New Book Alert: Midlife Shadows (Paraval Book 3) by Kate Swansea; Final Elise Clair Fantasy is Her Darkest Adventure Yet

 

New Book Alert: Midlife Shadows (Paraval Book 3) by Kate Swansea; Final Elise Clair Fantasy is Her Darkest Adventure Yet

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Here we come to more than likely the final book in Kate Swansea's Paraval Series. We will soon bid adieu to Elise Clair, Theo Stallard, and the other residents of Black Lake Falls, Washington. Swansea has clearly saved the darkest book for last. While Midlife Alchemy is the best book in the series, Midlife Shadows has a dark ominous energy and some unforgettable moments that prove that the Paraval Series definitely has gone out with a bang.

In the previous book, Midlife Incantations, Elise, Dentist and Town Warden, discovered the powerful Book of Mairel, a spell book which includes a spell to close the paraval to Inferium forever and prevent the nasty umbra from entering the world above ever again. The only problem with the spell is that it must be cast by an alchemist from inside Inferium. So, Elise must take a trip inside this book's answer to Hell and they have to do it in three weeks,by the next new moon, or it will be difficult to go through Inferium when it is pitch black. 

Elise is going but she's not going alone. She's going with Theo, her boyfriend, Nina and Jerome, their vampire friends, and Professor Marly Curtis, a scholarly expert on Inferium and Theo's ex-girlfriend. 

Most of the book is set in Inferium which is a marked contrast with Black Lake Falls. It's similar to the Angela Hardwick Science Fiction Mysteries by Russ Colchamiro. In two books, Crackle and Fire and Fractured Lives, we are taken to Eternity, the part of the Universe in which its residents are responsible for the design, creation, and maintenance of the Universe. It's a beautiful, wonderful place with many possibilities and great characters to explore. Then another book, Hot Ash, takes the Reader to the Arcasia System, a system filled with smog, pollution, slavery, and dictators. The Arcasia System is the Hell to Eternity's Heaven.

That is what is at play here in the Paraval Series. Everything that Black Lake Falls is, Inferium is its opposite and its shadow. Inferium is the Hell to Black Lake Falls' Heaven. The buildings and houses are structured the same way they are in Black Lake. But instead of the charming Old World European style, they are gray, dingy, and mostly abandoned. Instead of filled with friendly, eccentric, helpful locals, the houses are abandoned and desolate. Instead of a population of colorful and idiosyncratic witches, alchemists, vampires, and mythological creatures, Inferium is filled with umbra and other creatures deprived of their individuality and attacking others in the shadows like vicious animals at prey. Spending most of the time in Inferium makes the characters and the Reader long for the cozy comforts of Black Lake Falls, a town that for three books they have grown to love.

The Inferium setting puts quite a number on the characters the longer that they stay there. In this land of eternal night, the screams of dark creatures can be heard from beyond. Glowing eyes could peer out from anywhere. Sometimes one's own fears and insecurities can attract the umbra. The umbra attacks themselves are quite bloody, bloodier than they are up above since the protagonists are on their turf. Not to mention with the landscape always staying the same, it's hard to find your way through these dark lands. It's enough to drive anyone insane. One would have to be really brave, really crazy, or really dead to be there. 

 One character, Idris, acts as a guide through Inferium. He is deceased but has yet to become an umbra. He helps the gang while struggling to hold onto his integrity, compassion, memories, all the things that once made him alive. It's a painful and disturbing transformation that could engulf our heroes. Also Elise and the others are in danger of becoming umbra as well, the longer that they stay in Inferium. Idris' transformation is a preview of potential coming attractions for the others.

The landscape already changes the characters mentally and emotionally as well as physically. Their emotions are heightened and their fears and insecurities are more apparent. Elise becomes more doubtful of her alchemist abilities and suspicious of Marley's presence and her involvement in Theo's life. Theo becomes protective of the others to the point that he throws himself in danger and makes dangerous decisions. Jerome disappears for a time and questions about his loyalty are raised. Nina gives into her bloodlust and becomes terrifying to her non-vampire friends.

The one who is extremely difficult to figure out is Marly. Our first encounter with her is before they make the trip and she already acts very snobbish and arrogant by treating the locals like underlings. She demonstrates quite a bit of knowledge of Inferium through her studies but she definitely does not endear herself to Elise when she recommends that Elise remain home (even though the spell has to be performed by an alchemist and Elise is the only one who can read it in the Book of Mairel). Since this is our first impression of Marly, it's not a good one.

In Inferium, Marly gets worse. She makes some bad decisions that puts herself and the others in danger. Her research is sometimes flawed or works on paper but not in practice. She also comes on to Theo making Elise jealous. Considering Elise's marriage ended because of her ex husband's infidelity, this is a sore point with her.

While more than likely Inferium is bringing out Marly's worst qualities, we barely knew her before her entrance into Inferium and in those few chapters, her character doesn't amount to much. Marly is the one weak spot in an otherwise great book. She shows some flashes of insight and intelligence but she is more of a plot device to give some exposition on Inferium and provide Theo some emotional baggage than an interesting character. 

The final confrontation is filled with suspense and frightening chills as the characters gather the ingredients to make the spells and fight the umbra while avoiding being turned into them. The appearance of the Dark Commander is worth the wait when in the previous volumes, he was a voice in someone's head. He is powerful, terrifying, and his identity is a brilliant twist. It is he who is the final test for Elise and her friends to pass before they can cast the spell.

Midlife Shadows is a fine ending to a great series that captures the imagination and brings out the best in its characters.