Instead of immediately resuming Melchi’s story, Olson jumps to a new protagonist, Mariutza. She is a young, na?ve, gypsy woman whose grandfather has been murdered. She must flee the swamp she knows and loves and find the prophet Jaazaniah of her grandfather’s bedtime stories, who she is sure will help her fight the Badness.
The forces that killed her grandfather are now after her as well. Mari is overjoyed to find Jazz in the city, but he seems to not know who he is or his significant role in her war with evil.
Jazz is just a singer-songwriter who can charm a snake out of its skin. But when it comes to helping Mari, he’s clueless. He claims to know nothing of Mari’s religion and to hold no belief in God at all, but when he starts seeing visions and those visions have relevance to their situation, he second guesses himself.
It’s not until the second half of the book that Melchi and Hailey return. Though I think the book moves a little slowly at first, it does keep the reader in suspense and speeds up once Melchi enters. I expected lots of answers to the questions I had at the end of Shade, but I didn’t get all that many. It was still an interesting and yes, out there, story that’s worth the read.
I felt myself sympathizing with Mari. It can be difficult when you’ve learned and trained with a mentor, when you have a certain belief system, and then all of the sudden you’re thrown out into the world and have to live it. You realize there’s so much you don’t know, but don’t see from your limited perspective how much you can really contribute to the world and those around you.
I recommend Powers for those who can get past the weird factor and enjoy a fantasy-like tale with heavy supernatural overtones.
