#original erdas

I'm leaning towards no personally, but I could see it going either way. Is Worthy the only one of his siblings to "break the chain" of being Marked? Or did that only matter because Worthy was the eldest, and/or male? I could see the Earl only caring about his sons when it came to preserving the family legacy. Hence why we never heard about his daughter.

It's a shame we know absolutely nothing about Daphne, or their mother. I mean, really, nothing.

Where did they go?

Do they even care for Worthy and Dawson anymore?

It's been a minute...

At long last, I have begun rereading my favourite arc of the series, part one of Fall of the Beasts. Have a look at some of the notes I compiled as I went, if you fancy.

I like how Greenhaven is depicted on the cover. It looks much cosier than the grey stone castle I usually imagine. I don't understand the elk heads, though. They look cool, but why do the Greencloaks idolize Tellun so much? All he did (as far as we know) was imprison Kovo and Gerathon after standing by and letting the Four Fallen die, all while supposedly being their leader. If anything, we should be hearing about statues and decorations erected in the Four Fallen's honour. Replace those elk heads with wolf heads; Briggan was the one who originally shaped the Greencloaks into a real army. Have a stone statue of each of the Fallen guarding the four corners of the castle, like they stood with the Greencloaks in life. Briggan to the north. Uraza to the south. Jhi to the east and Essix to the west. Looking out towards their respective homelands.

It's always a bit of a shock when I remember how young Conor, Abeke, Meilin and Rollan are canonically. They start out a bit older in A Revised History of Erdas, and a lot more time passes over the course of the first three arcs.

In the canon timeline, it's been six months since The Evertree. Not long at all! (My timeline has the world at peace for a much lengthier period of twenty-two months.)

"'Someday our survival will rest upon knowing all about ancient Hellan rock decorating, and you're going to thank me,' Meilin said..." This line is funny to me because in the end, it was a creation of the Hellans that saved them.

The hidden section in Greenhaven's library is so intriguing. The librarian has been collecting literature about Stetriol and storing it there, and only certain people are granted access. Not even the Four Heroes knew about it. I don't think Olvan knew either, because he couldn't tell the kids anything about Stetriol when he sent them there. I wonder what other secrets are kept in there -- maybe stuff about the bond tokens? The location of the key to Gerathon's ancient prison? Records of the Stetriolan Genocide (if it truly happened)? Knowledge that might pave their way forward? The Four definitely need to dig into this.

The cover of the mysterious book is made of black snakeskin... which makes me wonder if the creator of the book was referencing Gerathon. How much did she know about the Wyrm, anyway?

All the pain and horror of Conor's infection could have been avoided if they had just amputated his arm at the elbow... but these books aren't based on logic.

Conor has moonbeam decorations on his ceiling! Someday I'll finish my blueprints for the Four's rooms.

When Conor, Meilin and Takoda make it out of the tunnels, I'm betting everything I have that they're all gonna have mad claustrophobia.

I'd argue that the Abeke Rescuing a Baby Animal saga continues in this book with the yak that she saves from the cougars. I just love the heart she has. To think nothing of herself even as blood is pouring out of her neck, only focused on protecting the vulnerable baby. Abeke, you will always be famous.

Anda has a baby sibling!

Anda was named healer for his tribe because Tellun came to him. It's interesting because in ARHoE, Tasha is chosen as Stetriol's next ruler for similar reasons.

Phos Astos is so much cooler than I remembered. The people live in giant mushrooms! They farm spiders (possibly using their silk for clothing and their venom for weapons or medicine)! It's lit by pretty colours and warmed by the earth itself! Amazing.

The Sadreans have spirit animals but no access to the Nectar, meaning they would have suffered from the bonding sickness until recently.

The Hellans and their Sadrean descendants were inspired by the ancient Greeks! Phos indeed means "light" in Greek. Xanthe itself is a Greek name. There are other similarities and references to Greek civilization/mythology later on (like Atalanta and the Meleager).

The Sadrean carvings reveal that Briggan, Uraza and Jhi were close even before their alliance in the First Devourer War! Interestingly, Essix isn't included.

While the chance of Shane meeting Xanthe while in Sadre is slim, it's not out of the question. Phos Astos is an ocean away from southern Amaya, where Shane entered from, but Xanthe is a wanderling and has been all the way to the Evertree before. It's possible that she's journeyed to other far reaches of Sadre, like the tunnels underneath southern Amaya -- or that Shane travelled quite a ways and met her somewhere in the middle. We're not told anything about his venture underground, so anything is possible.

On that note, it seems like different regions of Sadre have different coloured vegetation. Phos Astos is home to pink and green fungi, but the mushroom Shane found was purple.

Jhi has the power to stop sound. This panda is overpowered.

"Meilin turned her head in time to see [Takoda's] tattoo quiver and then disappear." Oh, the tattoos coming alive for a brief moment when the spirit animal enters or leaves the passive state is such a neat detail. I'm definitely keeping that.

Arax charging Abeke in the final battle harks back to Wild Born, when he cornered her after she stole his talisman. Since she was shown to have an affinity for the Granite Ram, I like to see connections being drawn between them.

Conor x Xanthe could have been something, actually. He seems quite enchanted by her, which I find sweet, but when I think about it some more, they have the potential for real depth. Imagine the internal struggle that could have arisen when she discovers he's infected, but by that point has already caught feelings for him. Something I'll explore in an AU, perhaps...

This was a great book. There were a lot of elements introduced that I really enjoyed: The overarching apocalypse, the Sadreans, the lore, the cool cast of new characters, and, of course, King. I have always favoured the aboveground team, but was pleasantly surprised to find the underground plot far more engaging than I remembered. I like Xanthe and Anda, but I'm not so sure about Takoda so far. He's alright, but I can't get a good read on him. His personality was all over the place in this book. I think I need to read some more chapters from his perspective. Thankfully, that is coming! And next time we are introduced to one of my all-time favourite characters: Tasha!

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

I'm back after another reread! This time, I'm going over what I've discovered to be my favourite of the special editions. Let's get into it!

Kovo: Rise of the Reptile King

Feliandor talks to animals just like Shane does. Aww.

"[The mongoose's] obvious intelligence left no doubt -- this was a spirit animal." So canonically, Bile-bonded spirit animals have the intelligence of natural ones. That's got to be a crazy experience for the animal. Imagine you're just a normal mongoose, living your mongoose life, until suddenly you have the intelligence of a human. There's some serious psychological horror potential there, especially for the Bile-affected animals at the time of the Second Devourer War, who were presumably reduced to their previous state when the Bile lost its power.

The unnamed Niloan woman proves that humans have had access to the Bile for some time before Feliandor started the war. I wonder who the very first person Kovo and Gerathon entrusted with the Bile was. That would be an interesting story to tell.

"If the bird is not released within five days... my benefactor shall move on to others who may be more interested in his offer." You have to wonder what exactly Kovo's backup plan was. Go to the other world leaders and appeal to their unique problems, I'm assuming. What if instead of the king of Stetriol, the Devourer was an Amayan chief or Zhongese emperor? Infinite AU potential!

Fel's parents were killed? By whom??! My best guess is that they were assassinated, considering Fel blames the captain of the king's guard for not protecting them, but who would want to eliminate the much beloved king and queen? I wish we got more information on this.

Thylacines canonically exist on Erdas, at least in Feliandor's time! Yay!

Kovo was the one who gave Feliandor the title of Reptile King. Paralleling this, Briggan gave the Greencloaks their name.

I wish we learned what Fel named his crocodile. Unlike Shane, he thinks of his spirit animal as something beautiful, so he probably gave it a name.

Since Feliandor probably couldn't be the direct ancestor of the present-day royal family (there's no mention of him taking a queen or having children before his death), I made it so that they are descended from his cousins in A Revised History of Erdas. I believe this is already canon, but I may be wrong. When Fel died with no heir, the throne passed to his paternal cousin, Lysander -- the forefather of all kings to come. I plan to write a novella about his life eventually.

Jhi: Yin and Yu

Yin and Luan's chaotic bond is a good example of how things must have been before the Greencloaks. Before there was an organization dedicated to building upon the spirit animal bond, the Marked and their animals had to figure things out on their own.

I think Yin's father was formerly part of the Zhongese military, or held some other position in government. Yin mentions that her family had once had access to "important secrets" like the layout of the Bamboo Maze, but not anymore. I wonder what he did to lose his position.

Surprisingly, Yin and her family don't seem to know anything about Jhi before being told by the healer. And it's not that they can't remember her off the top of their heads, like Conor in the first book, either. When Yin tells Yu about her, he reacts like this is his first time hearing of her.

In ARHoE, Meilin can trace her lineage back to Teng Yin and Teng Yu. She is descended from Yu through her father. Meilin grew up hearing stories of her many-times-great-aunt Yin's adventures, and idolized her from a young age. The Sword of Teng (renamed from Tang to match their family name) is in their family's possession at the time of the first arc. It passes to Meilin in Blood Ties, after the death of General Teng, and she wields it like her famed ancestor thereafter.

Uraza: The First Greencloak

One of Uraza's titles is the Great Cat of the Grasslands.

I love how Uraza calls Tembo a kitten (although baby leopards are called cubs). I bet she thinks of Abeke as a cub, too.

Very ironic how the first green cloak was stolen from a Conqueror.

"I met in secret with young men and women I knew from other villages and nearby tribes... One night last spring, we all left behind our tribe colours and allegiances and replaced them with green cloaks..." Not all of the first Greencloaks were Marked!

Uraza marvels at how Tembo and Omika have learned to control precisely where she appears when she comes out of passive state, and in The Dragon's Eye, she masters this same skill with Abeke. I love all the little threads that are being woven between these ancient humans and our four protagonists.

We learn a lot about Nilo in this section, which I am over the moon about. Tribe names and customs! Landmarks! It's not much in the grand scheme of things, but it's something.

Getting inside Great Beast Uraza's head has only strengthened my belief that she should have taken a whole lot longer to accept being bonded to Abeke. Sure, she may have learned from her time with Tembo that humans are not all bad, but being one's spirit animal is another thing entirely. Uraza values her freedom and independence above all. Being tethered to a human, no matter how pleasant they may be, should be a hard thing for her to come to terms with. It would have been true to her character if she took a while to warm up to Abeke, wary and aloof until the girl earned her trust, and struggled with being her partner until the rewarding moment when she agrees to work together with her. They gave that arc to Essix, though -- who doesn't think badly of humans or the spirit animal bond in her short story.

In ARHoE, Tembo has three living descendants in present-day Erdas: Abeke, Soama and Irtike. Tembo married Jinta a few years after the war's end, and they had three children together. Chinwe and Ikenne would be born into this line many years later. Abeke is unaware of her connection to the first leader of the Greencloaks for much of the series. When Tembo chose to leave his family to hide the bond tokens and never returned, they grew bitter towards him. Some people on Erdas said he was killed on his journey, attacked by his enemies. Some said he spent the rest of his days away from the public eye on a secluded island, troubled by the war and the genocide he had overseen in Stetriol. Whatever the case, his wife and children never forgave him for abandoning them when they needed him the most. Refusing to speak of him to their descendants, he soon faded from living memory, and future generations would never know the Tembo of legend was their ancestor. (Author's note: This made me really want to write something about Tembo's family, especially since I imagine his kids retraced his footsteps years after he had left to try and find him, so maybe I will do that.)

Briggan: The Packleader

Considering her mission and how she had joined Briggan's Great Pack by the time of the Last Battle, I think it would have been more fitting if Katalin's spirit animal was a canine. I'm thinking a silver or cross fox could have served the same purpose as a black mink. This could have explained why the Marked resistance sent such a young, unassuming girl to convince Briggan to join them -- they thought her being bonded to one of his fellows might make him more willing to hear her plight.

Spirit animals can leave the passive state at will and don't have to wait to be called out by their human partner. Every day, they teach us something new about the spirit bond.

"Received your mark" is a cool way to say you've summoned a spirit animal.

Great Beast Briggan's presence giving people visions of the future, and that affect lasting even long after they've left him, is quite possibly the coolest thing ever.

We don't get much information on the human protagonists in this book, but as you can see, that hasn't stopped me from fleshing them out more. In my mind, Katalin is mixed Euran and western Zhongese (Arab-coded), a result of intermarrying being far more common in the days before Feliandor's war. (I'll go into this another time.) Conor is her direct descendant, through Fenray.

Essix: Fall of the Four

I wonder if the forest Tellun created on Stetriol remained after the Great Beasts had gone.

This section makes it seem like Rumfuss has always spoken haltingly, even though it was said in Hunted that this was likely a result of him going many years without saying a word.

Considering this book was released right before Rise and Fall, the hints pointing to where Halawir's true loyalties lie are nicely placed. It'll be fun for me to explore the full extent of his involvement in the First Devourer War.

"While the Evertree stands, our destinies are tied to Erdas. If one form is lost, another will rise." The Great Beasts always knew they would return to Erdas in some way, shape or form!

I always remembered Uraza, not Jhi, being the one to lend Tembo the speed and agility needed to kill Feliandor.

This section is so painful to read. I will never be fond of the other Great Beasts (besides Ninani, Tellun and Mulop). They were complicit in the deaths of the Four Fallen and the near-destruction of the world. They failed in their duty as protectors of Erdas. (The three I just mentioned can be excused... somewhat.)

I really do wish that Essix got a longer chapter where she encountered a human who convinced her to join the Greencloaks' cause, like all the rest. They might have skipped that with her because Amaya was uninvolved in the First Devourer War, it appears. Still, I want to know how she lost her talisman, and what made her decide to join the fight.

Ninani: Ninani's Nectar

Note: This short story is unfortunately only available online. You can read it here.

Tepin reads like a kid who has an innocent crush on his slightly older babysitter and it's honestly adorable. We only see them interact in flashbacks, but their friendship was beautiful to read.

The bonding sickness affected pre-existing bonds as well as new ones. That's horrible. I was previously under the impression that only the bonds that formed after Kovo damaged the Evertree were at risk.

I believe Tepin would have contracted the bonding sickness as well if not for the Nectar of Ninani. In one of his dreams, he asks Ninani if the Nectar will save him, to which she nods. She doesn't answer when he asks if it will save Ifa, who, as we know, dies from her illness.

Ninani can make plants grow! It would have been nice to show Tasha harnessing this power through their bond.

This chapter was so bittersweet. I'm not ashamed to admit I teared up a little at the end.

And with that, I've finally finished the first arc of Spirit Animals!

Although the arc ended at The Evertree, it has books that directly accompany it, such as this one. And now I'm done! I enjoyed this one quite a lot. I'm very grateful we got a special edition that explored some of Erdas during ancient times, and that gave us a brief glimpse into the lives of the Four's ancestors (to me!). This book had some awesome scenes -- Tembo riding on Uraza's back, the snakes being released in the throne room, the Great Pack tearing the Conquerors apart and, of course, the Battle to End All Battles. Tepin's story was probably my favourite, but I loved Yin and Katalin's, too, despite the relative lack of action in them. I just loved how atmospheric and emotional they were, and the experience of seeing the Four Fallen as Great Beasts through someone else's eyes. The dream-like quality of Tepin's chapter well and truly captivated me. I do think this book should have been told entirely from the Four Fallen's perspectives (with the exceptions of Feliandor and Tepin), but the humans' perspectives were done so well that I can't really complain.

Exciting stuff is coming next week. Stay tuned!

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

Fall of the Beasts continues! We are once again back at it.

Fun fact: When this book's cover was first revealed, I assumed the three Redcloaks on the archway were in fact Abeke, Rollan and Anda. I thought Anda would be sticking around for the rest of the aboveground adventures. RIP.

Something I find interesting is that the Evertree's tremors reduce even the Four Fallen to a beastlike state, stripping away their greatness as well as their link to their humans. We see this with Uraza and then Briggan. I suppose it could be a callback to the Great Beasts' origins; before the Wyrm struck the Evertree and gave them their godly forms, they lived as common animals.

"This one called himself Worthy. He came asking for the Keeper. They left together and haven't returned." I love it when the books reference the game. They're off to save Talon!

There's an inconsistency here: In the last book, Abeke and Rollan sail to Amaya on the Tellun's Pride II. There is no mention of a crew, and no Greencloaks accompany them on their trek, which suggests they were manning the Greencloaks' finest ship all by themselves. Not a problem, since Abeke has proved herself to be up to the task, but an odd choice of vessel. In this book, it's said that they went alone, but on a smaller boat more suited to their little party. Then, of course, they board the Tellun's Pride II as if for the first time and are introduced to the captain and crew. Funny little mistake I noticed.

Apparently marriage between Greencloaks is unusual. No idea why; it's not made clear.

"Rollan thought he could see Anda beside the gate, dark eyes wide and watching. Rollan lifted a hand, but the boy -- if it was him -- didn't respond." This is so haunting and sad. I wonder what Anda was feeling in that moment. Apathy? Or anger at being left behind?

"Ever since they'd faced Zerif in the forest, [Abeke]'d been closed off, distracted." Imagine if that was not only because she was stressed about the strain on the spirit bond and worried about Anda, but because she was wondering if the mysterious masked man was Shane... I know it's not canon, but man, the story would have been so much better if she started to wonder and wrestle with herself about it as he kept appearing and saving their lives. In a vague sort of way that wouldn't directly spell out her suspicions to the reader. Considering how little time she got with Shane in the end, that was the least they could have done.

Here we have another case of the usual laws of the spirit bond being broken: Arac, a Euran, is bonded to a spider monkey, an animal that would presumably be native to southern Amaya. There are no monkey species anywhere near the select few northwestern European countries that I base Eura on, so my solution for A Revised History of Erdas was to make Nexi a stoat instead -- an entirely new animal, but one present in Eura and more suited to a seafaring life!

I imagine Nisha's spirit animal, Relis, is an African (Niloan) grey parrot. It'd be funny to have the captain and her parrot hold animated conversations with each other.

"Back in Nilo, she had seen a man die of infection." I like to think that this was Chinwe's husband and Irtike's father.

I like how this book shows Abeke has had time to think about what Shane said to her during their fight in The Evertree. She wasn't ready to consider his reasoning back then, but many passages here make it clear that she sympathizes with the people of Stetriol, sees where they were coming from and understands that the Greencloaks were wrong to condemn them. That kind of nuanced perspective is something I very much appreciate.

I do wish Magda had made an appearance. I suppose she would have been released from her position when the Greencloaks took over, but I doubt she would have left.

"Abeke had eventually come to terms with her family, but she knew she'd never see such a look in her father's eyes." The look she is referring to is the look of pride that Tasha's parents gave her. A look of pride. So here we have one of our protagonists, the black girl, the famously distrusted and mistreated, admitting to the reader that she has made up with her abusive father, but he has not changed, and she has simply learned to deal with it. Can we talk about how awful and disturbing this is? That Abeke stays trapped in the cycle of abuse, and it's only a footnote in the story?

Something about Abeke lingering in the same halls Shane grew up in... walking in the gardens, maybe standing in the very spot where he learned of the Bile from Zerif... they're so intertwined.

James appearing right after the castle is mentioned to be inhabited by some of Shane's cousins, and coincidentally looking near identical to him, makes me believe the author intended for them to be related. I've always thought of them as cousins, so that's a win for me.

Aidana was presumably at the Evertree with Lenori, since Wikerus was the one to deliver the seer's ominous message to the kids. (Of course, it's not explained why. In my heart it's because they are lovers, but I'm sure that is not what the authors intended.)

This post was a bit short, but make no mistake, I loved this book. It may even be in my top three of the series. I don't have much to say about the underground plot, other than I still find it interesting and am grateful for the quiet moments and slower pace to even out the often action-packed aboveground plot. The bonds being built between Abeke and Rollan on one side and Conor and Meilin on the other have my whole heart. Tasha was great, and so was seeing all the positive change happening in Stetriol, even if it ended horribly. Love, love, love Arac and Nisha (both of whom are alive and well in ARHoE, by the way). This was King's time to shine, and he kind of stole the show, I'm not gonna lie. Also, a couple of minor characters were introduced who have much bigger roles in ARHoE, so I got to point at them like I was seeing my OCs in print. Very cool. Lots of good things in this book.

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

We've come to the end. I'm finally at the last book of the first arc! Hopefully I can stop explaining what these posts are now, but one more time for anyone unaware: These posts are a compilation of notes taken from my rereads of the Spirit Animals books. They include interesting details, stuff I missed and how I plan to change certain things in my retelling of the series, A Revised History of Erdas. Shall we begin?

"I know you were supposed to be your village's Rain Dancer and all, but can you lighten up on all the dancing?" I know Rain Dancers have to engage in rituals and meditate extensively before they can produce rain, but Abeke influencing the weather with her emotions is a fun idea. Imagine the ceaseless rain is brought down by her pain and sorrow over Shane, Meilin, Tarik and her family.

It definitely feels to me like Tarik was one of the Greencloak leaders, alongside Lenori and underneath Olvan. His role in training the Four Heroes themselves, him having a seat at the table with the other leaders and a place at their important meetings, et cetera... it all seems like his rank was higher than he let on in-text. (Also, my two cents: I would nominate Finn to take his place as the third Greencloak leader.)

"The image of Gerathon's smiling jaws and slithering body disappeared, replaced instead with Rollan's lopsided grin and Conor's encouraging voice, Abeke's clear laugh." I am crying.

The typos in this one are funny. Kalani's dolphin, Katoa, is referred to as female even though he was introduced as male in Against the Tide. And Devin is mistakenly called Devon.

I don't like how Kalani and Rollan made up by completely forsaking the cultural beliefs of Kalani's people. If Hundred Islanders believe something is tapu and want nothing to do with it, they shouldn't be forced to go against that. They already introduced the concept of a ceremony to rid someone or something or tapu (noa), so they could have simply had Kalani perform this for Rollan. I've been saying this, but I'll say it again.

Finn should have been the leader of the Greencloak expedition from the beginning. He already has experience with these kids, and placing him back in a position of authority would be much less likely to spark resentment than a completely new person like Dorian would. Narratively, I do think it was necessary to see more of how Tarik's death affected the Four. But logically...

The Conquerors are monitoring their own people for signs of disloyalty. Interesting.

It seems some records of Stetriolan wildlife survived after all -- Finn knows that the animal who stole their provisions is a dingo. Since it was established earlier that the Greencloaks know next to nothing about Stetriol, I would have liked it better if Abeke was one of their only sources of information. She could use whatever she learned about the continent from Shane and the Conquerors to help guide them in their quest. And she identified a dingo in Against the Tide, so she could have done the same here instead of Finn.

Strange how the party just left the dead horse behind and continued on, instead of using it for meat. Between the meat from the horse and the water bulbs Abeke found, they would have been set to last for even longer.

Abeke swinging up onto her horse's back reminds me of that scene in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers where Legolas does that crazy mounting technique. I'm willing to bet that was done on purpose; both characters are great archers, after all.

Shane's intense reaction to Gerathon entering his mind must mean that this is the first time she has controlled him. It makes sense, given that she probably wanted to make him feel like he was the one in charge. Oh, what I would give to get inside Shane's head during this battle. Edit: Gerathon did in fact possess him prior to this in The Book of Shane, but I prefer the idea that she had never stolen his agency before this battle.

Gerathon forcing Shane to aim for Abeke specifically was definitely intentional. Her method of reading people and then turning them against the ones they love the most is the highest form of torture.

I know I've mentioned that Sundown in Rise and Fall may be my favourite chapter in all of Spirit Animals, but Duel is a strong contender, too. The contrast between the raw pain and rage of Duel and the peacefulness, the gentleness, the emotional vulnerability of Sundown is incredible. It makes sense why both are so close to my heart; they go together, hand in hand. You can't have one without the other.

Everything I read about the Four Heroes' travels is telling me that Erdas is a remarkably small planet.

Conor is sorely mistaken about the crater around the Evertree being caused by an ancient volcano. Additionally, when Abeke later sees a vision in the sky of how the world came to be, including the birth of the Evertree and the Great Beasts, there is not even a hint about the Wyrm. It makes me wonder if the authors had conceived of the Wyrm's landing at this point (or if they were purposefully covering up this plot point to surprise the readers).

Only the Great Beasts know the location of the Evertree. I wonder how it has remained hidden to the rest of the creatures on Erdas. Surely there are tribes living in southern Nilo, yes? It would be cool if the Great Beasts were able to conceal it with their combined magic, making the crater and everything inside it invisible to the human eye.

The Evertree bears fruit! Its description of "pure white" and, well, the fact that it comes from the Evertree itself makes me imagine it has magical properties of some kind. What could this fruit bestow upon you if you were to eat it? Good health? Eternal life? If humans knew how to find the Evertree, I'm sure wars would have been waged over this very question. (It could have made for an interesting storyline if Shane had managed to steal one of the fruits before he fled. Perhaps he would eat it, perhaps sell it, perhaps keep it to look at. I imagine it would stay fresh even after being plucked and never spoil.)

In ARHoE, Arax appears at the Evertree with a broken horn from when Barlow threw him off the cliff. Just a cool detail I thought to mention.

Tellun sacrificing himself is supposed to be seen as a noble act, but at a closer look it actually works against our protagonists. Kovo has made his intent to rule the whole world quite clear. While the Great Beasts dying might sadden him, it won't stop him. By taking themselves out of the battle, Tellun and the first few are leaving it all up to a bunch of kids (warriors, yes, but still kids) to bring down this age-old, godlike gorilla, instead of using their combined might to stop him and save the world they swore to protect. If Tellun had learned something from the last Great War and decided to fight this time, aided our heroes in driving Kovo into the Evertree and died in the process, it would have been so much better! On the flip side, though, it could be read as a testament to how selfish the Great Beasts actually are -- how they are shown time and time again to care more about themselves and their talismans than upholding their oath.

I would have preferred it if the brief moment when the Four Fallen appear as Great Beasts once more happened at the Evertree and not Muttering Rock. Like, if being in the presence of the tree that created them temporarily restored them to their old forms. Great Beast-sized Briggan, Uraza, Jhi and Essix fighting Kovo, Gerathon and Halawir with the rest of their brethren, a more hopeful and heartbreaking rendition of their last battle all those years ago, would have been amazing.

Something about Shane presumably fleeing further into Nilo, home of the friend he betrayed, and perhaps wandering there a while in the wake of his defeat... and many months later, Abeke restoring her bond with Uraza in Stetriol, home of the friend she forgave. Everything is connected.

Wow. This was a powerful finale -- high stakes, epic final battle, emotional climax, descriptions I could see in my mind's eye. There were quite a few things I didn't like about this one, though. Outside of what I've already mentioned: The ending should have been heartwarming, and for the most part it was, but Abeke reconciling with her abusive family soured it for me. I wish the Four had reconvened with Finn, Maya, Kalani and the rest of their party at some point, instead of them vanishing in the middle of a battle and never being heard from again. And once again, I protest the exclusion of Irtike! Aside from all that, though, The Evertree was a great read and a solid conclusion to arc one of Spirit Animals. There are a lot of loose ends to be tied, but for now, the war is over, and our protagonists can finally breathe.

It's been a good run. I plan to take a short break here, but I'm excited to turn the page and begin a new arc soon!

This is part of an ongoing series.

Wild Born | Hunted | Blood Ties | Fire and Ice | Against the Tide | Rise and Fall | The Evertree

Immortal Guardians | Broken Ground | The Return | The Burning Tide

Heart of the Land | The Wildcat's Claw | Stormspeaker | The Dragon's Eye

Also sorry for all these asks! No pressure to answer :)

Never apologize. I love to yap :)

I can't do a full ranking yet because I haven't finished my rereads (the last time I properly read Fall of the Beasts was years ago, so my opinions have likely changed), but I can attempt to rank the first arc!

1. Rise and Fall (they really gave us everything in this book, and the writing stayed impeccable throughout. This one has been my favourite for years.)

2. The Evertree (incredible and engaging from start to finish. If I didn't have such a strong emotional attachment to Rise and Fall, I would probably put this one in first. The showdown at the titular Evertree is hands-down one of the best moments in the series.)

3. Blood Ties (everything about this one was fantastic, and it felt way longer than it actually is, which I love.)

4. Hunted (this one was so mysterious and dark and good, I want to eat it like candy. Shane would have made it even better.)

5. Fire and Ice (Rollan and Aidana subplot was amazing and still makes my heart hurt to think about. Continuity errors and inconsistent characterization bumps it down a notch.)

6. Against the Tide (it was great, as most of them are, but it felt almost too short. I'm also not big on Tui T. Sutherland's writing style, so that affects my rating. At least there was less caps lock than WOF has.)

7. Wild Born (a good book and solid introduction to the series, but I found the others to be more memorable, personally.)

I will say that I'm absolutely loving part one of Fall of the Beasts so far, so those would be high on the list if I were to do a full ranking. I'm in the middle of Broken Ground right now, and it is so good, just as good as I remembered!

Part two of Fall of the Beasts (which I may be calling Fate of the Legends in A Revised History of Erdas) will probably be at the bottom of the barrel. I hope to be proven wrong, though!