Lodestone Book Three: The Crucible of Dawn by Mark Whiteway: It’s difficult to review this book without leaving it full of spoilers for the first two, but I’ll give it a try. Our heroes continue in their efforts to stop The Prophet, with help from some unlikely allies. The action was well paced and exciting; the plot moved along at a good clip; and uses of the magnet-like lodestone technology continued to be inventive and consistent. I was unconvinced by Lyall’s sudden obsession with his missing sister, a fact that had barely been mentioned since he was first introduced, but I was able to more or less just go with it. Whiteway’s depiction of relationships is interestingly lopsided: the platonic interactions are complex and realistic, especially those between Keris and Boxx, Keris and Shann, and Shann and Alondo. The romantic relationships, on the other hand, leave a bit to be desired. Oliah’s introduction was too swift and I never felt Alondo’s connection with her; Rael is a whiny little doormat who doesn’t deserve Shann’s affections. (She needs someone with at least as strong a personality as herself.) All the same, I enjoyed this installment of the Lodestone series easily as much as the other two, and with the ending clearly leading into another sequel, I am looking forward to finding out what happens next.

Also posted on BookCrossing.