The Myth Manifestation / Lisa Shearin

4 out of 5 stars

New York is one of the most popular convention destinations in the world—for humans and supernaturals. Every hundred years, rulers of thhe world’s supernatural races come together to negotiate and renew a peace treaty. Meeting in the same hotel are the governors of our world’s goblin and elf colonies. SPI is saddled with the security nightmare of keeping the living delegates alive and the undead delegates from becoming permanently deceased. We’ve got our work cut out for us.

I’m Makenna Fraser, seer for SPI. Our security nightmare becomes real when monsters from the delegates’ mythologies begin mysteriously appearing in the flesh to hunt delegates from every side of the debate. And when the hotel gets sucked into another dimension, there’s no escape.

We discover that we’re all pieces in an elaborate and deadly game. A game about to spill out into the real world. Failing to escape is game over and not an option. We have to save the world—but first, we have to save ourselves.

I’m still enjoying this series--there’s plenty of action in each book, but somehow the overarching plot line moves along very, very slowly. But this seems to be a Shearin thing, as her Raine Benares series is exactly the same in this regard.

Speaking of the Raine Benares series, this is the volume where the two series come together. One of Raine’s piratical relatives shows up as a diplomat here in Makenna’s universe and Mac’s goblin love interest, Rake, turns out to be a cousin of Raine’s one-time love interest, Tam.

I’m not entirely sure, but it seems that Shearin has had to publish this book (and later volumes of Raine Benares) as an independent, rather than with a traditional publisher. My public library wouldn’t order this volume, because their policy is to only purchase from traditional publishers, so I had to put out my own cash for this adventure. Not a big deal, since I’ve purchased the entire series, but it makes me a bit sad that people who depend on the library can’t continue on.

I think I’m safe in saying that if you liked previous volumes of the SPI Files, you will also enjoy this one. If I have any critique, it’s that I didn’t get nearly enough of Mac’s partner, Ian, in this volume. The Mac-Ian show has been entertaining and I’m sorry it got short shrift in this outing. I’m also a little disappointed with Rake, who seems to be going all ooey-gooey good guy. Where is the dark mage that Makenna fell for in the first books?

Despite these concerns, I don’t think there’s any doubt that I will put out the money for the next volume!