Out Of Darkness: The Starborn Saga: Book One (Volume 1)
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Romance
Book Type: Paperback
****WARNING!!! THERE ARE SPOILERS IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE FIRST 3 BOOKS*****
Out of Darkness begins 57 years after the Starborn Ascension series. We begin with Mora who is seeking help for her small town of Springhill that is under constant threat of attack from grayskins. She has a grandmother who is unnamed but I get two guesses who she likely is. We also have her brother Jake who is unseen.
She has grown tired of the constant threat and thinks it's time to travel to Screven for assistance. The costs are high, all colonies must give the town of Screven 80% of all they grow or make. In exchange for this high fee is complete guard assistance to fight the grayskins (who were created by Jeremiah to begin with.) Of course she doesn't know this so she goes out by herself.
The story begins just as Mora runs out of fuel. She is in a ghost town looking for anything to help when she is attacked by the vile creatures. She runs the only direction that is available, up. While on top of this building and out of ammunition she finds a power she never knew she had and didn't even think was possible. While I think I know who her grandmother is I find it odd that she is never told about Starborns and the powers that some have in their blood.
She is eventually helped by a guy named Connor. He is from a town called Salem. Salem is under Screven protection and is therefore run by Jeremiah. There are a lot of rules to keep everyone powerless and under his thumb. There are the wrist bracelets that keep track of everyone. Each person is given a shack to live in with just enough food to survive, They have curfews and can't leave the town without permission. If they are given a pass to leave, they have 7 days from the time they are due back before they are declared dead and are banished forever. Unplanned pregnancies are not allowed, though it is stated that it has happened but not the punishment. This is part of the severe population control. The town population is at 20,000 and no new people are allowed unless someone dies. The reason given is it costs a lot for Jeremiah to keep these people fed and protected and he would rather have the money for his capital city of Screven.
When Mora is snuck through the gates in the back of Conner's truck and into his shack she's given a couch to sleep on. The next morning he has to go to a meeting and leaves a note not to leave the house, but she's hungry, so what's a girl who's starved her whole live to do? She sees an elderly lady down the street behind a fruit stand. She thinks, I'll be ok, I'll just ask the lady for a handout. In a way it made me mad but in another way it was awesome to see Evie aka Evelyn again. Although she's no longer 3, she's now 60!
She offers Mora some food and instantly "knows" that Mora is the one she's been waiting for. The new leader of the Starborn Uprising. She is discovered later by the guards and is lead out on a hunt for missing townsfolk one of whom turns out to be Connor's own brother Aaron.
Later on bad things happen and Mora knows the only way to stop it, her new power. She isn't told that Jeremiah once hunted and studied Starborns. So when the grayskins attack she uses her power and word gets back to Jeremiah, who grants her a meeting.
But we also discover more Starborns. Will Aaron, Danny, Heather, Christopher and Evelyn be strong enough to overthrow Jeremiah and his armies? Will Mora lead them to victory? Not if she has anything to do with it. She wants nothing to do with this. She doesn't know how bad Screven and their leader is. All she knows is she wants her brother and grandmother safe and she thinks the strict rules are a small price to pay for sleeping soundly.
Connor may agree with her but Aaron thinks she needs to speak to Evelyn more before making up her mind. Of course before she can talk to Evelyn she is taken to Screven to meet with Jeremiah. The town has a population of over 100,000 and doesn't seem to have the hardships of Springhill or even Salem. The people are described as fat and happy. I can't help but make the 'westerners are lazy' leap that most authors want to beat into our heads.
She agrees to Jeremiah's plans and he agrees to send guards to Springhill. But is the cost too high. Once you agree to ally with Screven can you ever say no? If he's so powerful, why are there still grayskins 50 years after the original outbreak? Once she gets back she learns with her special new gifts the kind of man Jeremaih truly is. She learns that freedom may not be free and some things are too good to be true.
I know it's a Segway into the next two books and while I enjoyed seeing Evie all grown up, there is so much left out that I long for more details. The other thing that I didn't so much like is the love triangle. While there is no sex in these books I hate that he had to go there. Now instead off a fight between good, evil and undead, we have to deal with jealous bickering. I get it, the girls a teenager and she's away from home alone for the first time ever but does she have to fall in love with brothers? Oh well, I still liked it way more the the other series I finished recently. I have no idea what kind/color of shoes this girl is wearing and I don't care. (People who have read my other reviews will know exactly what I'm talking about.)
This book is an excellent and quick read, although I would recommend reading the first series before this one. They can be read Independantly but you won't know as much and the post apocalyptic world the author created is worth the short amount off time it takes to read the first 3 books. I'm off to read the next one!
Out of Darkness begins 57 years after the Starborn Ascension series. We begin with Mora who is seeking help for her small town of Springhill that is under constant threat of attack from grayskins. She has a grandmother who is unnamed but I get two guesses who she likely is. We also have her brother Jake who is unseen.
She has grown tired of the constant threat and thinks it's time to travel to Screven for assistance. The costs are high, all colonies must give the town of Screven 80% of all they grow or make. In exchange for this high fee is complete guard assistance to fight the grayskins (who were created by Jeremiah to begin with.) Of course she doesn't know this so she goes out by herself.
The story begins just as Mora runs out of fuel. She is in a ghost town looking for anything to help when she is attacked by the vile creatures. She runs the only direction that is available, up. While on top of this building and out of ammunition she finds a power she never knew she had and didn't even think was possible. While I think I know who her grandmother is I find it odd that she is never told about Starborns and the powers that some have in their blood.
She is eventually helped by a guy named Connor. He is from a town called Salem. Salem is under Screven protection and is therefore run by Jeremiah. There are a lot of rules to keep everyone powerless and under his thumb. There are the wrist bracelets that keep track of everyone. Each person is given a shack to live in with just enough food to survive, They have curfews and can't leave the town without permission. If they are given a pass to leave, they have 7 days from the time they are due back before they are declared dead and are banished forever. Unplanned pregnancies are not allowed, though it is stated that it has happened but not the punishment. This is part of the severe population control. The town population is at 20,000 and no new people are allowed unless someone dies. The reason given is it costs a lot for Jeremiah to keep these people fed and protected and he would rather have the money for his capital city of Screven.
When Mora is snuck through the gates in the back of Conner's truck and into his shack she's given a couch to sleep on. The next morning he has to go to a meeting and leaves a note not to leave the house, but she's hungry, so what's a girl who's starved her whole live to do? She sees an elderly lady down the street behind a fruit stand. She thinks, I'll be ok, I'll just ask the lady for a handout. In a way it made me mad but in another way it was awesome to see Evie aka Evelyn again. Although she's no longer 3, she's now 60!
She offers Mora some food and instantly "knows" that Mora is the one she's been waiting for. The new leader of the Starborn Uprising. She is discovered later by the guards and is lead out on a hunt for missing townsfolk one of whom turns out to be Connor's own brother Aaron.
Later on bad things happen and Mora knows the only way to stop it, her new power. She isn't told that Jeremiah once hunted and studied Starborns. So when the grayskins attack she uses her power and word gets back to Jeremiah, who grants her a meeting.
But we also discover more Starborns. Will Aaron, Danny, Heather, Christopher and Evelyn be strong enough to overthrow Jeremiah and his armies? Will Mora lead them to victory? Not if she has anything to do with it. She wants nothing to do with this. She doesn't know how bad Screven and their leader is. All she knows is she wants her brother and grandmother safe and she thinks the strict rules are a small price to pay for sleeping soundly.
Connor may agree with her but Aaron thinks she needs to speak to Evelyn more before making up her mind. Of course before she can talk to Evelyn she is taken to Screven to meet with Jeremiah. The town has a population of over 100,000 and doesn't seem to have the hardships of Springhill or even Salem. The people are described as fat and happy. I can't help but make the 'westerners are lazy' leap that most authors want to beat into our heads.
She agrees to Jeremiah's plans and he agrees to send guards to Springhill. But is the cost too high. Once you agree to ally with Screven can you ever say no? If he's so powerful, why are there still grayskins 50 years after the original outbreak? Once she gets back she learns with her special new gifts the kind of man Jeremaih truly is. She learns that freedom may not be free and some things are too good to be true.
I know it's a Segway into the next two books and while I enjoyed seeing Evie all grown up, there is so much left out that I long for more details. The other thing that I didn't so much like is the love triangle. While there is no sex in these books I hate that he had to go there. Now instead off a fight between good, evil and undead, we have to deal with jealous bickering. I get it, the girls a teenager and she's away from home alone for the first time ever but does she have to fall in love with brothers? Oh well, I still liked it way more the the other series I finished recently. I have no idea what kind/color of shoes this girl is wearing and I don't care. (People who have read my other reviews will know exactly what I'm talking about.)
This book is an excellent and quick read, although I would recommend reading the first series before this one. They can be read Independantly but you won't know as much and the post apocalyptic world the author created is worth the short amount off time it takes to read the first 3 books. I'm off to read the next one!
