True Storm
True Storm
He’s right. I’d known this was true, but it doesn’t make it any easier to bear. For a few brief moments I’d actually let myself fantasize about a different life. One that wasn’t all about duty. One where I was able to craft my own destiny. Maybe one with this True Born.
But as I stare into Jared’s eyes, reading the naked truth there, I realize how delusional I have been. It’s just that thought that bursts the dam, sends me over the edge. “I’ll never be free, will I?”
A sob escapes me, and I bury my head into the comforting warmth of Jared’s chest. He soothes my hair, whispering sweet words against my head as he covers me in kisses. “Lu, hey, Lucy, please don’t,” he whispers against the soft skin of my face. Then he kisses me again, a deep, powerful kiss that coils in my belly and spreads like a magic bomb’s tendrils. It’s a kiss mingled with tears and white-hot lust and something else, something unexpected. Something has changed between Jared and me, probably forever. It’s this thought that has me pulling back enough to look at him. Shadows veil half his face. He looks troubled, restless.
Hungry.
True Storm is the final novel in the “True Born” trilogy, the previous volumes being True Born (https://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol23/no1/trueborn.html) and True North (http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/vol24/no2/truenorth.html). The series is set in a plague-ridden dystopia where there are three kinds of people. Lasters are people who are destined to die of the plague; Splicers are people who can afford to have DNA treatments to delay the inevitable. The True Borns have evolved a natural defence mechanism, rogue DNA that isn’t entirely human, making them immune.
Readers rejoin Lucy who is just settling in to a new routine gathering ‘intel’ from Dominion’s elite Upper Circle to aid Nolan Storm’s bid for power. Lucy’s character has grown through the series, and she seems to be becoming more a leader. She is struggling with her connection with her sister – Margot isn’t opening up about her experience in Russia or about what she’s learned about their shared genetics. Margot will never be quite the same as she once was. Readers will find Lucy's struggle with that incredibly heartbreaking. Doctor Raines continues to examine the unique properties in Lucy and Margot's blood. This third instalment cranks up the heat. When civil war is declared, Lucy must rely on her love and bodyguard Jared to see her safely through. Does the twins’ blood contain the secret power to put an end to the plague?
Unfortunately, the relationship between Lucy and Jared never seems to progress past their physical attraction to each other. And even this third entry sees Lucy playing the same hot and cold game she continually accuses Jared of playing. This reader would also like to get to know much more about the other True Borns, especially their mysterious leader Nolan Storm. That said, the “True Born” trilogy is an exceptional series. Sterling creates a massive world filled with fascinating characters that leaves readers wanting to continue exploring both.
L.E. Sterling is the author of cult hit YA novel The Originals (under pen name L.E. Vollick) and the urban fantasy Pluto’s Gate. Originally from Parry Sound, ON, Sterling spent most of her summers roaming across Canada in a van - inspiring her writing career. She currently lives in Toronto, ON.
Chris Laurie is an Outreach Librarian at Winnipeg Public Library in Winnipeg, Manitoba.