Unbroken

Unbroken (Outcast Season - Book 4) by Rachel Caine


Publication Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: Paperback, 308pp
ISBN-13: 978-0451464422

ISBN: 0451464427

(Received for an honest review from Roc Fantasy)


Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound


Rachel Caine on the WEB: website, blog, facebook, twitter


Books in the series: Undone (2009), Unknown (2010), Unseen (2011), Unbroken (2012)


CoverArt: Click on the picture for a larger, clearer image of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from Unbroken


Synopsis:


For millennia, Cassiel was a powerful Djinn - until she was exiled to live among mortals. Now the threat of an apocalypse looms, and Cassiel is in danger of losing everything she has come to hold dear...


As the world begins to fall apart around her, Cassiel finds herself fighting those she once called her own: the Djinn. With Warden Luis Rocha and the rescued child lbby by her side, Cassiel struggles to find a way to protect those who are in her charge and come to terms with the leadership role she never asked for.


Cassiel is opposed by Pearl - a powerful Djinn bent on raising an army of kidnapped Warden children to bring about nothing less than the end of the world. It will take everything Cassiel has to stop the Djinn from starting a war that will wipe all of humanity from the face of the earth. She knows that htis might not be a battle she can survive, but protecting those she loves is worth any cost...


Thoughts:


If Rachel Caine were a race car driver, many would say she could drive the wheels off anything. Since she's a writer we can probably safely say she can write about anything from vampires to Djinn. The final book in the Outcast Season series, Unbroken tests the boundaries of loyalty and engages the reader so completely that it's a hard one to put down or forget. It's easy to see why Caine is so respected by paranormal and urban fantasy fans alike.


Now I've always been a fan of books about the Djinn and I'll be honest and say that I had not read the first three books in this series, when I started Unbroken. So I was coming in a blind so to speak. I was a bit worried that I would not be able to catch the thread of the series because it was too close to the end, but Caine does an amazing job of making each book in the series stand on it's own as well as being a part of a larger whole. I didn't feel the least bit left out or confused and I was able to get into the book whole-heartedly.


Rachel Caine's writing was vivid and descriptive from the first page to the last. She had so much to say and her voice came out loud and clear. The heroine in this series Cassiel is a great example of good character building. I was aware that Cassiel had been banished by the Djinn and sent to live on earth with humanity as a punishment. She's a very strong character and I was able to see growth in her in just one book, I can only imagine how much she's grown throughout the series. She has come to love humanity and does not want to see them destroyed. But in fighting for them and with them she effectively changing her loyalties, which is something not to be taken lightly. Caine does a remarkable job with this character.

The world building in this series was also amazing. I enjoyed the way Caine portrayed the Djinn from Cassiel all the way to the villain, Pearl. All of background stuff on the customs and workings of the Djinn community were amazing to read about. I know this series is somewhat of a spin-off from the Weather Warden series, which I have not read either. I was able to understand how the two series, worked together to carry the stories quite easily though. Pearl plot to use the Warden children was well thought out and executed by the author. 

I really enjoyed this one and fully intend to read the other three, but I don't think they'll change my opinion. It was just that good! If you are an urban fantasy fan, this is not one you want to miss, there were so many good things about it. Caine is superstar in the fantasy community and easy to see why. I'm gonna have to read the Morganville Vampire series as well now... LOL!





Unbroken is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.


I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

Rachel Caine is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels, including the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, the Revivalist series, and the Morganville Vampires series. She was born at White Sands Missile Range, which people who know her say explains a lot. She has been an accountant, a professional musician, an insurance investigator, and, until recently, still carried on a secret identity in the corporate world. She and her husband, fantasy artist R. Cat Conrad, live in Texas with their iguanas, Popeye and Darwin.