STORMWAKER

In Cox’s YA fantasy novel, the fourth in a series, two teens must aid an ancient race in defeating the darkness.

After spending time on Earth to mourn the loss of her mother and deal with real-life struggles involving school and family trouble, space-hopping teenager Ambrielle meets up with her crush, Gavian, to travel—using portals to return to the other worlds they’ve visited in the past. When passing through the citadel of Mekkinspire, Ambrielle notices that a legendarily impregnable vault that’s always remained sealed has now been opened, and she and Gavian resolve to track down the responsible party and learn what was removed. Following the trail to a mysterious glade, they discover that an ancient race has started to awaken. Ambrielle finds herself named as the next “awakener” and is joined by Wegin, a small orb and font of information that now acts as her guide. It’s imperative that Ambrielle awaken and gather as many warriors as she can to stop a looming, monstrous threat. As if this task weren’t enough, she and Gavian still need to navigate the other perils of the worlds they visit, including an impending war that might have already taken their friends and allies. The pair struggles to close rifts between worlds while trying to keep a rift from forming between themselves. The author deftly makes the characters feel authentic in their ages: Ambrielle steps up to do what needs to be done, but she still has typical teenage worries, like fretting over whether Gavian still likes her (“Maybe they didn’t have as much in common as she’d thought”) or debating whether to take some of the pretty jewelry she finds to show off to her friends. This is the fourth book in the Bewilderness series; interested readers should read the books in order. The author does a fair job of catching new readers up on the relevant previous adventures, but with so many unfamiliar names of places, people, and objects, readers who start the series with this installment will have an incredibly difficult time keeping up.

A busy YA fantasy novel with a solid story that will bewilder readers unfamiliar with previous series entries.