I read Targa’s story first, and intrigued I sought out the Elemental Origins bundle, which I proceeded to read straight through. What a ride! The Elementals, Targa, Saxony, Georjie, and eventually Petra, plus Akiko, are all powerful and solidly on the side of Good, in a world where Bad tries to rule through any means possible.
Examples of the Good are all based on the concept of love. They include the love of family, by which I mean both birth family and the families we create for ourselves that, although not shaped by shared genetics, are nonetheless as strong and enduring. They also include a deeply-felt appreciation of the natural world accompanied by the deep-seated desire to protect and heal it wherever possible. As Elementals, the protagonists each has an affinity for a particular element (water, fire, earth, or air), but they understand that these four are parts of a whole, just as each girl is a part of their larger sisterhood.
Examples of bad actions include everything from a wicked Canadian man striping sharks of their fins and throwing the creatures back into the ocean hopelessly maimed, to an Italian mafia leader who has no trouble holding threats over the head of a small boy while his power-mad son tortures a potential girlfriend, to a case where supernatural tattoos force already-evil-minded Japanese Yakusa to commit acts of cruelty, to the ultimate Bad: a gigantic demon bearing down on a helpless, unsuspecting city with the goal of total destruction.
Championing good and challenging bad, the girls’s stories take us from a small city in Eastern Canada to Poland, Italy, Japan, and Libya, and from our familiar Earth into the realm of myth and Æther. I read long into the night, eager to learn what was coming. The prose is excellent and the first person narration is compelling, emotionally taut; these novels are really fun to read.
Each novel in the bundle is separate from, and yet part of, the whole. This group of books also includes novellas that address missing material, and fill in essential gaps. Each heroine, whether she was born with her supernatural abilities or grew into them, grapples with the complications of family and friends when dealing with her powers, and returns to their shared hometown of Saltford after an international, life-changing trip, to unanswered questions about the ways in which her new status will affect her future. The final novel in the bundle concerns this time in our heroines’s lives.
After the roller-coaster, globe-trotting world of The Essentials bundle, many questions are unaddressed and left hanging. I am ecstatic that author Abby Knorr has continued to write about these young women in more novels. I can’t wait to read on.
OR
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More like Elemental Origins: The Complete Series Bundle: (Water, Fire, Earth, Air, Aether, Ensemble Novel) (The Elemental Origins Series)
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Fabulous Fantasy Fiction For all, not just YA
I am currently on the fourth book in this six-book series—and loving it. I read Bones of the Witch before starting the Elemental Earth series so I had already met Georgjie, the protagonist in the third episode of this series, and had already decided she was my favorite—young, female, strong, and fascinating—so I was really looking forward to getting to volume three. However, reading volume one and two, I came to the conclusion that Ms. Knoor could create and develop characters brilliantly. Targa, Born of Water, and Saxony, Born of Fire are both exceptional characters. But after reading volume three, I am happy to report that Georgjie is still my favorite.Update: Is it just me or do the books get better as we breathlessly make our way through the series.Akiko, book four, turns out to have the power of the Aether; she’s not an elementalist. Doesn’t matter. Her story is amazing. Not giving away any secrets but she has a ton of them.Book five introduces a new character to the group: Petra. Petra is not one of the original four friends and doesn’t meet them until book six. Turns out she is the most powerful, and potentially the most dangerous supernatural. While her elemental power is Air, her powers go way beyond. What a nail-biter.Book six brings all five girls together in a mind-blowing story. To be honest, when the plot was first introduced I felt it was a bit too cheesy, but Ms. Knorr quickly sucks you in. The conclusion is particularly unexpected, especially for Akiko.The plots and the worlds are, to be honest, off-the-wall, but Knorr makes them totally believable, creating wonderful images and scenarios is my head as I read. And talk about tension! Fast moving, no wasted words, (as I often find in my favorite fantasy author: Brandon Sanderson) Had me on the edge of my seat many times. So far, I have devoured the books—can’t put them down—and am truly looking forward to finishing all six.Update: Is it just me or do the books get better as we breathlessly make our way through the series.Akiko, book four, turns out to have the power of the Aether; she’s not an elementalist. Doesn’t matter. Her story is amazing. Not giving away any secrets but she has a ton of them.Book five introduces a new character to the group: Petra. Petra is not one of the original four friends and doesn’t meet them until book six. Turns out she is the most powerful, and potentially the most dangerous supernatural. While her elemental power is Air, her powers go way beyond. What a nail-biter.Book six brings all five girls together in a mind-blowing story. To be honest, when the plot was first introduced I felt it was a bit too cheesy, but Ms. Knorr quickly sucks you in. The conclusion is particularly unexpected, especially for Akiko.Clean—no on-page sex—and no cussing, so perfectly safe for YA, and even tweens.Highly recommend this series; I love love love it.
