Review: Radiance

Radiance by Alicorn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you've read Luminosity and liked it, then read this. Period. Alicorn's series is definitely some of the best hard fantasy I've ever read, fanfiction or not.

Spoilers are ahead, so if you haven't read Radiance yet, please cease reading this review.

Elspeth's story is amazing. While Alicorn does resort to a few subtle jabs at Meyer's canonical version, mostly this book goes through events that hardly resemble canon at all -- yet at the same time, everything is easily recognizable to fans of Twilight. Somehow, Alicorn has created a world of drama, intrigue, action, philosophy, and romance that far exceeds anything written by Meyer, yet using only the tools Meyer created in the Twilight universe.

Radiance does far more than just continue the story of Luminosity; it pushes the story forward in ways that readers will probably not expect. Of special interest is how Siobhan is portrayed in Alicorn's version of the story; while many characters are explored much more thoroughly than in Meyer's version, Siobhan's is perhaps the best example of how a throwaway power in the original books is considered quite extraordinary in a rational reading of events.

This series -- and this book in particular -- is definitely a must read.

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