Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (review)

At the close of Stiefvater's Raven Cycle series, most of the main characters were off to find their fate, but Ronan has stayed near his Virginia farm and the ley lines that allow him to control his dreaming powers, his ability to bring things from his dreams—and nightmares—into the real world. In this opening book of the Dreamer Trilogy, Ronan anchors the story, but new players are introduced and highlighted. Ronan's brother Declan has more secrets than he can manage, ones that could seriously jeopardize his brothers' safety; Jordan Hennessy is a dreamer who's unable to bring anything back from her dark visions other than a copy of herself; and Carmen Farooq-Lane is hunting down dreamers at the behest of the Moderators, a group that believes a dreamer will be responsible for the end of the world. A painting and a prophecy put them all on a collision course toward one another, but as people's goals and motivations shift, so too does the chance for tragedy or redemption. The book gives each character arc complexity and detail but never sacrificing the pace or world building, the last of which expands upon the mythology and history introduced in the previous series. While there are obvious fantastical elements here, the book has the simmer of a crime thriller and the intrigue of a good heist, with dialogue providing some levity. Fans of the Raven Cycle will be pleased to see old faces, but they'll be even more thrilled to see where Stiefvater takes them next.