Monday 14 October 2013

Moirai, by Ruth Silver - review and excerpt

Moirai (Aberrant #2), by Ruth Silver

Olivia has been on the run from the government of Cabal since the marriage ceremony. Finally settling in and finding herself a place to call home in Shadow, Olivia and Joshua prepare for the uprising that they and the rebel alliance have been planning for months.
With new abilities and special talents from Mindonsiphan, Olivia learns she can do more than most ordinary eighteen-year-olds. Learning both to hide and perfect her skills will be one of the biggest challenges she’ll be forced to face.
A constant rollercoaster of emotion and adventure await Olivia and Joshua as they embark on a journey to the rebel city of Torv, and what was once home, Genesis.

The much-awaited sequel to Aberrant is finally out, and it's definitely worth the wait. Olivia and Joshua now have special powers and are taking on more and more responsibilities. As you can see in the excerpt below, there are children, bloody corpses, and general rebellion.
I heard it first: the loud high-pitched scream of a child. It was Adelaide. No doubt in my mind. I took off running in the direction of the sound, west. Her screams didn't diminish in the slightest. “Adelaide!” I called, hearing the ear-piecing scream of a child. She sounded afraid. My heart pounded and my nerves wrestled with me. There was nothing I had to be frightened of. Adelaide was okay, she was screaming, right? That had to be a good sign?
“Olivia!” Her voice answered me with another shrill scream as I tore through tall grasses, running towards the stream where I'd been just before our last council meeting. I could hear Collins lag behind me, trailing in my footsteps. He wasn't far but he wasn't as fast either.
“I'm coming,” I answered, my knees lifting higher as I stopped dead in my tracks, finding a bloody corpse. I glanced up, seeing Adelaide bent over the body, her clothes covered in blood. Her cheeks flushed and eyes filled with tears.
“He's dead!” She wailed as I bent down to pick her up, trying my best to shield her from what she'd seen, though I knew it was too late.
I could hear Collins’ muttered curse as he finally caught up, seeing the disfigured corpse. “This isn't good,” he rasped, glancing from me to the little girl. “Take her home, get her cleaned up. We're having an emergency meeting this afternoon,” he announced. “There's an outlaw near Shadow.”
 The pace of the action was no slower in this book, meaning I enjoyed it just as much as the first. I still have to say I enjoyed Aberrant more, probably because there was slightly more danger and a faster pace, but that's the only bad thing I can say about it.

I was a little confused by the title, until it was cleared up in the book; they appear in Greek mythology, more commonly known as the Fates, and each three of them allocated a part in each person's life.

A lot of issues that came up (i.e. Olivia's parents) were addressed in Moirai, which made it flow really naturally from its predecessor, and made me invest even more in Olivia and Josh's characters.

A brilliant read - if you loved Aberrant, you'll like this!