Ascension
Dark Breed, Book #1
By Sable Grace
ISBN# 9780061964404
Author’s Website: http://www.sablegrace.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Beware of Spoilers!
Ascension is the first full-length book by the conglomeration of Heather Waters and Laura Barone who make up Sable Grace. It’s the start of the Dark Breed series and it introduces us to Kyana who is a mix of werewolf and vampyre. Dark breed is the derogatory term some use to describe her and it seems only fitting for it to be the name of the series.
In the Dark Breed series the world is divided into several realms that are paralleled to one another. Beyond is where the Gods live on Mount Olympus, Above is where the humans live, then Below is where most magical creatures live, and lastly there is the Underworld, also known as Tartarus or hell. There are portals to where you can travel between the different realms if you meet the requirements to go to the desired realm (for example only the gods and goddesses can travel to Beyond).
There is a war raging on Above, the demons have attacked and are taking over. Kyana is a tracer that helps kill the demons and also finds the important humans, the Chosen, who are slated to replace the gods and Fates. But now the Chosen are being picked off one by one leaving the gods susceptible as their powers are fading and they need their replacements before the world is taken over by the demons. And, worse yet they just discovered that someone has unlocked the gates to hell meaning every demon they send there can now come back. Now it’s up to Kyana and pain in her ass, Ryker, to find the key to hell and relock the gates so that they can finally defeat the demons and give Above back to the humans.
But in a moment of panic for a friend, Kyana, breaks the law and now it could cost her not only the mission, but also her life.
I was a little worried about this book after reading the first chapter. All the information was overwhelming and I worried that A) I would forget something important or just not grasp a critical concept or B) that the whole book would be weighted down with information like that chapter and I wouldn’t like the book. But I’m happy to tell you that once that chapter was over the book lightened up and flowed much smoother and I ended up enjoying the story. It ended up being an action packed mix of fantasy, mystery, and romance that you will be sure to love.
I thought Kyana was an interesting heroine and found her being both lychen and vampyre made her much more versatile than lead characters in other series. This book just barely touched on her lychen side, but I expect it to be explored further in the future installments of the series. I also just really liked her kick-butt mentality and the humor in her internal dialog.
Ryker was a steamy male lead. I loved the whole idea that he was holding out for something more serious with Kyana. I couldn’t wait for him to finally get intimate with her and hope for more steamy scenes between the couple in future installments of the series! I mean what girl wouldn’t want to be with someone who’s a half god? And, he sounds like the sexiest beach bum I’ve ever seen!
Also, I’ve always had a love for mythology so I am overjoyed that this series mixes the gods in with the everyday creatures of the urban fantasy and paranormal worlds. You really could not have the Dark Breeds series without Hades, Artemis, and Ares. I also loved the personalities the authors were able to create for each of the gods. And, I found the idea of them losing their powers and needing replacements to be a new take on Mount Olympus and can’t wait to read more!
From the moment when everyone was looking at the scrolls and trying to keep a Chosen’s name from Kyana, I was expecting her to become Artemis’s Chosen and was a bit surprised with Haven being named instead, especially considering Haven didn’t really seem like the fighting type to say nothing of her becoming the Goddess of the Hunt. So Artemis’s final gift to Kyana wasn’t that big of a shocker to me. But the twist around Geoffrey at the end caught me totally off guard and I loved it! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, Bedeviled, which you can be assured to read my review on in the very near future!
