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Alright! Let’s go. We’re doing a book review for the third and final entry in Marie Howalt‘s Moonless Trilogy, Heart of the Storm, published by Spaceboy Books. 

BACKGROUND AND LORES

Things are finally stable in the small community of rebels who have reclaimed the ruins of Siena. And more people are leaving the safety of Florence to cross the barren landscape and try their luck in the new settlement.

When a new Covey of wanderers arrive, Teo offers them respite and starts to dream of new horizons. Renn finds himself eager to rejoin the wanderer life and is faced with a difficult decision. In his own home, Luca begins to tire of his comfortable, post-apocalyptic routine of technological tinkering.

Meanwhile in Florence, the political climate is shifting, leaving a family of four in the outer city slums, and the powerful Mayor’s own son questioning their safety.

Heart of the Storm is the final installment of Marie Howalt’s Moonless trilogy. Picking up the threads from the previous two books, it weaves the personal tales of the post-apocalypse into a thrilling conclusion as Renn, Luca, Teo and the other Sienans tackle their biggest challenges yet.

Nothing has changed much from the previous books except a single event. Which means the whole world of Siena is now turned upside down.

Howalt’s exploration of the changing landscape really brought out the interconnectedness of the societies that had been built, and every group that should be affected, are.

It’s a wonderfully living world to read, knowing that actions have consequences. It makes every move by our protagonists holds that much more stake. Not because we think something will happen, but because we know something already did, and we’re reading the outcome of our heroes’ actions.

Though I am a little disappointed that the events of book 2 does not play as large a part in this book 3 as I had hoped, as it was my favourite entry in terms of world building.

There’s a part in the story where the Earth beyond what we’ve seen is mentioned. It is a tantalizing glimpse at the continued possibility of this dystopian world. And if the end credits are to speak for anything, it might be that there’s more to come.

(18/20)

PLOT

In terms of storylines, I think out of the 3 books, book 2 had the strongest of plots. Tensions and stakes were far higher in the previous entries than in Heart of the Storm, which does take away a large amount of fuel for a finale.

Now, don’t get me wrong, by any other adventure book standard, the climax of Heart of the Storm would have been more than great. And the threads in the book are well woven, with no questions left unanswered.

However, under the shadows of the rebellion ending of We Lost the Sky and spine-chilling foreshadow of a plague in Seeking Shelter, the siege of Siena is a step back in innovation. If Heart of the Storm had been a standalone novel, I feel it would score much higher.

A relatively positive point is the evolution of all the characters in the trilogy. It makes for nice comfort reading as an epilogue to their individual plots, seeing where everyone ended up.

But now for the gushing praise. The B plot with Renn and Lucas’ covey is just magnificent. Despite having lesser chapters to work with, I was instantly engaged and invested in the story and characters there. I would not mind an entirely separate novella dedicated to the short time skip that happened in the book. That’s how good the B plot was.

(16/20)

CHARACTERS

Split into different chapters by characters, Renn, Luca, and Theo returns as the main protagonists. Joining them are new deuteragonists Gabriele and Huan. 

Out of all of them, Renn and Luca’s arcs culminated fully in this book, and is perhaps the most engaging of all the plot points in the entire trilogy. While unexpected character destinations are fun, it’s also fulfilling to see these characters end up exactly where we feel they should.

Gabriele and Huan does their story well, bringing in tension to an otherwise close-knit group. But while their chapters are incredibly well told, their conflicts seems a step back in innovation from previous deuteragonists.

Though their characterizations were interesting, they felt shallow compared to the previous deuteragonists, Esmia, Mender, and Marco, who had backstories that felt fresh for an alien world. In contrast, the new duo are simply opposite sides of the world’s economic ladder.

Like in the second book, Seeking Shelter, there is 1 main character that I wished had less page time, and that would sadly be Theo, who I felt had completed her growth and journey in the previous book.

(Note: The review for Seeking Shelter noted Renn should have less chapter previously. That statement is reinforced by the plot of this book.)

More interesting to focus on would have been Theo’s partner, Arsenio, whose former job as an enforcer in the big city of Florence puts him at emotional odds with his old colleagues. I felt that would have interwoven more completely with the antagonists to hit higher emotional beats.

(16/20)

FLOW AND PACING

Again, I expect a few mistakes from a minor publishing house. I counted 7 jarring errors, which is fantastically low. Though it still pales in comparison to the cleanliness of the 1st book, which might just be attributed to my increased experience with editing.

And once more, the chapters are formatted by characters’ POV. But one can see Howalt’s increasing skill level in the medium, with some astounding scene changes that kept the story going.

The constant refresh in new deuteragonists also helped in introducing new readers to gain footing in the stories, making the trilogy of books great standalone reads by themselves.

There was one foreshadow with a meteorite that was far too on the nose for me, but otherwise, this part is just a nitpick that really doesn’t detract anything from the larger story. I’m just really trying to find fault here in a category that is practically perfect.

I read through the whole book in one sitting. Yes, you read that right. It took me a single 8-hour sit-down to finish the whole book. Every page absorbed me in. Simply a magnificent testament to Howalt’s talent.

(20/20)

THEMES

I’m not sure how much effort Howalt puts into the titles of her books, but it does at least seem like the Moonless Trilogy attempted to have them match the strong themes of their stories.

Heart of the Storm has 2 meanings. Finding a quiet place in a world surrounded by chaos, or accepting peace in an ever-changing surrounding. Both motifs reflected well through all the characters’ plot lines.

If I had one qualm would be how this last book’s theme revealed a flaw in the planning of antagonists for each story. The Shelter from the second book was a far better antithesis for the idea of peace and change. On the other hand, the sieging arbiters practically combats the idea of home from the second book.

(16/20)

CONCLUSION

It’s rare for a trilogy to end on a high note. Especially one as antithetical to the idea of “epics”. But Heart of the Storm managed that against the often violent dystopian genre. The aggressiveness is exchanged with pure soul and kindness. A dash of childhood optimism and gritted realism fills the human spirit of the players.

There are no worlds to save or big armies to slay in Marie Howalt’s Moonless Trilogy. Just a small candle of hope at the end of the world held on with decency and heart, by characters of dreams and life, written from Siena, with love.

Heart of the Storm by Marie Howalt: A whirlwind score of 86%.

Moonless Trilogy by Marie Howalt: Personal fav with 88% approval.