Synopsis: Italy, 1453. Seventeen-year-old Luca Vero is brilliant, gorgeous—and accused of heresy. Cast out of his religious order for using the new science to question old superstitious beliefs, Luca is recruited into a secret sect: The Order of the Dragon, commissioned by Pope Nicholas V to investigate evil and danger in its many forms, and strange occurrences across Europe, in this year—the end of days. He is accompanied by his assistant/friend Frieze and Brother Peter who is to record and help Luca. Along their journey, they bump into Isolde and Ishraq.
Isolde is a seventeen-year-old girl who lost her father’s estate to her thief of a brother. She and Ishraq, her friend, travel with Luca and his companions until they catch another group heading toward Budapest where her godfather lives. They plan to ask Isolde’s godfather for help to get her estate back from her brother.
This book is so far the best book in the series and also, the best book I’ve read since summer started.
There are many things to admire about this piece of work, the time setting, the characters, the vivid descriptions, and of course the feisty and volatile relationships that color the pages. The novel takes place in 1453, in the peak of Christendom’s war with the Ottoman empire.
Unlike the first book, this book is more fast paced and has a lot more plot in it. We get to know more of the character’s true personalities and their background. In the first book, we understand how much Christendom feared the end of the days but it’s in this book that we, ourselves, start to fear the darkness that Luca’s sent out to observe. The events that Phillipa Gregory has concurred is almost shocking and surreal when reading for the first time.
This book is filled with more danger and somehow, ends up leading Luca down a dangerous path where he seeks to find reason, the path he should not be following. Luca’s intimacy with Isolde increases and his relationship with Ishraq also deepens. Betrayal finds its way back into Isolde’s life and shows a new side of Isolde that I personally find very annoying.
In Stormbringers, we finally get to meet the enemy that Christendom is trying so hard to overthrow. Luca and the gang are lured in by their exotic enemies and the vast amount of knowledge of the world and their people. The leader of the particular fleet that gets tossed into Luca’s world has the answers to everything Luca’s ever wondered about. Luca and Ishraq as well both start to edge of towards dangerous waters as they listen to the “infidel” leader’s words and warnings.
It doesn’t take long to see that there is some sort of connection between this Ottoman man’s world and Luca’s beloved Christendom and that this man know’s a lot more about Luca’s leader than he himself knows. And when the time comes when Luca’s gang gets a visit by Luca’s and Brother Peter’s leader, Ishraq starts to realize that there is some sort of darkness bout the Christian hooded man. There’s something in Luca’s leader that makes him as untrustworthy as the Ottoman man himself.
My least favorite character in this novel has to be Isolde. She starts to over dramatize events and doesn’t take time to listen to others before jumping to conclusions. I do the really wish that in the following books, we’ll get to see more of Luca and Isolde action.
My favorite characters in this book are Frieze and Ishraq. We get to learn a lot more about Ishraq and her feelings towards her fellow companions. Frieze’s amusing acts is what gave this novel it’s light. Without Frieze, the whole series would be a dark and slow novel. Frieze was most definitely the hero of this book. By the end of the book, his huge heart not only saves many lives but also steals another heart itself. While his flirting and animal charm enlighten the novel, we get to see a more serious side of him when he sees things that he wasn’t meant to see.
This book is filled with drama, mystery, tension, betrayal, fear, sorrow, and also forbidden romance. The book ended with a jaw dropping cliff hanger that I didn’t expect and was filled with darkness. We get to see Luca take on something that will make him change who he is and what he does and maybe even the whole course of the novel itself.
My rating would be 5 out of 6 thought bubbles 😀
