Series Saturday Audiobook Review: Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh

Series:  Psy-Changeling #14

Pub. Date:  June 2, 2015

Publisher:  Tantor Audio / Berkley

Narrator:  Angela Dawe

Length:  15 hrs 41 min

Format:  Audiobook

Source:  Hoopla

Nalini Singh is one of the most trustworthy authors I know... anything I pick up by her, I am sure to enjoy. Her world building for the Psy-Changeling series has always fascinated me.  She has a smart imagination, skilled at being creatively complex when it comes to the Psy-Net, supernatural and psychic abilities, with some animal magnetism thrown in to give us shifters of every different type.

I was particularly enthralled by this story because of our heroine, the first female Arrow that has been featured front and center. (For those of you living in the dark, the Arrows are an elite squad of Psy Warriors that are now protecting the Empaths, the Psy-Net, and those unable to protect themselves. They are closely aligned with Caleb Krychek and support the fall of Silence. You really need to start at the beginning if you don't know what I'm talking about. You won't regret it.)  Zaira is a tortured heroine, having endured a horrific childhood which resulted in her killing her abusive parents.  Zaira's loyalty to Aden formed very early once she was taken into the Arrow program. But because of her past, Zaira must maintain perfect silence lest the rage inside her take over.  I really enjoyed Zaira's character.  The struggle she had with letting Aden in or maintaining silence really drew me into her plight and created a good emotional connection with her character.

Aden has been highly visible in the prior installments of this series as the leader of the Arrows. His Silence has never been perfect in Zaira's eyes because he maintains such loyalty to his team. Even from a young age, he did what he could to help them get through the worst parts of Arrow training. Now Aden is leading the team in a new direction, trying to save the older members and create a new future for the Arrow children. You can't not like Aden's character. He is honorable, loyal and caring... and humble enough to have hidden his secret power from everyone.  I loved the reveal of Aden's true nature/power, but liked that he didn't flaunt until it was necessary to solidify the team's status and protect innocent people.

Now that silence has fallen, we are getting a new story arc.  There is a new set of villains, a council made up of different members of the three races (Psy, Changeling and Humans).  While our featured characters work toward discovering and eliminating the threat, the races are also starting to integrate into a supportive and collaborative community.  I anticipate that we are moving toward a fully integrated society as the series progresses.

Psy-Changeling Series