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thegothiclibrary's review against another edition
5.0
Perilous Prophecy is the prequel to Strangely Beautiful and takes place about twenty years before the events of the first book. The action is split between Cairo, London, and the Whisper-world as the Goddess and her Guard lay the foundations of her plan to strike back against Darkness. The central characters will be familiar if you have already read Strangely Beautiful. Beatrice is the fierce, but sometimes reluctant leader--torn between her desire to be independent and respected and her romantic feelings for her second-in-command, Ibrahim. Each other member of the Guard struggles with their own internal conflict as they are forced to choose between the home they love and the grand schemes of a mysterious goddess. Meanwhile, we also get a more personal look at the goddess Persephone, who exists only as a latent part of Percy in Strangely Beautiful. Persephone also has tough choices to make when the needs and desires of her current Guard conflict with her plans for a new Guard to support her mortal incarnation. When the story shifts to London, we see even more familiar faces. Alexi and Rebecca, as young teenagers, have just been chosen for the roles they are to fulfill in the Goddess's plans. The many disparate characters, settings, and plot lines of Perilous Prophecy are held together by the central theme of self-sacrifice and the larger story that begins to emerge over the course of the series.
Read my full review at TheGothicLibrary.com after June 19
Read my full review at TheGothicLibrary.com after June 19
abookishaffair's review
4.0
"Perilous Prophecy" is the prequel to the two books in Ms. Hieber's Strangely Beautiful books. I have not read the other two books in the trilogy but after reading this book, I definitely want to read them! I've heard this book described to me as "gaslamp fantasy," which is the perfect description. You have the history of the Victorian age combined with a paranormal bend that made even the familiar seem different and new.
In this book, we meet Beatrice, a young woman, who is called up to perform the ultimate duty as the leader of the Guard, a group charged with protecting our world from another. This book does not go that much into the legend behind the Guard, which I was very much interested in. I would love to see if the other books talked more about this and gave some more background. We see how this group storms when they first get together to eventually getting to a better place where they begin to function, which is interesting. Each member of the guard is unique and many of them come from different places with different customs, which take awhile to get to where they understand each other. I loved that part of the journey.
One of the things that I really liked in this book is the setting and the way that the author weaves together the real and unreal. Set in 1800s Cairo and London, this book was off the beaten path for me. I read a lot about London but Cairo was relatively new for me, especially with a historical setting. I loved the detail that the author used to bring everything to life! This book makes for a great story to get lost in. I love how the real and unreal become one in this fantasy. This book is a great start to what promises to be an interesting trilogy!
In this book, we meet Beatrice, a young woman, who is called up to perform the ultimate duty as the leader of the Guard, a group charged with protecting our world from another. This book does not go that much into the legend behind the Guard, which I was very much interested in. I would love to see if the other books talked more about this and gave some more background. We see how this group storms when they first get together to eventually getting to a better place where they begin to function, which is interesting. Each member of the guard is unique and many of them come from different places with different customs, which take awhile to get to where they understand each other. I loved that part of the journey.
One of the things that I really liked in this book is the setting and the way that the author weaves together the real and unreal. Set in 1800s Cairo and London, this book was off the beaten path for me. I read a lot about London but Cairo was relatively new for me, especially with a historical setting. I loved the detail that the author used to bring everything to life! This book makes for a great story to get lost in. I love how the real and unreal become one in this fantasy. This book is a great start to what promises to be an interesting trilogy!
prationality's review
4.0
This prequel to the Persephone Parker books (set about 21 years before those books) gives us back story on the Goddess' fight against the Darkness as well as the Guard directly before the Persephone Parker Guard (plus background on the Goddess herself).
Interestingly it should be noted that this book is set in 1867--the year that Alexi's crew become the Guard--but months before when a cadre of young people in Cairo come into possession of that duty. This other Guard, a more disparate group of young men and women then the Guard we know, share similarities with Alexi's crew, but are cut from a wholly different fabric.
I'll say this upfront--I adore Leanna's writing. I have since the very first page of the first book. That said there were times when I'd grow impatient with the Cairo Guard because of their reactions and actions. They're younger then Alexi's Guard (at least, younger then when we see Alexi's Guard working. Comparatively speaking they receive the Summons to Duty later in their age then Alexi's Guard), and are from several different religions and nationalities so their responses to things would by nature be different. Intellectually that all makes sense. Doesn't mean I wasn't glaring at the screen of my e-reader demanding they get their heads on straight however.
I can say this for the Cairo Guard though, it was fascinating watching how they learned to work with each other and mesh their various beliefs. Alexi's Guard, maybe because they have two decades on the Cairo Guard or maybe because they are all (to my knowledge) Christian of some nature, rarely had the problems the Cairo Guard faced. For instance when Ibrahim moves in with Ahmed's family or even when the Guard first meet each other, cultural misunderstandings are voiced. However the Grand Work smooths out a lot of the troubles as the teens find themselves suddenly given a place in the world.
I appreciated that Leanna used this book to also illustrate better the other side of being called to duty. Most of the members of the Cairo Guard had families--mothers, fathers and siblings who could never know about their new roles. Deliberately Leanna shows us what this toll has on those members especially with Beatrice who until her call to arms was very close with her father. She muses at one point that there was now a distance that couldn't be bridged, not a painful one, but an instinctual one both her and her father felt. Ahmed expresses a similar feeling, though with less wistfulness I believe.
The book is really two sided--we see the Cairo Guard (of whom we met Beatrice in the Percy Parker books previously), but we also watch Persephone (aka the Goddess) as she begins to fade more and more. This is a more realized Persephone, one who isn't perfect and doesn't present herself as perfect. In between her encouraging speeches to the Guard she begs to see the sights or becomes desperate as the Underworld eats away at her. Ultimately this book also sets the stage for why Persephone finally took human form (in the form of Percy Parker) and paves the way for the fourth book (Miss Violet and the Great War).
This should be read as the third book in the series if only because though this is about an earlier Guard, Leanna treats this not as a true prequel. We are given background, but the foundations are not addressed. The assumption being that the reader has read the Percy Parker books beforehand I think, so Leanna doesn't feel as great a need to elaborate on the Grand Work. Partially I think this is because the Cairo Guard are treated almost as placeholders for Alexi's Guard. We know this Guard doesn't last an extraordinary amount of time, we also know that what transpires is mainly set up for when Percy is born and the Grand Work is truly in play.
Interestingly it should be noted that this book is set in 1867--the year that Alexi's crew become the Guard--but months before when a cadre of young people in Cairo come into possession of that duty. This other Guard, a more disparate group of young men and women then the Guard we know, share similarities with Alexi's crew, but are cut from a wholly different fabric.
I'll say this upfront--I adore Leanna's writing. I have since the very first page of the first book. That said there were times when I'd grow impatient with the Cairo Guard because of their reactions and actions. They're younger then Alexi's Guard (at least, younger then when we see Alexi's Guard working. Comparatively speaking they receive the Summons to Duty later in their age then Alexi's Guard), and are from several different religions and nationalities so their responses to things would by nature be different. Intellectually that all makes sense. Doesn't mean I wasn't glaring at the screen of my e-reader demanding they get their heads on straight however.
I can say this for the Cairo Guard though, it was fascinating watching how they learned to work with each other and mesh their various beliefs. Alexi's Guard, maybe because they have two decades on the Cairo Guard or maybe because they are all (to my knowledge) Christian of some nature, rarely had the problems the Cairo Guard faced. For instance when Ibrahim moves in with Ahmed's family or even when the Guard first meet each other, cultural misunderstandings are voiced. However the Grand Work smooths out a lot of the troubles as the teens find themselves suddenly given a place in the world.
I appreciated that Leanna used this book to also illustrate better the other side of being called to duty. Most of the members of the Cairo Guard had families--mothers, fathers and siblings who could never know about their new roles. Deliberately Leanna shows us what this toll has on those members especially with Beatrice who until her call to arms was very close with her father. She muses at one point that there was now a distance that couldn't be bridged, not a painful one, but an instinctual one both her and her father felt. Ahmed expresses a similar feeling, though with less wistfulness I believe.
The book is really two sided--we see the Cairo Guard (of whom we met Beatrice in the Percy Parker books previously), but we also watch Persephone (aka the Goddess) as she begins to fade more and more. This is a more realized Persephone, one who isn't perfect and doesn't present herself as perfect. In between her encouraging speeches to the Guard she begs to see the sights or becomes desperate as the Underworld eats away at her. Ultimately this book also sets the stage for why Persephone finally took human form (in the form of Percy Parker) and paves the way for the fourth book (Miss Violet and the Great War).
This should be read as the third book in the series if only because though this is about an earlier Guard, Leanna treats this not as a true prequel. We are given background, but the foundations are not addressed. The assumption being that the reader has read the Percy Parker books beforehand I think, so Leanna doesn't feel as great a need to elaborate on the Grand Work. Partially I think this is because the Cairo Guard are treated almost as placeholders for Alexi's Guard. We know this Guard doesn't last an extraordinary amount of time, we also know that what transpires is mainly set up for when Percy is born and the Grand Work is truly in play.
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