Liberator by Bryan Davis

Wow, am I at the end of this amazing series already? It seems like just a short while ago, I was being introduced to Koren, a slave who's trying to find out the truth and Jason, a boy from Major Four who's trying to find out what happened to his brother. And now, Koren has realised that she's a Starlighter and Jason is playing a major role in the liberation of slaves on Starlight. And we've been introduced to so many characters, most of whom have grown throughout this series.

In the final book, a lot of events are happening.

Oh, you wanted more detail right? Well, the soldier's from Major Four are here, the Benefile have been released and Taushin is still plotting something. All this will lead to one final, major collision that ends most of the problems that our characters are facing now.

In the book, there's a lot of talk about how Cassabrie is unpredictable and hard to understand, but personally, I thought she was one of the most straightforward characters. In fact, I thought that Koren was more unpredictable (really, helping Taushin again?). I'm trying to understand her, but I don't understand how even after all she's learnt, she still thinks she can out-wit Taushin by pretending to work with him. Basically, Cassabrie expressed my feelings when she said

"Are you listening to yourself? You put your own wrists in manacles! Koren, how many more times are you going to enslave yourself? You think you won't be persuaded to join the darkness, but your bonds say otherwise."

As for the other characters, wow, you can really see how they've grown. And if you're interested in the love life of Jason, just know that there's a really sweet ending in store for him.

The topic that caught my eye the most in this book would be the racism. Literally, racism, as in dragons versus humans. I think by this book, it's clear to the reader that the dragons aren't cardboard characters, they're characters that change and grow just like the human characters. Yet sadly, it seems like while Axard and Magmar are slowly getting over their prejudices about humans, the humans are still far away, with quite little progress (except for Tibalt). I think this is because the book focuses on the liberation of humans rather than inter-species coorporation, but it was just a topic that struck me. It's certainly not a main theme in this series.

Before I end, I want to share this lovely quote from the book.

"I was speaking about idolatry. For some, their idol is a grudge that is nursed and prepared for the day of wrath. For others, it is an end to suffering, or a beloeved person, or perhaps the idea of love itself. Any idol is able to turn a mind from the Creator, so they must all be purged by choice or smashed through trials, and only then will darkeness turn to light."

You probably shouldn't pick up this book staight away, the plot is quite confusing without prior knowledge. What you should do is to read the entire series. Start with Starlighter, move on to Warrior, and finish Diviner before you pick up this wonderful book!

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review.

And don't forget! My book giveaway of Starlighter and Diviner closes in one week from now on the 12/9/2012!