Deathcaster: Shattered Realms, Book 4
By Carrie R. Wheadon,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Exciting finale has battles, spies, romance, magic, dragons.
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What you will—and won't—find in this book.
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Based on 1 parent review
It was amazing and filled with action
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What's the Story?
In DEATHCASTER, Ash heads to Celesgarde to rescue his sister, Queen Lyss, who's a prisoner of Queen Celestine and a forced commander of her blood-sworn troops. So much goes wrong aboard Ash's ship that he fears he won't get to Lyss before Celestine sails to the mainland to destroy more cities in the realms. First, Captain Devilliers stages a standoff with pirate Evan Strangward -- too bad for the captain that Evan can control the weather. Second, one of Ash's trusted friends sets fire to their own ship in battle. Meanwhile, Jenna's hiding out in the Dragonback Mountains with her dragon friend when she has curious encounters: with Queen Lyss, out for a training run; and with a nest of orphaned baby dragons. In Arden, the young and arrogant King Jarat insists it's time to march north to claim the Queendom of the Fells. He shouldn't have left his palace unprotected, or his army unpaid, or his thanes disgruntled, or his best general -- Hal Matelon -- without something to do. First Hal claims the palace, and next, he heads north with his own army to defeat Jarat and Queen Celestine's forces, and save Queen Lyss' kingdom.
Is It Any Good?
This hefty warring-realms finale mostly satisfies as it brings on the battles, dragons, romantic reunions, and palace intrigue. Mostly satisfies, because the story goes so broad -- across all the realms, with so many characters in play now -- that it can't go very deep. In Flamecaster, the focus is Ash and Jenna and what will happen to both. In Shadowcaster, it's Lyss and Hal. In Stormcaster, it's Evan and Destin. They're all trying to reunite in Deathcaster, and, except for Hal not understanding what his role is in Lyss' life now that she's queen, the only complication in these relationships is that the couples are forced apart and want to be together, and the reader doesn't know when that will happen in the story (but will they hurry up already, we've been waiting for hundreds of pages).
The complex character of Lila Byrne gets more focus in this story, but we don't see how her life ends up -- maybe in another spin-off series? She is, however, at the center of some great palace intrigue, starting with not one, but two palace weddings going awry. And there are poisonings and castle sieges and networks of spies and traitors all in the mix, making this big finale a real page-turner.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the magemarked in Deathcaster. How are the characters alike? What does Celestine want with them? How do they find out?
Ash connects with the dead in this book. How? What is the danger of this encounter? What other books cross the line between life and death? What are usually the consequences?
Are you satisfied with the way the series ended? Do you want another spin-off series from the realms? What characters would you like to see in it?
Book Details
- Author: Cinda Williams Chima
- Genre: Fantasy
- Topics: Magic and Fantasy, Princesses, Fairies, Mermaids, and More, Adventures, Brothers and Sisters, Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires, Pirates
- Book type: Fiction
- Publisher: HarperTeen
- Publication date: March 5, 2019
- Number of pages: 656
- Available on: Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, iBooks, Kindle
- Last updated: March 5, 2019
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