The Vanishing Throne by Elizabeth May (review)

Despite her best efforts, Lady Aileana Kameron failed to hold the seal that would prevent faeries from entering the mortal world and wreaking destruction (in The Falconer, BCCB 6/14). Now she is held captive and is being tortured in the faery realm by Lonnrach, a power-hungry fae certain that Aileana, the final Falconer and last guardian of the human race, is the secret weapon he needs to secure dominance over both worlds. Aileana’s rescue comes in the form of Aithinne, the fae sister of Kiaran, Aileana’s beloved. Aileana returns to Edinburgh to find it a ruin of ash and death, but she knows there will only be more violence if Lonnrach is able to find her so she must risk her life yet again to stop him. We don’t often see a YA heroine not succeed in her task of saving the world, and here readers witness the aftermath of that failure, a devastation that is portrayed not just in the wrecked buildings and ruined houses but also in the scarred faces and dead expressions of the humans who have survived. Aileana may not have become the hero she hoped but she’s certainly a survivor, and she’s able to put aside her trauma to focus on the upcoming battle. May’s vivid descriptions lend a thrilling gracefulness to the epic fight scenes between Aileana’s team and the pursuing faeries, while an appropriately quiet, subdued tone settles over the interactions between characters, including the romance between Aileana and Kiaran. An ever-expanding mythology and a cliffhanger ending ensures that readers will follow Aileana to very end of this trilogy.