Saving arguably Spirit Prophecy’s most important message for last

Wow, I can’t believe I took the greater part of a month not to read, but study Spirit Prophecy by E.E. Holmes. Couple that with Cursed Mage’s book launch and gearing up for more story edits in a related series, there’s a backlist of content that needs some TLC.

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That said, I’ve been hitting hard on reading, but not studying, Spirit Ascendancy, since its themes that libertarians would embrace aren’t as prevalent. Still, it’s an entertaining and adrenaline-pumping read, especially when Jess realizes she’s in for a death-defying destiny when she discovers her role in the book.

Yeah, this is another reason why she’s well-suited to tell the story. But, do you know what else I like about Jess? She’s not afraid to stand up, even if she’s in the minority, to the corrupt Durupinen Council. Heck, I’ll even go as far as to say minute minority while shortly beforehand, she suffered extensive burns to her arms and hands.

Imagine being so out of it thanks to a spirit inhabiting your body so they could show you this doomsday prophecy. But the only way for you to see it yourself is if you drew it out in the vast entrance hall, using ash from an open fire as your drawing utensil.

It hurts just thinking about it, but this is the predicament Jess finds herself in. Oh, and there’s also a coup going on. One in which anyone working in mainstream news should take a look at so they know what an actual coup looks like when January 6th, 2026 rolls around. Anyway, let’s start with it.

Finvarra unseated in the most secretive, unceremonial way

After our Dolores Umbridge-like antagonist, Marion, seeks to move Jess and Hannah to the dungeons based on her and the Council’s speculation that they’re the subjects of this prophecy - one that could spell the end of the Durupinen Sisterhood - High Priestess Finvarra demands Marion to step down from the Council.

As it turns out, Marion’s a little more cunning and clever than Finvarra thought, as she instead turns the tables on the High Priestess. She presents an order of no confidence to Finvarra, which most of the Council already signed.

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Marion cites that, despite the Council’s concerns regarding ‘the Caller’ mentioned in the prophecy, whom they believe is Hannah, Finvarra did nothing to look deeper into it. But, it went beyond the prophecy, as Marion and most of the Council didn’t even want Jess and Hannah to step foot in Fairhaven to train as Durupinen to begin with “after their mother’s disgrace.”

After Marion calls for the Senior Durupinen to enter the meeting chamber, she issues the formal vote. The motion passes, and Finvarra is stripped from her title while Marion takes over. Given the Senior Durupinen’s immediate arrival and the way the male Caomhnoir acted in this scene, it’s implied they were either in on this or they resigned themselves to carry out Marion’s orders.

It was a coup months in the making, in which Marion played on most of the Council’s fears. First, that Jess and Hannah were outcasts by association thanks to their mother running from her Gateway duties. Then, of course, the fact that Hannah was a Caller and one-half of a set of twins. The latter portion fit well into the prophecy.

Since Jess’ mother never brought up her father, it also led Jess to believe that the man she never knew was a Caomhnoir - Hint: Her father’s been keeping an eye on her for a while at this point.

And, of course, since the prophecy spoke of twins born from a Durupinen-Caomhnoir union, Jess made a pretty good guess.

Suspected of committing a crime that hasn’t yet been committed

One reason I’m so skeptical of the surveillance state stems from the possibility one could be suspected of being about to commit a crime with circumstantial evidence. This is why I’m a critic of the “I have nothing to hide, so I have nothing to worry about” crowd when I bring up why mass surveillance and tracking is a bad idea.

You may think you have nothing to hide, but that’s not up to you. Nope. That’s up to the powers that be to decide whether you’re hiding something, even when you’re not.

Jess and Hannah had nothing to hide regarding a prophecy they never even heard about when they first trotted into Fairhaven. Even as twins and with a Caller in the family, they still had nothing to hide (or so they thought), and Hannah was even excited about being blessed with such a rare ability.

Still, it provided fuel for the vengeful Marion, who leveraged Hannah’s ability to Call as a link to the prophecy and Finvarra’s do-nothing mentality as a means to get what she wanted:

Finvarra out of power so she and her faction could take it

Arrest Jess and Hannah for a crime they may never even commit

For me, and as with many books I read, Holmes is giving us a warning here. And again, whether this was intentional, I can’t say, since I’ve never asked. Either way, it speaks volumes to the “I have nothing to hide” crowd.

For me, it also says this: Never assume, especially since you’re not the decision-maker here. Jess and Hannah knew they were disliked; that much was clear. Jess may have even had an inkling that she and Hannah were in danger.

But to the point of imprisonment? That’s a stretch, and it caught everyone off guard until Jess had seen the prophecy she drew in the entrance hall that stretched from the floor to the rafters.

Jess is faced with a choice

As mentioned in previous posts, and I know, they’ve been sporadic lately thanks to my current schedule, the Durupinen may be corrupt, but they’re surprisingly not the villains. Well, maybe Marion is, but what I love about the Gateway Trilogy is there’s ‘the bad,’ and then there’s ‘the big bad.’

And that’s what’s coming up in Spirit Ascendancy. For this book, you won’t see umpteen breakdowns since it doesn’t pertain as much to libertarians from a thematic standpoint until the climactic moments.

Anyway, I think I’ll sit back and enjoy the read, before sharing my final thoughts on the Gateway Trilogy before I turn my attention to Dirt Town, which has been on the TBR list for the last three months.