SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: River of No Return by Annie Bellet

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: River of No Return by Annie Bellet: https://t.co/qoWb847qc1 Short Review: 7.5 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) January 9, 2019

Short Review (cont): The Ninth book in Bellet's Twenty-Sided Sorceress series of short urban fantasy novels marches toward the series' conclusion, setting up plot threads for the finale while still telling a fun solid story. (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) January 9, 2019

River of No Return is the ninth book, out of what will eventually be ten, in Annie Bellet's urban fantasy "The Twenty-Sided Sorceress" series.  This series of short novels is one that I've enjoyed a great deal over the past two years, and this book and its successor (scheduled to be out next week, but there's been so much schedule slippage in this series I'm not holding my breath) are meant to be the series' ultimate conclusion.  As you can imagine from the series name, this is a geek-friendly urban fantasy series in which our heroine is inspired by DnD spells and other pop culture to work her magic, as she tries to protect herself and her friends from the evil forces (particularly her ex-boyfriend) who seek to take advantage of her.

River of No Return is a return to the usual size of these books, which are firmly in the "Long Novella/Really Short Novel" range, after a longer-than-usual Book 8, and it's a solid addition to the series.  We're clearly in wrap-up mode, as the book for the first time since dealing with the series' original big-bad sets up an antagonist whose threat is still left for another book to resolve, but the book is still enjoyable and satisfying in resolution.  I look forward to the conclusion.

Note: Spoilers for Books 1-8 are inevitable.

-------------------------------------------Plot Summary--------------------------------------------
Jade Crow and her friends would just like time to rest.  Her friend, the shifter Ezee, has just gotten married to their druid friend Iollan and she just wants to run her game shop and rebuild her life.

Too bad the forces of the world won't let her.  First, she receives two mysterious packages - a key and a door - from her former nemesis, the evil sorcerer and ex, Samir.  Then two agents of the government show up and ask questions about Samir, a topic Jade definitely doesn't want to discuss.  For unknown to some of Jade's friends, Samir isn't dead, just reduced to a single drop of blood inside her d20 talisman, as eating his heart would potentially cause the end of the world.

But some outside forces seem to know of her secret, and they possess great power.  First, a sorcerer appears to be trying to get into Jade's head to find out where Samir's heart is for some unknown purpose.  And then there's the mysterious First, the member of the Council of Nine once concerned with governing Shifters...and who has gone utterly mad.  Now, the First is marshaling shifters into an army for an unknown purpose and is planning to crush anyone who resists beneath his immense power....including Jade's fellow shifter friends.....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
River of No Return is basically the first of a two part finale for the series, and it feels that way, with the book setting up plot threads throughout that are clearly all going to come to a head in the final book, in addition to the plot threads set up and resolved in this book.  But while I'm usually peeved by books doing this so overtly, River of No Return didn't annoy me despite spending a substantial part of its page-time as setup for the next book.  Perhaps in part that's because this is book 9 of a series I was already invested in.

Alternatively it's because the book still contains the great characters and dialogue/plot-happenings that drew me into the story in the first place.  Jade remains a great heroine, and her supporting cast remains excellent, even as things begin to get bad around them.  A major potential conflict set up last book comes to roost in this book between Jade and her friends, and it works out rather nicely, with a geeky reference being used in the dialogue that amused me quite a bit for example.  Like some of the past few books, we spend a few segments away from Jade's POV - but the story is cohesive and drew me in all the way through.

As you might imagine, this book will not appeal to anyone who hasn't read the prior 8 books in the series, so yeah, don't even bother trying.  And if you didn't love the earlier books in the series, this will certainly not change your mind in the least - if anything it's probably the least focused of the books due to its role in setting up the finale (Book 6 might've been similar, but since I read Book 6 as part of the collection containing books 5-7, I didn't get quite that feeling since I could just go on to Book 7 which tied up all of the loose ends).

In short, River of No Return is more of the same good geeky urban fantasy fun with a sense of foreboding for the conclusion of the series, and you should expect nothing less.  And soon: the conclusion.