By: Jason Denzel
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: TOR Books
WARNING: There will be spoilers for Mystic and Mystic Dragon
Mystic Skies is the final book in Jason Denzel’s fantasy series, The Mystic Trilogy. On the whole, this series was an average fantasy read. This final installment left me with more questions and it was a very unsatisfying end to the trilogy. Mystic Skies picks 54 years after the end of Mystic Dragon, where Pomella united the human and fae world. It is a decision she doesn’t regret, yet I didn’t fathom how it was good. Because of what she did, many human children are born with both fae and human characteristics. The Mystics are blamed and are kept virtual prisoners at Kelt Apar, under constant watch. Pomella married Tibron, which was not a surprise, and they had a daughter. She now has a granddaughter, Mia, who lives with her and is training to become a Mystic. There is a looming threat to the Mystics and Kelt Apar. Yarina, the High Mystic dies, and Vivianna is to take over. The ceremony goes wrong, leaving Vivianna in a comatose-like state, and no High Mystic. If there is no High Mystic, Kelt Apar is vulnerable to dangerous forces, and it is up to Pomella to save it.
A large part of my problem with the book is that Pomella’s life during these intervening years is told as she Mystwalks back through her life. While it’s not exactly flashbacks, it was a clever way to show her life. However, I was unsatisfied with these short glimpses and wanted to know more. The threat to Kelt Apar was foremost in her mind, so while I understood these brief glimpses, I didn’t like how her life was portrayed in this way.
I wanted to know more about her life with Tibron as he has passed away before this book. She loves him very much and they had a daughter. I couldn’t help but want to see what their life was like together. They were seemingly happy as she Mystwalk, but we only see a small mirror of them them together and I wanted to see her happiness. Their daughter, Harmona, did not want to be a Mystic. However, Pomella and Tibron were loving parents and she was not angry that her daughter didn’t want to stay at Kelt Apar. Her daughter is estranged and has not seen her mother for 25 years. She holds a grudge. Why? Why for that long? It was never fully explained, and we simply get peek at this that doesn’t fully explain it.
As Pomella goes back through her life, in the “present”, Mia is also trying to deal with the threat. She doesn’t speak, though she is capable of it. She only speaks to her brother, Rion, who no one but her can see. He’s hard to figure out as to exactly what he is. Rion seems to be part fae, and helps Mia quite a bit when she gets into trouble. Why can no one else see him? Especially Pomella, given how powerful she is. If she does see him, we are not privy to it. Mia is born with no fae characteristics, which is rare since the uniting of the two worlds. Rion was another mystery I would have liked to know more about. We do see him through him Mia’s eyes, but there too much that is unknown surrounding how he fit into this family.
There were elements that worked for me. Mr. Denzel writes very well, even though I didn’t connect with this series. The Mystwalking, rather than flashbacks, was a very unique way of looking at the past. I’m simply not fond of stories told this way, unless I get details of the characters’ lives. While I realize why it was done, I was still left with too many questions. I do think the characters were well-developed, but I cannot say that they were memorable. They didn’t “stay” with me once I finished the series as many other characters in fantasy do. The narrative was excellent, told in the third person of the characters and the pacing was fine as Mr. Denzel laid out the story.
I will say that Mystic Skies, and the Mystic Series is a good and decent fantasy that I am sure other readers will certainly connect with. As an honest review, it is simply my own opinion that some elements worked, while many others did not. The ones that didn’t work gave me trouble to be fully immersed in the story and the characters. I was unsatisfied with how the story ended and I wanted to know more. I would definitely try another series by Mr. Denzel because he does write very well and lays out his story with excellent pacing. I will still recommend Mystic Skies because there I know there are readers who will love it.
Summary (from NetGalley)
The world is Changed.
Fifty-four years have passed since Crow Tallin, the catastrophic celestial event that merged Fayün and the human world. One devastating result of that cataclysm is that most human babies are born fused with fay spirits. The Mystics of Kelt Apar, once beloved, are blamed for this worldwide phenomenon.
On the island of Moth, the Barons have declared the Myst illegal and imprisoned all Mystics under house arrest. Under the watchful eyes of deadly Hunters, a much-older Pomella AnDone now lives as a prisoner at Kelt Apar with her granddaughter and apprentice Mia, as well as the rapidly declining High Mystic of Moth, Yarina Sineese.
When the time comes to conduct the ceremony intended to pass the title of High Mystic from Yarina to her successor Vivianna, something goes horribly wrong, leaving the lineage of Mystics in doubt.
With new rivals seeking to claim Moth for their own, Pomella must undergo a dangerous dreamwalk into the mind-bending and heart-wrenching Mystic Skies in order to learn the mystical name of the island itself.
In this epic conclusion to Jason Denzel’s The Mystic Trilogy, which spans decades and timeless realms and dreams, Pomella must confront her greatest and most personal challenge yet. For the Deep mysteries of the world will reveal themselves only to the most powerful and dedicated of Mystics.
My sincere thanks to Tor Book for approving an ARC and NetGalley for providing me with eBook of Mystic Skies.
Learn more about Jason Denzel on his website: https://jasondenzel.com/
Purchase Mystic Skies on Amazon
