The Sorcerer’s Revenge

Maeve’s training to become a seer and a druid are not yet finished. After foiling Queen Ailsa’s evil plans again, Maeve is sent to Riasc Tiarna, the great red dragon, to learn the art of mind talking. While Maeve would rather return to the druid camp to see her mentor, Bradan, whose health is failing, she dutifully goes to learn from the cantankerous old dragon. While training with Riasc Tiarna, Maeve encounters an angry and powerful sorcerer in her mind, someone who is nearly able to overpower her. But before anything can come of this encounter, Maeve is summoned to King Redmond’s castle to advise him once again. Maeve’s friend Declan accompanies her to the castle where she and the King meet with the imprisoned Queen Ailsa, someone for whom the King still cares. Despite advising the King to not release her, Maeve doubts that he will listen to her. Having done her best to advise the King, Maeve and Declan journey back to the druid camp.

Now having learned how to mind talk, Maeve reaches out to Bradan to discuss what happened at the castle. During this conversation, Bradan reveals that the sorcerer Maeve met while training is actually her father, Bran. When Bradan hid Maeve from the Queen, he let Bran think that she perished alongside her mother, Ciara. Bradan tells Maeve that Bran now knows his child survived and is travelling across the Eastern Sea to meet her; however, he does not know that Maeve is his daughter. As such, when Declan and Maeve discover an enchanted mist on their journey back to the druid camp, Maeve instinctively knows that it is Bran’s work. She bravely goes to meet him and convince him that she is his daughter, a task that is harder than it seems due to Bran’s dangerous temper and powerful sorcery. Maeve is able to convince Bran that she is his daughter, but not without Bran’s hurting her in his rage. Despite this, the three druids travel back to the camp together.

Once they reach the camp, Maeve is happy to see Bradan and the other druids. However, they are unable to stay for long because when Maeve has a dream about Queen Ailsa escaping, she knows that she must travel to the King and warn him. Once again, Maeve, Declan, and Bran set out to the castle, but Maeve is wary of Bran, knowing that he wants revenge on Queen Ailsa for killing Ciara. On their journey, Maeve, Bran, and Declan are captured by the escaped Queen and her brother. Maeve must use all her skills and wits that she has learned to stop the siblings from overthrowing King Redmond and killing her in the process. But, can she trust Bran to help, or will he be consumed by vengeance?

In the final installment in “The Seer Trilogy”, Maeve’s coming-of-age story continues and concludes. In the first book, The Druid and the Dragon, Maeve discovered the truth about herself; in the second, The Bridge of Whispers, she learned about her mother’s death, and, finally, in this novel Maeve meets her father. Throughout the trilogy, Maeve learns, grows, and develops through gaining insight about herself and her broken family’s past. While each book tells a complete story and offers a conclusion to the events in that novel, the progression of Maeve’s journey and self-discovery is well-crafted and executed by Butcher. This book is no exception from the others, with Maeve’s learning more about her past, meeting her father, and training to learn more about the magic within her.

Furthermore, the magic presented in this book is some of the most engaging and interesting magic that has been shown in the entire series. The story of how Bran became a sorcerer and the passages where he uses his magic are captivating and feel, for lack of a better term, magical. Not only is Bran’s powerful sorcery extremely interesting to read about, but the mind talking and the description of how mind talkers use their abilities and protect themselves are thoughtful and alluring. Butcher expertly paints a picture of how mind talkers build walls in their minds to protect themselves from others, and each wall is different. The descriptions of these walls are correlated to each character, giving more insight into that character.

The Sorcerer’s Revenge is an exciting and satisfying conclusion to “The Seer Trilogy”. Butcher expertly weaves her tale and ties all the loose ends up for readers, leaving Maeve’s story with a sense of closure and happiness. Fans of the earlier installments will excitedly consume the last bit of Maeve’s adventure with her dragon and druid friends.