Review: Dead Embers by T.G. Ayer

Title: Dead Embers
Author: T.G. Ayer
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Evolved Publishing
Publish Date: August 31, 2012 (Today!)
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a young adult fiction fan.
• You're a mythology fan.

What's the Story:

From Goodreads.com: "Valkyrie-in-training Bryn Halbrook just can't catch a break. With her boyfriend stuck in Hel and the taunting laughter of Loki still ringing in her ears, she struggles to concentrate on her training and duties in Odin's realm. The last thing she expects or wants is more adventure—but then treachery, a shocking abduction and a chilling discovery send her forth on another perilous, globe-hopping mission.

As the ultimate battle, Ragnarok, draws closer, it's a race against time for Bryn, Fenrir and their team to discover who kidnapped her foster brother from the halls of Asgard and what's causing the mysterious deaths of so many of Odin's chosen warriors.

In the exciting sequel to DEAD RADIANCE, Bryn encounters dwarfs and dragons, new friends and old foes—but worst enemy of all may be the person she trusts most!"

My Two Cents:

Earlier this summer, I read Dead Radiance, the first book in the Valkyrie series and loved it. So I was very excited to get to read Dead Embers! This book did not disappoint! While I liked it a tiny bit less (but not much, I really had a hard time deciding whether to give this book a 4.5 or a 4) than Dead Radiance, I thought this book was a great follow up to the first book.

Again, one of the things that I loved about this book is the mythology. It's just so cool. I don't know much at all about Viking mythology but this sort of gives you a crash course and it definitely made me want to learn more about this world. A lot of different gods and creatures make an appearance in the book. This book does a good job of showing what all of the different gods and creatures can do instead of making the book feel like a sort of primer on Viking mythology, which I appreciated. It certainly made the book a lot more interesting!

Bryn, the main character, is pretty awesome in this book. She finally has a good understanding about what's going on and who she is and who she was. She's diving in to become a full fledged warrior or rather a Valkyrie. A lot of the story is about her training.

I actually liked the second part of the book a little better. It was a little more interesting to see how some of the scenarios from the first book were sorted out and in some cases, not so sorted out. I did wish more of this had come towards the middle of the book rather than the end.

As with the first book, this book ends with a major cliffhanger and again, I'm sort of devastated that I have to wait awhile for the next book. Life is not fair.