The Sky Weaver Trilogy by Kristen Ciccarelli (Reviews by Caitlin Winkler)

The Last Namsara (Book #1)
Rating 4.5/5 stars

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli, Book 1 of the Iksari series, was an amazing fantasy novel, and frankly I’m shocked it hasn’t received more of a presence in the young adult fantasy realm of reading. I enjoyed every single thing about this story and was absolutely entranced by the world-building and the characters, specifically the powerful heroine, Asha. Asha, daughter of the King of Firgaard, has grown up listening to the forbidden stories of the Namsara, child of sky and spirit, and the Iskari, child of blood and moonlight. But what if these stories, which she has grown up being told are dangerous, have a whole different meaning that she ever expected. Being the fiercest dragon hunter in the land leaves her quite lonely, but what if there is more to life then she realizes? The twists and turns in this book were so thrilling and I want you all to have that experience, so this will be the extent of the details I give J Honestly, this book has it all; love, adventure, action, revenge, DRAGONS, betrayal…did I mention Dragons!! I cannot wait to dive into the second of this series and look forward to posting my review once completing “The Caged Queen”.

The Caged Queen (Book #2)
Rating 4.5/5 stars

I love when a second (or really any after the first) book in a series is as good if not better than the first! That is how I know it is a truly good story and not just a lucky first novel. “The Caged Queen” is absolutely fantastic for so many reasons. The Iskari series consists of, at the time of this review, three books that are referred to by the author as “companion novels”. This is a perfect description as, although this is a series in that the events carry over and it moves in linear timeline, each book has a different narrator! I can’t explain why that specific detail made me so excited, but it really did.

In “The Caged Queen” we meet Roa, wife to Asha’s sister Dax, following the events that occurred in the first book, “The Last Namsara”. Roa is fighting for her people to get the aid they sorely need and the restrictions placed on them long ago. The only problem is that Roa still harbors hatred for Dax over the loss of her sister Essie. When an opening is offered to save her sister, but at a steep cost to those around her, what will Roa choose?

Having read the first book in this series, and now finishing the second, I recognize that a central theme is, things are not always as they seem. I absolutely loved this story and found myself outraged and cheering in turn for the same characters, which really shows just how great of a writer Kristen Ciccarelli is. Pick up this series! You will not be disappointed!

The Sky Weaver (Book #3)
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
What a fantastic series! Having the opportunity to read all three books, that are currently released and available, I have to say that this has quickly become one of my favorite fantasy series. The Sky Weaver, like the two novels before it, focuses on a different main character that guides the story while still incorporating previous characters (Dax, Roa, Asha, and Torwin) and a timeline following the events of the previous novel. I never knew how much I would enjoy that style of writing until reading these.

Safire, cousin to King Dax and the Namsara Asha, is being plagued with an uncatchable thief named the Death Dancer who is making it past her security measures as if she can travel through air. Eris, a deadly pirate, has more to her story than meets the eye. When Safire and Eris meet on a similar mission, but with contradictory aims, they will learn more about themselves and each other that may cause them to revaluate everything they have known.
This being the third book in the series, I have learned that Kristen Ciccarelli is a master at writing books where the plot you think actually becomes a completely different story. Her character development and the details she includes that make us human allows her characters to take on a real quality that makes you feel the emotions, in my opinion. I cannot recommend this series enough! Read them…you will thank me J