Title: Sister of Shadows
Author: Eric Kent Edstrom
Publisher/Year: Undermountain Books LLC 12/8/16
Length:   379 Pages
Series:  The Scion Chronicles #3

Overview

Evil lurks among the Scions, waiting its moment to strike!

Sister of Shadows is the third book in The Scion Chronicles.

When a daring escape costs a beloved Scion’s life, Jacey races alone into the outside world for help . . . and comes face to face with ghosts from her past. As suspicion casts its shadow, Jacey’s friends become foes and old enemies become her only allies.
My Thoughts

This story really couldn’t get much crazier, yet some how it does.  I have to give great kudos to the author because what we have here in this 3rd installment are three different parts of the story told from different vantage points, as they are running parallel to one another.  I have no idea how he was able to keep track of all of it together, but it was nicely done.

The point that we’re at in the story is that the knowledge of what the Scions are intended for is finally getting through to the Scions, and that means that there’s not only unrest, but a lot of confusion as to who to trust and what that means for their futures.  The three storylines are as follows:

The Scions, Jacey and Dr Carlhagen

Where they split from the main story and then go on their paths is a bit into this third book.  Now that we have started to uncover exactly what the plan was that Dr Carlhagen has for the Scions, the need to take control is what they feel is most urgent.  Jacey and Humphrey some how manage to grow up quite fast and take on the leader roles, where Humphrey tries to convince everyone on the outside world that he’s Dr Carlhagen still and for the most part he’s successful.  It’s when one of the more power Progenitors comes (a Senator) early to transfer because of a terminal illness that gives her bout 4 weeks to live, that their world gets completely flipped upside down.

Not only have we lost Vaughn (Dr Carlhagen took that body), but we now are in the midst of losing Summer who’s the Progenitos Scion.  Summer however is only 14 and too early to transfer, and the Scions aren’t going to let her go without a fight.  The journey here is one where we see her and the others grown up incredibly fast, and we see how far the elder Scions can push the limits to save their friends.

Then there’s the story line with the Dr and the Senator.  They have an interwoven past and that means that they are bound by personal ties as well as their own business needs since we see that they were using each other to gain power and money – and build a second Scion school.  That’s where the Dr’s story takes him – on how he can manage to get off St Vitus, away from the school to get his new school set up and then to get the Scions to that new school.  All while some how using leverage over the Senator and the Scions (Jacey primarily since we know that he holds a torch and a grudge against her still)

Then there’s Jacey – we know that she’s our masterful leading lady, and she’s thrown herself into some interesting situations.  She manages to hide Summer, figure out a plan to get the Scions to safety and then when the tables turn on her again, she manages to somehow get off the island trying to find help from the other Progenitors, hoping that maybe they would be on her side.

So as you can imagine, there are three story strings going on here, where we are wondering how and when they will intercept.  What we know is that Mr Justin the butler truly isn’t what he seems, he’s had this other plot the entire time to get back at the Dr, and he’s given the opportunity of a lifetime.  He transfers into a Scion, and no one knows which one, which adds another layer of complexity to the story.  You don’t know when he’s going to strike and make things that much worse.

There’s a lot of military in this book – they are called in by the Senator, by the Dr, by everyone basically since the scions need to be kept a secret.  Jacey is going rogue in her attempt to figure out a way to keep her friends safe and get back one that was kidnapped.  There’s also a lot of death, losing some of our favorite characters when things go from bad to worse.  The world is an interesting place and we are only starting to understand what the initial motivation was that caused Dr Carlhagen to truly develop his God complex.

There are so many questions that have to be answered in the 4th book.  When and where are they all going to reunite and who’s going to survive?  The romance that we saw budding between Humphrey and Jacey – is that going to be something real? (personally, there was a comment in the story where Humphrey said that he loved her his whole life and that seemed random to me since i thought he hated her), and then there’s the triangle that now includes Wanda and Humphrey.  So all in all, there’s so much at stake here.  Is the world really as bad off as it sounds and will the Scions be able to help make things better or is all doomed anyway?  So on that note, i’m off to read the next book and see how it all ends up.  Have a great day!