The Unfailing Light: The Katerina Trilogy Vol. II

By: Robin Bridges
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: October 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-74024-1
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor 
Review Date: October 2012

What began in the very popular, The Gathering Storm, moves forward in this new novel which is even more enticing than the introduction.

Katerina is a necromancer who is basically a savior for the aristocracy of Mother Russia. In the first novel, her gifts were able to revive the tsar and she became a favorite of the Court. Even though Katerina had tried to hide her gift, she soon found out that the royal world was full of members who had supernatural powers, including some very dark ones found in a world of vampires.

Choosing to leave her homeland behind and head to Switzerland to study medicine, Katerina believes that she can protect the boy she loves and her own family, so that any dark powers will head straight to the Alps and leave her loved ones alone. BUT, what Katerina doesn’t expect is being trapped by the boy she loves, who believes that in order for her to be safe, she will stay inside the walls of the finishing school she despises. There, the tsar’s wife casts a spell on the building in order to keep all dark forces away - such as Prince Danilo who desperately wants Katerina for his own dark purposes. Unfortunately, the magic goes wrong when a phantom menace is awakened inside the school that may be far more powerful and mean than any Katerina has met up with before.

Not only is this a story of true love between a necromancer and the tsar’s son who has only one year to convince his own mother that Katerina is the girl he will marry no matter what; but this is also a battle of wills between two specific social circles, where Konstantin the Deathless is still doing his best to win the royal role he believes he deserves.

Fans will love this tale, as it delves even deeper into the adventure and beauty that this land and its characters provide. Not only that, but the surprise ending for Katerina’s own mother will have fans eager for Book III.

Quill Says: The author has done a brilliant job with this series thus far. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.