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gnashchick's review against another edition
4.0
Delighted with the conclusion to this series. The trilogy had just enough of all the right ingredients to make me keep reading way past my bedtime. The steampunk airships, fantastic creatures, romantic interludes and dramatic fights were pure fun to read. I also enjoyed the alt-history setting. Will certainly read more of her work.
kblincoln's review against another edition
5.0
The thing about Cato's Blood of Earth series (this is the third/finale) is that she manages to take really important ethical questions about race and the use of power in wartime, and turn it into an adventurous, romantic tale with flying airships and seven-tailed foxes.
The first book in this series like catnip for me: alternate WWII history, a lovely, sweet romance, cross-dressing, mixed raced heroine, Japanese myths, and California/Oregon location.
While the locations of Hawaii and desert California aren't catnip for me, there is a time in the book where Ingrid yearns for the cool, misty green of the California Central Coast, and it tugged at my memories of doing my MA in Monterey. And she also manages to make finding bread, jamu-pan, and other baked delicacies into an integral part of the story--which I just love.
And on top of all that, Roar of Sky features Ingrid and Cy doing two remarkable things you don't often find in either Urban Fantasy or Steampunk: adventuring with a disability in a realistic way that impacts the adventure and maintaining a sweet romance wherein the Beta Male does NOT try to rein in the more powerful woman by trying to protect (cage) her or extract promises of being careful or not going on missions.
Ingrid's legs are messed up because of actions she took in the second book. She has leg pains and spasms, she can't really climb ladders, and this fact is not glossed over or forgotten during the action. She even has rash and soreness from the braces Cy constructs for her.
Ingrid and Cy fly around, connect up with lost loved ones, confront Theodore Roosevelt's agenda, and confront the terrible and powerful Ambassador Blum. There is a satisfying ending that ties up loose threads. I sometimes don't make it to the third book in a trilogy if the second one is too slow. But this one would be a sad one to miss.
The first book in this series like catnip for me: alternate WWII history, a lovely, sweet romance, cross-dressing, mixed raced heroine, Japanese myths, and California/Oregon location.
While the locations of Hawaii and desert California aren't catnip for me, there is a time in the book where Ingrid yearns for the cool, misty green of the California Central Coast, and it tugged at my memories of doing my MA in Monterey. And she also manages to make finding bread, jamu-pan, and other baked delicacies into an integral part of the story--which I just love.
And on top of all that, Roar of Sky features Ingrid and Cy doing two remarkable things you don't often find in either Urban Fantasy or Steampunk: adventuring with a disability in a realistic way that impacts the adventure and maintaining a sweet romance wherein the Beta Male does NOT try to rein in the more powerful woman by trying to protect (cage) her or extract promises of being careful or not going on missions.
Ingrid's legs are messed up because of actions she took in the second book. She has leg pains and spasms, she can't really climb ladders, and this fact is not glossed over or forgotten during the action. She even has rash and soreness from the braces Cy constructs for her.
Ingrid and Cy fly around, connect up with lost loved ones, confront Theodore Roosevelt's agenda, and confront the terrible and powerful Ambassador Blum. There is a satisfying ending that ties up loose threads. I sometimes don't make it to the third book in a trilogy if the second one is too slow. But this one would be a sad one to miss.
rachelini's review against another edition
2.0
I don't know, the series just kind of lost me along the way.
jackiijackii's review
4.0
A memorable ending to the Blood of Earth trilogy. Meticulously researched, for an alternate history fantasy, and it deepened the story.
everydaymagic's review
4.0
Easily the best book of the series, and one you must read.
Beth Cato's "Roar of Sky" starts strong, and goes up from there. This volume takes you to alternate versions of Hawaii, Phoenix, and Bakersfield, as protagonist Ingrid Carmichael and her friends struggle to defeat the kitsune Ambassador Blum. They face pitfalls at every turn, and moral dilemmas abound, but the presence of pastry-addicted sylphs adds a light touch even at the darkest moments. Even with the ancient gods and goddesses helping her, Ingrid gets no easy passes, and instead must toil on to the best of her human extent, while also struggling simply to _walk._
I found Cato's writing has gotten even stronger with this third and final book in the series, and Ingrid becomes an even more realistic, sympathetic protagonist. Even the side characters are vividly drawn. And the magic is simply wonderful (and terrifying), especially as Ingrid learns to better use her prodigious geomancy talents.
Beth Cato's "Roar of Sky" starts strong, and goes up from there. This volume takes you to alternate versions of Hawaii, Phoenix, and Bakersfield, as protagonist Ingrid Carmichael and her friends struggle to defeat the kitsune Ambassador Blum. They face pitfalls at every turn, and moral dilemmas abound, but the presence of pastry-addicted sylphs adds a light touch even at the darkest moments. Even with the ancient gods and goddesses helping her, Ingrid gets no easy passes, and instead must toil on to the best of her human extent, while also struggling simply to _walk._
I found Cato's writing has gotten even stronger with this third and final book in the series, and Ingrid becomes an even more realistic, sympathetic protagonist. Even the side characters are vividly drawn. And the magic is simply wonderful (and terrifying), especially as Ingrid learns to better use her prodigious geomancy talents.
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