Of Blood and Bone: Chronicles of The One, Book 2

Of Blood and Bone is the second book in the Chronicles of the One trilogy by popular American author, Nora Roberts. It follows on from Year One and there is virtually no recap, so readers are advised to start there. Lana Bingham knew from the moment her daughter was born that Fallon would have to make a choice at the age of thirteen. She had been raised as Simon Swift's daughter, but the family knew that Max Fallon's daughter was destined to be The One. And now, Year Fourteen after the Doom, Mallick is back to take Fallon away for training, if that is what she chooses.

In New Hope, life is settling down, with growing and making and caring all part of the mix, but also regular supply scavenging trips and raids on Purity Warrior strongholds to free prisoners and slaves. Their small community commonly takes in newcomers, and since the July massacre that killed Max and forced Lana to leave, security is taken seriously. So too, Arlys and Chuck consider their role in communicating the news, honest and true, as widely as possible via New Hope Broadcasting. But any complacency about their achievements will disappear when Fallon Swift makes known her plan.

Roberts has a real talent for creating characters that the reader is willing to invest in and care about, and it's easy to credit Stephen King's quote on the rear cover "I love Nora Roberts": she effortlessly equals his power in storytelling. The characters and their interactions are at least as important as the plot, which certainly does have elements of predictability, but there's also quite a shock at the end to make it really interesting. Book Three, The Rise of Magicks will be eagerly anticipated. Recommended!