The Wait is Over: Calling of Light by Lori M. Lee (Shamanborn book #3 review)

GENRE: YA Fantasy

LENGTH: 339 pages

PLOT This is the final book in the Shamanborn trilogy and sees Sirscha and her allies face off against the Soulless for the final time.

CHARACTERS

The main characters in this book are the same as previous novels; Sirscha, Saengo, Theyen, and Meilek. They remain pretty much unchanged from the previous novel in terms of personalities and relationships. The only major change is that Meilek is adjusting to being king and reuniting a country that has been divided in two.

Theyen is my favorite character from this series. He and Sirscha have a very similar demeanor and I adore their friendship. While Sirscha is the main character, Theyen is the one always swooping in to rescue everyone so he's the real MVP in my opinion.

It's nice to see the completion of Sirscha's arc - from someone desperately striving to prove herself to someone confident in her own value. She makes a comment in this novel about not being a hero but I disagree. Her journey started out selfishly in that she was out for herself and Saengo alone. Saving Saengo remains the most important thing to her throughout the series, but even still her actions in this book are much more selfless.

The core of the series is the sisterhood between Sirscha and Saengo and in general a found family between Sircsha and the other characters. There is no romance at all in any of the three books which surprised me somewhat. In books one and two I thought for sure Lee was setting up potential romances between Sirscha and either Theyen or Meilek, but their relationships remain platonic. This isn't a negative thing; I prefer found family stories to romance anyway; but I know a lot of people like for their fantasy books to have romances at their center. Otherwise, the fantasy romance genre wouldn't be so popular.

The series antagonist, the Soulless, is also much the same as he was in the previous novel. He's a tragic villain who was abused by his country and became consumed by revenge. His archetype isn't unique, but I appreciate how his past makes him sympathetic. I also find his dynamic with Sirscha in books two and three to be the most complex in the series. I mentioned in my review of the second book that in another life he would be like a mentor to her and in this book in a way he becomes that.

WRITING

As with previous novels in this series, this one is told from the third person perspective of Sirscha. As it is the final book in the series there isn't a lot of world building to speak of (nor should there be). There is something mentioned in the second book that I correctly assumed was foreshadowing as it becomes a central plot point in the battle between Sirscha and the Soulless.

Speaking of the Soulless, the only 'world building' we get in this novel is the expansion of his powers as he regains his full strength. The Soulless doesn't pose all that much of a threat in book two due to how weakened he was. In this book, however, we get the full scope of his magic and it is horrifying.

I liked how Lee addressed the tensions between the humans and the shamanborn after the shamanborn have been released from their imprisonment by Meilek. It's not a main plot point, but I think it was a necessary one. Two things I was very upset by, though, were how both Kendara's backstory and the fall of the Yalaeng empire were both glossed over. They are addressed just very briefly. There's so much potential there. If Lee ever wants to write either Kendara's origin story or the history of the Yalaeng family she'd have ample already established lore to base it on. I would be one of the first to pick it up if she does.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This book has very few reviews and I think that's because A) it's the third book in a series and B) there was a three year gap between books two and three. While there are people like me who read YA fantasy even when they're older, the fact of the matter is the main demographic for this series could have easily aged out of their interest by the time this book was published. I am baffled by how Lee's publisher fumbled like this.

This finale didn't give me everything I wanted after such a long wait, but that doesn't mean I think it's a weak final book. I was satisfied with the fates of all the characters and there were some super strong scenes within the novel.

FINAL RATING: 4⭐️