Bringer of Light by Jaine Fenn (Hidden Empire: Book 4)

9/10

This is the latest in the Hidden Empire series, and currently the last. Events are building to a head. Jarek Reen has decided the only way to keep Serenein safe and protect it, and humanity, from the female Sidhe is by posting a beacon that will enable space craft to find and access the hidden world. But to do that he will need the aid of the male Sidhe - and they are a whole new definition of ‘trouble’.

One thing I didn’t like so much about this book is the number of kidnappings - first Taro and Vy - an avatar of Khesh City no less - followed by a kidnapping of Nual. However, it was more than made up for by the various revelations about both male and female Sidhe, and a dark new power emerging that could threaten even the supposedly omnipotent Sidhe themselves. Just as you think we might be winging toward a solution to the Sidhe problem, something more ominous crops up. And by the end of the book, you learn even allies can’t be trusted. Your enemy’s enemy isn’t necessarily your friend!

The rather warped society of the Sidhe, whether male or female, leaves you wondering exactly how they came about in the first place, although Jarek’s suspicions of the Sidhe origins is perhaps the clue.

Again, it’s a mix of something akin to magic and technology that raises it above most scifi, with wonderful descriptions and well-crafted characters that entice me to want more. I cannot wait for the next book to come out - sometime 2012. I read all four books of the series in less than a week, something I haven’t done for years. It’s rare that a book really grips me from the opening pages, but all four of these succeeded and I highly recommend them all.