Review – The Spiral Path (Night Calls, Book 2) by Katharine Eliska Kimbriel (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 295 pages
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Release Date: September 16, 2014
ASIN: B00NIVDF8M
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Night Calls series
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 5/5 stars

“Ritual magic mixes dangerously with wild magic. Yet Alfreda Sorensson’s talent has grown until she becomes a target for worldly and unworldly powers. Now, to save her soul, she must leave her pioneer home in the Michigan Territory to take refuge at an elite New York school, where her wild magic places her in direct conflict with the ritual taught to young Americans and Europeans.

Alfreda suspects that half the professors may not be human at Windward Academy. It’s a curious place, a last chance for students who can’t control their powers, and a place where everything is a test, in one way or another.

At first Alfreda thinks her greatest challenge will be mastering ritual. Then she learns that traitors have infiltrated the school–and the new nation. War looms between the United States and England, and Alfreda answers the call. Only after she spies her way into an enemy magician’s estate does she learn the true challenge of her own power–

Because when dark magic finds her, she’s utterly on her own.”

This book was just as beautifully written as the first two and a pleasure to read. I just love this alternate history world so much; I also really love the characters and the magic. I will say that the covers for this series could use some serious help (but I guess just don’t judge this series by its cover).

My biggest disappointment with this book is that so many intriguing new plot-lines start but nothing is resolved by the end of the book. If it was clear that there are going to be more books in the series I would be thrilled by how things developed! However, it looks like this is supposed to be the final book in the series which is really disappointing. Things were just starting to get really really interesting…

The tone for this book is much different than the first two. Alfreda is in a magic school most of the book dealing with a lot more people and a lot more social issues than she has dealt with previously. I still enjoyed the story a ton; but it was very different. There weren’t as many creepy encounters and as much things from the dark.

The world is broadened quite a bit as well in this book. We hear about events from new places and also hear more about Wild Magic and the world it comes from.

Overall I absolutely loved this book and ended up devouring it. However I was a bit disappointed that so many new plotlines were started and not resolved; hopefully we see another book in this series eventually to tie up all those issues. Aside from that issue, this was a delightful fantasy set in an alternate early America. I would recommend to fantasy fans.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Flights of Fantasy Reading Challenge