The World Awakening is the finale to Dan Koboldt’s Gateways to Alissia trilogy, which started with The Rogue Retrieval (review) and continued with The Island Deception (review). The third book always has the biggest task in any trilogy – it needs to deliver a grand yet satisfying conclusion to the series, all the while tying up any loose ends floating about. Fortunately Koboldt manages to hit almost all the right notes as our time on Alissia comes to a close…
Quinn Bradley has learned to use the magic of another world.
And that world is in danger.
Having decided to betray CASE Global, he can finally reveal his origins to the Enclave and warn them about the company’s imminent invasion. Even if it means alienating Jillaine . . . and allying with someone he’s always considered his adversary.
But war makes for strange bedfellows, and uniting Alissians against such a powerful enemy will require ancient enmities—as well as more recent antagonisms—to be set aside. The future of their pristine world depends on it.
As Quinn searches for a way to turn the tide, his former CASE Global squadmates face difficult decisions of their own. For some, it’s a matter of what they’re willing to do to get home. For others, it’s deciding whether they want to go home at all.
With the groundwork laid in the previous novels, and events left in a very precarious position at the end of The Island Deception with the Alissian portal now at the centre of a CASE Global beachhead, The World Awakening wastes no time in getting straight to the nitty gritty.
The initial group sent though with Quinn – Logan, Kira, Mendez, and Chaudri – are now separated, for good or ill. Quinn is travelling, having placed his loyalty firmly in the corner of the Enclave and its magicians; Logan and Mendez are together and still following CASE Global’s orders through Kira as and when they check in via communications; Kira, meanwhile, is busy planning and preparing for a full scale incursion to take out Richard Holt, defector and Valerian Prime; and Veena Chaudri finds herself with Holt, and working towards strengthening Valeria’s position before the inevitable hostilities.
It’s easy to see where events are going in The World Awakening, though how they get there is the meat of the story. It’s also somewhat surprising to see a clearly superior force in CASE Global not utilising all at their disposal. The technology ban is still (mostly) in effect, but the communication link between all forces spread through Alissia is their main strength against Holt and his allies. With some manoeuvring on the part of Holt and Chaudri we see some much-needed cooperation between the nations of Alissia, though the true reason behind such concessions is still kept relatively quiet, only those needing to know given all the information. It is, however, refreshing to see the truth come out to at least some of the natives, and this itself leads to a very interesting reveal…
Ultimately, a story can succeed or not based on its characters, and Kobodlt absolutely nails them here. Quinn is his ever-charming (at least to his mind) self, and his growth as a true magician continues nicely, while his interactions with members of both Holt’s inner circle and the Enclave’s members is refreshing. Logan is perhaps my favourite here though, his struggle with questionable orders always coming through despite his devotion and loyalty to CASE Global. Mendez, Chaudri, and Kira are much as they were in previous novels, though Kira’s obsession with the goal gradually grows to the point of clearly hindering her effectiveness. There’s a lot to like about all the secondary and minor characters too, and it certainly left me wanting more from them despite their short page time.
That brings me to my only real issue once I’d finished: I wanted more. Not necessarily more stories in this setting (though I’d happily devour them), but more detail and examination during these events. I wanted to know more of the cultures outside of Valeria, of the dynamic across the whole of Alissia, but the nature of this series means it is tightly focused on what is needed, not always giving more of what is wanted.
The World Awakening is a great conclusion to what is a very readable and highly enjoyable series. Characters that are more than the sum of their parts, a world that has so much to offer, and a story that races along apace – the Gateways to Alissia books have it all. Not perfect, but such fun and enjoyable reads. Recommended.
Publisher: Harper Voyager Impulse
Author: Dan Koboldt
April 2018, 448 Pages
Paperback, ISBN: 9780062659118
Review copy received from the publisher
© 2018 Mark Chitty | @chitman13
