Some books predict what the future might be, and we muse over what that reality would be like. I remember reading The Immortal Realm, the fourth book in the Faerie Path series about ten years ago, and musing over what would happen if a plague spread across the world and there was a race to find a cure.
Never has there been a more appropriate time to come back to this book.
Princess Tania has saved her world from the tyrannical Sorcerer King, and she can celebrate her victory with both her Faerie and Mortal families. But out of nowhere, a baby falls ill and dies. Suddenly, all of Faerie is in a panic, since faeries do not get sick, much less die. The Royal Family races to not only find a cure, but also understand where the plague originated. Things turn nasty when the blame for the plague falls on Tania and her Mortal self. Now, Tania faces permanent banishment from her beloved home, unless she can find a cure and save Faerie—again.
As with any good story, one concluded event is the catalyst for another one. Although Tania has saved Faerie from its worst enemy, another one naturally takes its place. But at this point in time, having actually lived through a plague in real life, this story’s opposing force was much worse than a tyrannical king. The panic, the uncertainty, the blaming, the anger…it all came back in kind of an uncomfortable rush.
Indeed, when I read this book many years ago, it never crossed my mind that an escapist fantasy like this would one day become reality. But now the details in this story feel so much more real: the denial that things are not so bad as they are, then the anger, and then the relentless bargaining for something to cure the plague…
The emotional gravity of this story lies with how helpless Tania, and everyone around her, feels. But as things get worse, Tania’s list of allies dwindles. The more alone she feels, and the more relentless people are in accusing her for the plague…such tension pulls you in tight.
The cast of characters also grows here. In order to find a cure, Anita returns to the Mortal World and enlists the help of her friend Connor Estabrook, a premed student.
Along with the growing cast, we continue to learn more about the history of not only Faerie, but also Oberon and Titania. Tania’s sisters feel even more developed, and the one sister who betrayed the family gets her redemption.
So basically, everything that was established in the last book sees great development and plunges the reader headlong into another perilous adventure. To divulge many other details would go into spoiler territory. But yet again, I’ve got to get back into Faerie fast to continue with Tania into the final stretches of her adventure.
The Library Key 