Cassie Palmer, chief seer of the supernatural world, faces her biggest challenge yet–her own allies! Everything’s on the line in the latest thrilling entry in the New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series.Cassie Palmer has been chief seer of the supernatural world for a little over four months. In that time, she’s battled two gods, fallen in love with two men, and confronted the two sides … confronted the two sides of her own nature, both god and human. So it’s not surprising that she currently finds herself facing two adversaries, although they have a single purpose: to wipe out the supernatural community’s newest fighting force, leaving it vulnerable to enemies in this world and beyond.
To prevent catastrophe, the vamps, mages, and demons will have to do the one thing they’ve never managed before and come together as allies. Cassie has the difficult task of keeping the uneasy coalition intact, and of persuading her own two opposing forces, a powerful mage with a secret and a master vampire with a growing obsession, to fight at her side. She just hopes they can do it without tearing each other apart.
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For the past four months, Pythia Cassandra Palmer has been quite busy battling gods, falling in love with two men and confronted the two sides of her own nature, both god and human. So it’s not really surprising that she is now facing two adversaries with a single purpose – to wipe out the supernatural community’s newest fighting force. Cassie also has the difficult task of keeping the uneasy alliance between the vamps, mages and demons intact and persuading her own two opposing forces, a powerful mage and a master vampire to fight at her side without tearing each other apart.
Cassie is being run ragged in this riveting and volatile new story. Fans of the Cassandra Palmer series love all the strong, dominant characters and all the explosive action and thrilling suspense and they’re definitely disappointed with one as continues in true Cassandra Palmer fashion and keeps readers’ hearts pounding and their eyes cemented to the pages. The non-stop, fast paced plot is full of suspense, excitement and emotionally gripping turmoil of personal issues, relationship issues, political issues and of course, the issues of all the two adversaries with plans to make the supernatural community vulnerable in this world and beyond. The Senate is planning an offensive but of course is plagued with mistrust and their own arrogance with the politics getting in the way, betrayals and enemies keep stirring up things up and testing Cassie’s endurance. While Cassie’s still questioning her relationship with Mircea and wondering what is happening between her and Pritkin. With all of this going on, is it any wonder that readers can’t possibly put this stunning, deliciously thrilling story down once they have begun.
These books actually keep getting better. Not maybe story-wise, but narratively speaking. Instead of non-stop action where the reader has no idea what’s going on until maybe at the very end, there were lots of necessary breathers for reflecting things. Almost all the previous books were reflected on, which helped to make sense of them too. It worked very well, and helped to understand the plot of this book as well.
The story was the usual mayhem, where Cassie is pulled from one dimension to another and from present to past at a dizzying pace. At the beginning it was about the war that has raged for a couple of books already, but it ended up being a hunt for Cassie’s old enemy. And for the first time, the story-lines crossed with the latest Dorina books, bringing the two series together, if briefly.
This was also the first book, where Cassie finally started to get a grip of her powers and her station, and be proactive instead of reactive, and it worked well too. She cleared air with Mircea, and took her relationship with Pritkin to a new level. All in all, this was the Cassie I wish to see in the subsequent books. And although the book didn’t end up in a cliffhanger for a change, the wait for the next book will be too long.
Cassie Palmer series is 9 books in and still going strong. This book didn’t disappoint. Karen Chance has done it again. She has an ability to captivate her readers and delivers time and time again. This entertaining series is definitely one to read and read again. Can’t wait for the next book.
Once you start a Cassie Palmer book, walking away from the story is not an easy thing to do. Every novel in the series proceeds at a breakneck pace, and this one is no exception. Be aware that Brave the Tempest is book nine. All relevant information is summarized when necessary, but it will enhance the adventure if you know these characters. This series is an excellent binge read. Before reading my early copy of Brave the Tempest by Karen Chance, I wish I had time to revisit preceding books.
What I like: Karen Chance combines fantastic wit with pulse-pounding action. These supernaturals stand out. The characters have a unique voice and creative backgrounds that transform typical stereotypes. I relish the twists placed on the urban fantasy genre norms. Cassie Palmer’s world is one of the best on the market.
What I don’t like: As an avid series enthusiast, I find that repeated summarization interrupts my flow. That fact is not unique to this book, or even this series, and it is often my biggest complaint in a sequential read by any author. I understand the necessity of it, so I take it in stride. Brave the Tempest was no more bothersome than any of the others I have read. For some, maybe most, I think it will be a great addition.
Random Spoilery Thoughts.
Cassie has made her opinion well known about how vampires inherently lie and manipulate. Her horrible experience in Tony’s Court doesn’t give her many reasons to feel differently, but that also makes her biased on the subject. I want to trust Mircea. Doing so is easier for me when reading a Dorina book as opposed to a Cassie book. I don’t believe Mircea always does the right thing, especially when it comes to the Pythias, and he is currently making some pretty bold choices. But Cassie declares some critical judgments concerning Mircea, ones I don’t regularly accept as truth. Hopefully, I end up more right about Mircea than Cassie before the series is over. I am, however, pleased with where their partnership is by the end of Brave the Tempest. I really want them to find a solid non-romantic bond.
Pritkin continues to struggle with his dual-nature. I understand where he is coming from, but if Pritkin and Cassie learn to harness their power, they will be a formidable force. Pritkin will need convincing. Or most likely, down the line, the necessity will be thrust upon them. Pritkin will have no choice but to trust in himself. I am eager to see how that union transforms them. And I have to give a little yay! Pritkin and Cassie together are oh so satisfying! I eagerly await the next installment in the Cassie Palmer series.
Wow! FINALLY! This book was above amazing. I absolutely love this series. The characters, how much they are developing. I’m still smiling. Karen does such a good job with how her story delivers. The flow is smooth. It’s a story you never want to put down.
Cassandra Palmer just saved the world from a God… again. Does that mean she gets a break, no. But she does get to stay in her current time for most of her adventures in this story. I enjoyed getting to meet the Pythian Court and Cassie being able to interact with her Vampire bodyguards.
We get to see the world of Cassie Palmer expand with this story, Cassie crashes a war meeting at the Consul’s, shops at a coven mall, re-enters faerie and finds herself back in Shadowland. I loved this story, Cassie got the opportunity to expand her character interactions outside of Pritkin without losing the epic battles. Can’t wait to read again!
One thing I will always be able to say about Karen Chance’s works is they are now and always will be sheer entertainment for me. I so very much love Cassie and her antics. She may not be the deepest of all characters ever written. She may not be the most secure of heroines. But to me, her bumbling, goofy and seriously crazy personality gets me laughing like a loon so often, which isn’t always easy to do. Between Cassie, Pritkin and Mircea, I find myself almost wishing there was a way for her to enjoy two boyfriends, even though reverse harem is seriously not my thing. But each of these guys has something that just brings it home for me, and I’d be hard pressed to decide which one I’d like to see her with. For the most part, if I were pressed to the wall to make a choice, it would, of course, be Pritkin. But the loss of Mircea as a romantic interest that makes her insane would feel like a real loss. Couple that in with the most ridiculous of Pythia courts, being made up primarily of children, makes for wildly entertaining reading. Now, go ahead and add in a ton of action, and you’ve just compiled the perfect having a bad day read for me. Or having a good day. Or a lazy day. Or even a busy day. Any day is a good day for reading a Karen Chance novel.
I don’t know if this is the last book in the Cassie Palmer series, but I will say I sincerely hope it isn’t. Because while a series is often only as good as it’s ending, this is one of those that I wouldn’t mind going on forever, as long as she can continue to come up with new adventures for Cassie to go through. Because to lose Cassie would be like a friendship ending. I’d hate that. I’d really hate losing Cassie Palmer as one of my favorite fictional characters.
Very Well Done, Karen Chance, so Very Well Done as always! Thank you for the good feelings I always get reading your books.
Brave the Tempest is the 9th book in the Cassie Palmer series and should be read in timeline order with the Dorina Basarab series. Cassie and Pritkin — that’s right, he’s back! — have killed two gods but the war still rages. Jo’s spirit, the last of Agnes’ acolytes, is still out there causing problems and Jonathan, Louis-Cesare’s nemesis, is back to his old tricks. Plus a couple of ancient demons get thrown in the mix.
This book has the complete cast of characters plus most of the characters from the Dory books. Which is so fantastic! Cassie and Dory finally have a conversation instead of trying to kill each other and it was everything I had ever hoped for. Caedmon apparently flirts with everyone and gets his just desserts. Cassie takes a trip to faerie and goes to a coven mall which was a major highlight for me (think Diagon Alley magical wonderment).
I love that Cassie has grown so much as a character. She’s embracing her position and the power that gives her in the supernatural community. She finally expects to be respected as Pythia and is no longer allowing the other leaders to roll over her. She’s also stepping it up on the emotional side and opening up to all the new people in her life. Having a court and a family no longer just means people to protect but people to love and let inside her emotional walls.
I think the best thing about this book is “the between times.” Most Cassie books are constant action and running from one crisis to the next. Which I absolutely love and there is plenty of that here. But there’s also quite a bit of downtime where they get to just talk to each other. Augustine opens up about his childhood. Cassie helps Rhea, Pritkin, and Mircea through some of their issues. And Marco helps Cassie through hers. We get to spend time getting to know Saffy and Vi from the covens, the young Pythian court members, and the latest vampire bodyguards. Cassie gets some unexpected help and training. And some Casskin hanky panky makes everything complete.
Karen Chance is one of my favorite authors. Not just for her endearing characters but the amazing, intricate storylines with insane fights and crazy politics. Read this book, well this whole timeline. It’s fantastic. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
This books is slower, in my opinion, than the rest of the series. This focuses heavily on the Pythia court and Cassie learning more about her power. Cassie has really grown since the first book and her interactions with her court really show this.
Cassie and Mircea still have unfinished business but it’s done between them. FINALLY!!! Pritkin and Cassie are finally together but they still have a lot of stuff to work through. I am so glad they are finally together!
While I enjoyed this slower pace I did have some issues with this one. There was some confusing scenes in this book, mainly the scene with Pritkin, Cassie, and the demon council. It keep flashing from the demon council to later when Cassie was back home. This quickly became confusing for me, especially since I was listening to the audiobook and couldn’t easily go back. I don’t understand why she wrote the scene like that when she could have just had two separate scenes and not confused people.
Overall, I enjoyed this book for it being the slower and more politics paced. This needed to happen for Cassie to have a successful court. I can’t wait to see what will happen next for Cassie.
Brave the Tempest is fast paced with a lot going on. Cassie once again finds herself bouncing from one chaotic moment to the next. Many of the support characters make appearance with a few stepping up to the plate to take on more of the burden. The story rehashes several prior books throughout the story, which I don’t recall happening much in the other stories and was kind of irritating. A rehash point took place during an intimate scene, which in my opinion was the absolute worst place to do so. This story also felt a little bit like a filler, as the overall series arc was not progressed by this story. However, Cassie is finally standing up against some of the powers.
Cassie Palmer book nine is the first book in a while to have a new focus- there is nothing immediately wrong, no existential or extraterrestrial crisis to contend with that takes an entire chapter of back story to explain. Warning, there will be some slight spoilers ahead.
The book opens most enjoyably with a deeper look into the world of the witches. We are used to the descriptions of Las Vegas and the Strip (though they have mostly been demolished at this point) and in Brave the Tempest we get descriptions of a magical and underground-in all senses of the word- shopping mall. Cassie’s reactions to it are delightful and I enjoyed the scene.
We also get to see Cassie using her powers more confidently in this book. Giant demon problem? No worries, I’ll just send them back where they belong with a snap of my fingers. Cassie is finally settling into her court and trying to become the political power that we have been told the Pythia is supposed to be. Of course there are problems, and the book mostly focuses on those and on setting up the next major conflict in the series.
My main gripe doesn’t have to do with any of that. My main problem is that we just finished a multi-book cycle chasing Pritkin through demon realms and time, and trying to destroy gods. At the end of the last book, that giant story arc had an almost-satisfying conclusion. I was looking for the rest of that conclusion in this book. Guess what? Pritkin was missing for the entire first half. I was not ok with it. He is only in a few scenes in the entire book. Those were good scenes. I especially liked the food tasting game, but there were not nearly enough of them. I felt cheated.
We end the last book with him saying “I remember everything,” and then it’s back to the usual, Cassie running around trying not to die. I felt this book could have been a bridge, tying up more loose ends from the previous book and setting out the new conflict. Instead, it came across as spastic, and not really one thing or another. We spent so long waiting for Cassie and Pritkin to get together, and now I want to see more of their relationship. Overall, not my favorite book in the series. I guess we will have to wait and see if book 10 has the components this one was missing. 3.5 stars.