Host (Thorn St. Croix, Book 3) (ISBN 0451461738)

I want more!:
I haven't read the rest of this series. I was sent this book to review as a stand-alone, and I must say that Faith Hunter has captured my imagination. She has built her post-apocalyptic world meticulously, and has taken great pains to present her characters in a way that brings out both their human and not-so-human qualities believably. Throughout the book Hunter questions our ideas about faith, and what it means to be human. She holds a magnifying glass up to bigotry and hatred, and shows the reader that even against the evils of injustice, some things are worth fighting for, be it other-worldly, or right here at home. My only beef with the book, and one assumes Hunter will take care of this in later volumes, is that the reader is left hanging on a couple of key points: first, there's the whole battle set up between Elan and Thorn . . . and nothing really comes of it. Next, I would have liked a little more than just questions about the origin of the seraphs, cheribum, and the One True God. She hints that perhaps these are beings whose motives may be a little less than holy, and then she lets it drop without further exploration. One only hopes that she addresses these important points in the overall story-arc at a future date. A good read, and I reserve the right to change this to a higher rating once I read the other books in the series; Hunter has hooked me. bw 4 stars 6/28/08

Great Fantasy/Religious Series:
Thorn St Croix is has survived going underground to battle Darkness in it's home and has rescued her ex-husband, seraphs, and cherubs. She has even with stood the trials of exposing herself as a neomage hiding in a human community for several years. But fighting Darkness is not that easy. Thorn is sent a teacher from the Enclave. After seeing her on television, they send someone to smooth her rough edges and teach her what she would have learned if she could have staid at the Enclave. But she gets a different feel from his initial mission. While scrying, she learns that her preistest has taken ill and another temporary preistest is filling in. With that conversation, she learns of her bloodline and political powers. If that was not enough to keep her busy, she learns that the Dragon has finally escaped and it is up to her to lock him back up. Once again Thorn steps up to the plate to try to keep her family, friends, and home safe from evil. I really like this series. There is great action and character development. I cannot wait to see what happened next. If you like a good action fantasy, read this book, you will not be disappointed.

Engrossing and disappointing at the same time:
Throughout this series, Thorn often lusts after men because they are seraphs or the progeny of seraphs. I understand that she can't help it and I think the idea is intriguing. However, all this lust never culminates or amounts to anything. Books don't require sex in order to be good but if Thorn is repeatedly throwing herself at guys, I come to expect something to result from it. I expect her to find a guy (human, mage, kylen, seraph, WHATEVER) and pick him AND end up with him. When I finished the epilogue, I felt incredibly disgusted but not at all surprised. It seems like all three books so far have ended somewhat abruptly with loose ends, just a few pages after the battles are over. That being said, the characters are well-developed and likable, my favorites being Audric and Eli. And, of course, my favorite aspect of the books is the world-building; I'm a huge fan of seraphs vs fallen/spawn in a post-apocalyptic setting. The end leaves a lot unsaid and afterwards I went to Ms. Hunter's website, hoping for news of a fourth book though I had a sinking feeling that I wouldn't find anything. One page on the site calls the series a trilogy but I would still love to see what happens to Ciana, Thorn, Cheran, Rose, Audric, and the seraphs. Hopefully there's some evil left for them to fight.

Couldn't Put It Down:
I couldn't put this book down, outstanding third book in the series. I wasn't sure I wanted to read these books before because the descriptions had serious religious overtones, but this perspective makes for a great background without ever requiring belief or getting preachy. In fact, one of the themes was the question of if the seraphs were truely angles or aliens from another world.

A totally new concept:
I tend to judge books on whether or not I can escape into the story and forget the real world for a while. The Thorn St. Croix series is one that draws the reader into the story. It is clear that a lot of thought went into the the creation of the universe of 'Host' and Thorn St. Croix. The story draws the reader in and makes them care about the characters in the book. The series also has some issues that may or may not bother every reader. Logic errors. Every time I came across them, they threw me out of the story and made me grind my teeth in frustration. The errors weren't huge, but - to me - they were glaring. Everything from the colors of horses to the realities of living in a very cold environment. If this type of thing bothers you, I strongly suggest that you don't read the series. After every book, I swore that I wouldn't buy another, but in the end, I wanted to know what happened. For a brillant new concept/universe and ability to draw the reader in, I would give this book a '5'. For glaring (to me) logic errors.....a 2.5 Before you buy the books, decide if your education/life experience is varied enough to catch a host of details that are simply not logical. If you an put up with the illogic (or not even notice it), this is a series that pulls you into a new universe and won't let you go until you turn the last page.