Rebel Spring by Morgan Rhodes

Published: December 3, 2013

Publisher: Razorbill

Pages: 401

Copy: Library

Summary: Goodreads

Cleo is now a prisoner in her own palace, forced to be an ambassador for Mytica as the evil King Gaius lies to her people.

Magnus stands to eventually inherit the new kingdom but is still obsessed with his feelings for his adopted sister, Lucia.
Lucia is haunted by the outcome of the breathtaking display of magic that allowed her father to capture the kingdoms.
Jonas watched at the palace gates a troop of rebels behind him, waiting for him to tell them how he plans to overtake King Gaius.

After a bloody siege, Auranos has been defeated, its young queen orphaned and dethroned. The three kingdoms—Auranos, Limeros, and Paelsia—are now unwillingly united as one country called Mytica. But the allure of ancient, dangerous magic beckons still, and with it the chance to rule not just Mytica, but the whole world over....

At the heart of the fray are four brave young people grappling for that magic and the power it promises. For Cleo, the magic would enable her to reclaim her royal seat. In Jonas's hands, it frees his nation, and in Lucia's, it fulfills the ancient prophecy of her destiny. And if the magic were Magnus's, he would finally prove his worth in the eyes of his cruel and scheming father, King Gaius, who rules Mytica with a punishing hand.

When Gaius begins to build a road into the Forbidden Mountains to physically link all of Mytica, he sparks a long-smoking fire in the hearts of the people that will forever change the face of this land. For Gaius's road is paved with blood, and its construction will have cosmic consequences.

Review

Rebel Spring is an excellent follow up to Falling Kingdoms.  We continue to follow the intersecting lives of the four main characters (see above) and we learn more about each of them as we go along.  I was completely surprised by my changing opinions of Magnus.  I really wasn't very fond of him to start with, but by the end of this book I had changed my mind.  He's a very complex character and I often felt quite sorry for him.  I'm very interested to see where Ms Rhodes takes him in the final book.

Ms Rhodes has succeeded in producing a complete world in Mytica.  Its three different regions and peoples are all important to the overall plot of the books and it's interesting to note all of the differences she manages to incorporate.

While still very much a 'middle' book, Rebel Spring has enough tension and action in it to keep the story moving along nicely and I am really looking forward to reading Gathering Darkness, which is due out in December. With lots of blood, death, intrigue and action, Rebel Spring was well worth reading.