Redheaded Reviews: The Vanishing Throne: Book Two of the Falconer Trilogy by Elizabeth May

When we left Ailena Kameron she was trying to close the seal and Kiaran was lying down on the ground possibly dead. Sorcha got into her mind and made her remember her mother's death and she was distracted by Kieran as well and stopped working on the seal and didn't close it. Lonnrach, instead of killing her, takes her to Sith-bhruth, or what was once the Unseelie Kingdom. He wants her to see that the kingdom is falling apart and needs to be saved. That the reason he destroyed her world was to save his own.

He needs a relic of some sort in order to take over the throne of both the Seelie and Unseelie Kingdoms. The Cailleach who is the current ruler hasn't been seen in thousands of years. She left her children in charge of the Kingdoms and Lonnrach does not believe them worthy to hold the throne. He thinks that Derrick, her little pixie friend, and Kiaran might have mentioned something about it while she was around without her realizing it. So he puts her in a room with mirrors and vines that hold her down and he bites her with his razor sharp teeth and injects his venom into her blood and sees into her memories. Eventually, she is too weak to fight him, not that it matters. Oddly he looks into her memories before she became aware of the fae. He very nearly breaks her will.

Then one day after about two months in fairy land has passed she sees Kiaran in the room which is impossible since he can't enter fairy land upon threat of death. But Kiaran is there in spirit form only. His body is back in Scotland. He tells her his sister Aithinne has broken down the wards holding her in there and to go through the mirror and she will find her on the other side. She does and meets the odd Aithinne. They have a very difficult time getting out of fairy land and when she does she finds out she's been gone for three human years.

Gavin and Catherine are both alive if different now. Three years of running for their lives and fighting the fae have changed them. Aithinne takes Ailena to the new compound that Derrik has set up on his home of Skye where the pixies used to live before it was destroyed. Here some of the fae and the humans live together under a truce. The fae goes out and gets food for the humans who can't leave and they agree to not harm a human as long as they stay on the human side of the compound. But if a human enters the fae side of the compound they are fair game. And the fae does their best to entice the humans to walk through the door.

Lonnrach, however, is looking for Ailena because he needs her powers as a Falconer to open this relic. She is putting the people there in danger by being there. But Lonnrach isn't searching the area just for her but also for the relic. They are surprisingly getting help from Sorcha which is suspicious. What is her angle? It would help if Ailena was in her full powers but she isn't and doesn't know how to reach them.

This book is a worthy sequel to the first book. It really hikes up the thrills when Ailena escapes Lonnrach and the tension felt when she goes into the human compound and is distrusted by many, including Gavin. It delves into matters of psychological and physical torture and how you handle it. Ailena isn't the only one who has been tortured. Aithinne was held inside the prison beneath the seal with the other fae who blamed her. Lonnrach, in particular, enjoyed torturing her. Ailena also deals with her guilt over failing to save the world and what has happened to it because of her failure. I really cannot recommend this book enough. It kept me up late at night reading it. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in this trilogy.

Quotes

“You didn’t die. See? I told you it was easy.” “I’ve been bitten by some demonic woodland creature. My legs have been shredded by razor-sharp trees. We almost died. Easy? I’m getting you a damn dictionary.”

-Elizabeth May (The Vanishing Throne p 64)

The truth is, memories weigh a great deal. Each one bends your bones a little more until the heft of them wears you down. Now I know that some scars go so deep that they never fade.

-Elizabeth May (The Vanishing Throne p 114)

“He’s so handsome, but not too bright,” she says fondly, as if he were a pet. “And he still hasn’t learned never to underestimate a woman with a sword and a firearm.”

-Elizabeth May (The Vanishing Throne p 245)

My sister not by blood but by bond. Aren’t those the best kind of sisters, anyway?

-Elizabeth May (The Vanishing Throne p 427)