Pearl's World of Romance - Reviews with a Passion: Atlantis Unleashed

June 14, 2009

Atlantis Unleashed - Alyssa Day

11:34 AM |

Jacket Copy:
Poseidon’s warriors swore an oath eleven thousand years ago to protect humanity from those who stalked the night. Now those powerful forces are uniting. So are two souls who are all that stand between justice and the eternal darkness…

A warrior prince…Lord Justice made the ultimate sacrifice for his brother and paid for it with an unimaginable torture. Now he’s back, rescued from death, his sanity shaken, and his mission inescapable—the search for the lost Star of Artemis. But the beautiful human female whom he has sworn to protect is shadowed by an evil that could destroy them both…

A woman of science…The archaeological artifacts of Atlantis speak to Dr. Keely McDermott, sharing visions of life long ago. The ancient revelations have cast her into a world between past and present, between reality and illusion—and, when she meets the fierce Atlantean warrior assigned to guard her, between terror and temptation. Now as their two worlds collide, so too will danger and desire…

A quest for a lost star…Atlantis is unleashed.

A self-sacrificing half Nereid/half Atlantean warrior on the edge of sanity because of his fractured soul, a feisty, pragmatic and independent object-reading archeologist, a pre-destined love match, a quest for a lost gem and plans to wreak havoc on a vampire goddess. These are the ingredients of the newest installment in the WARRIORS OF POSEIDON series!

Let me start by stating that this was a book of which I have been anticipating its release for well over a year! I read ATLANTIS AWAKENING in November 2007 and upon closing that book I was desperate to know how things would continue. At that time the wait was going to be about 6 months. However, unfortunately due to circumstances beyond the author's control that 6-month period was extended to waiting for over 18 months before I could satisfy my need for Justice's story. In this period my anticipation grew and grew and grew and when this book finally arrived on my doorstep I literally cheered and couldn't wait to dive into it. I am glad and very relieved to say that my very high expectations of this book were thoroughly met.

The first two chapters chained me to both Keely and Justice with such strong emotions that I just knew this was going to be worth every minute of the long wait. Then, unexpectedly, after those first two chapters I had a little bit of trouble getting into the flow of the story but this was just for a brief moment and I think I could have avoided this little hitch if I had re-read at least ATLANTIS AWAKENING before diving into ATLANTIS UNLEASHED. More importantly, it was so minor that before long I was pulled into a book that gave me a cast of warriors anyone should have at his or her back, a wonderful heroine and a tormented hero I just wanted to cuddle up to, wrap my arms around and tell him everything was going to be okay. After the few chapters it took me to get reacquainted with the world of Atlantis, I just wasn't able to let go of this book. With every page I went down deeper and deeper into this intriguing world that Alyssa Day is building up excellently. She did it again and gave me a book that fitted the previous ones perfectly and still had its own unique vibe and story.

What I truly love about Alyssa Day's books are her characters and her world building. The men are alpha to the core but still very much aware of their weaknesses and flaws. They are dominant without being overbearing or annoying and they have a great sense of humor. I really admire Alyssa Day for being able to write heroes like these and I absolutely think it is linked to the heroines she pairs the Warriors with. The women in Day's books are all strong, feisty and no-nonsense heroines, who aren't afraid to put the men in their right places when they threaten to cross the line, whether that is in dominance, in arrogance or with stupid actions.

In this book I liked that Keely was just as protective of Justice as he was of her. But then again I liked Keely a lot. I loved her dry sense of humor, her strength of character, her tenacity, her courage and her compassion. Despite all she has gone through with her gift that others, even those closest to her, mistake for insanity, she takes life as it comes, makes the best of it and is there to help others, to help Justice. She is truly light to his darkness.

And then Justice, he really touched my heart. His youth, his fractured soul, his internal fights both between honor and defiance and between doing what's right or giving into his power-hungry side. It all made they way he cared for Keely and the way he clung to his sanity for her sake, more intense. He came from a dark, dark place and struggled his way to the light, both literally and figuratively. I must confess that, in the previous books, Justice only caught my attention at the very end of ATLANTIS AWAKENING but with his own book he has made a big and lasting impression on me. And that’s another winning point for Alyssa Day, because there are authors out there who manage to do exactly the opposite with secondary characters turned heroes.

The secondary characters are mainly the other warriors and potential heroines and I foresee some more great chemistry and dialogue in future books of this series. I caught some glimpses of Alaric, Alexios, Christopher and Brennan that make their stories much anticipated. Because of the set-up of Justice and Keely's story the supporting characters’ roles where less prominent than in the other books but still there was enough room for the familiar and much appreciated brotherly bantering and camaraderie. There are a few other secondary characters that intrigued me, especially the ones in Guatemala. For fear of spoilers I'm not able to say much about them but I have to say one of them gave the story a very heart breaking and endearing dimension.

Alyssa Day's world building is something that I noticed and liked from the very beginning. It started in ATLANTIS RISING, was continued in ATLANTIS AWAKENING and the novellas and now in ATLANTIS UNLEASHED once again I wasn’t disappointed with it. Not only does she provide a comprehensible and clear background for the characters and plot, she also weaves plotlines seamlessly into each other. She connects elements that seem unrelated in a very subtle way, bringing it all together for the reader without much difficulty and with the perfect balance between plot and romance and characters.

Compared to the other WARRIORS OF POSEIDON books/novellas, there aren't many sex scenes in this one ("only" two), but that didn't bother me at all, because the ones that are in there, boy, Alyssa Day really makes them count. They are touching and arousing at the same time, oozing with a hungry urgency and sizzling passion and still there is room for humor and fun. For me quality is much more important than quantity. I’d rather read one excellent love scene in a book than half a dozen halfhearted ones and Alyssa Day fulfilled this requirement with flying colors in ATLANTIS UNLEASHED.

One thing I did expect in this book, and I was a bit sad about it when it did not come, was a confrontation with Anubisa, the vampire goddess. It was something that was in my line of expectation after the previous books but surprisingly Alyssa Day took me in a different direction with that part of the ongoing plot. Still I think she is setting up the ongoing plot brilliantly, she just took a different corner than I was expecting in this book.

With every book the plot seems to get clearer and a sense of understanding is beginning to dawn, at least with me. I have my suspicions about what direction Alyssa Day is taking but I also say this with much caution because my favorite authors (and Alyssa Day is one of them) always seem to surprise me with unexpected twists and turns. Needless to say that I am willing to go wherever she takes me in all this and even though I missed a true battle with Anubisa, it still didn't take away my satisfaction with the plot part of this book.

ATLANTIS UNLEASHED was a wonderful story of love, sacrifice, darkness and light. It was filled with witty fun, arousing sensuality and at times tear jerking emotions. With every word, every page, every chapter this book got better and better, working up to a mind-blowing, emotional and action-packed conclusion. All I can say is that I'm ready for the next Warrior of Poseidon to tell me his story when I dive back into the Alyssa Day's world of Atlantean warriors, courageous human women, shape-shifters and vampires.

Quotes:
“You are her. You are Keely."
"Yes," she replied, voice barely a whisper. "I am Keely." He smiled a slow, dangerous smile, and the whiteness of his teeth was almost shocking in the darkness of his face. "We are Justice," he said. "And you are ours."

And then in an act of courage beyond any he'd known in all of his centuries, he raised his head to take one last look at Keely. He drank in the sight of her (...) "Remember me, my lady, that is all I ask of you for this or any lifetime. Remember me, although you never knew me, for I feel that I have known you for all eternity and hungered for you for even longer, still."

Alejandro stood up, leveling his shotgun at the vamp's head. "I propose a barter," he said calmly. The vamp barked out a chilling burst of laughter. "What barter could you--"
The shotgun bucked and roared and exploded the vamp's head into acid chunks of skull and meat. Justice shot a look at Alejandro, who shrugged as the vampire's headless body fell to the ground, dissolving in a flood of slime. "My shotgun shell for his head. Seemed fair to me."

Labels: Alyssa Day, Berkley Publishing, great reads, Paranormal Romance, reviews, Warriors of Poseidon Series

1 comments:

Leontine said...: Love your review Pearl *sighing in bliss* I recognize much in your comments on romance and plot building of Day and with the back-to-back releases you don't have to wait all that long for Alexios to show up on your doorstep!; Jun 15, 2009, 10:46:00 AM