The Rebel

The Maeve’ra Trilogy #1.5

by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

In this rich, compelling prequel to Bloodkin, sixteen-year-old Kadee is haunted by the memories she has fought so long to keep bottled up inside. This short story is set in the alternate-reality world of THE MAEVE’RA, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes’s trilogy about the powerful empire of Midnight,where vampires rule, shapeshifter royals obey, and the Obsidian guild refuses to bow to anyone—and where loyalty and power always come with a price.

Genres: Fantasy

25 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 10, 2015

About the author

I grew up in Concord, Massachusetts, where I matriculated through the public Concord-Carlisle school district from kindergarten until my graduation in 2001. The best part of school, from fifth grade until the year I graduated, was definitely chorus. I love music, and I love to sing, and though I never had the courage or the talent to participate in any of the high school plays as a performer, I enjoyed being involved at other levels; the music and drama community at CCHS was the highlight of my high school career. I was also on the fencing team for two years, an experience that actually inspired a couple storylines, and regret that I did not continue with that sport.

I now live in Massachusetts with several pets... as well as, of course, my family. I am a student at the University of Massachusetts, with an English/psychology double-major. I hope to work either as an English teacher at the secondary level, or in special education. I have strong opinions about literacy, education, and how our educational systems are treated- strong enough that most of my friends know not to get me started on the subject.

My non-writing hobbies are eclectic, and cover everything from rather domestic pastimes like cross-stitch and cooking to aquarium keeping, playing piano, gardening, carpentry, Harley-Davidsons, driving, and arguing- there are few things I enjoy more than a good debate with someone who knows how to argue, which might have something to do with a best friend who works in politics. I love to learn, so if I have down-time and nothing to do, it is not at all unusual to find me pouring over some book, website or video designed to teach me some new skill, from belly dancing (something I desperately want to learn but have not yet been brave enough to sign up for classes on) to JavaScript.

Reviews

[Jaimie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't really see why they ever bothered to publish this short story as a separate ebook to the Maeve'ra series... All of the main points are included in the second book, and if they wanted to have the entire text they should have just included it in the second book as a flashback!!! I'm starting to think that Atwater-Rhodes has a self-inflicted or publisher-inflicted limit on the word count for her books, since there's literally no reason why they couldn't have just put all the words together and made a better novel!

[Hazel Guandique · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the story but I was confused when it ended. It seemed like there needed to be more. I hadn't realized it was part of a series.

[Laura Martinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I think this is going to mark my break from Amelia Atwater-Rhodes for a while. I don’t know if I want to ultimately return to the Maeve’ra series or just skip over that for now and wait to see what she comes out with next, or give it a year or so and dive back in. I think a large part of it is that although she does have this very detailed world that she’s put a lot of time and effort into, I kinda want to see if she can do something more. (Or hell, even something different within her universes. I think one of the reasons I really liked A Touch of Darkness is that it was a different story for her, and not falling back on her usual characterization.)

“The Rebel” is an okay short story, that I think would have worked better as a longer form than what we have here. While there’s aspects of Kadee’s story that I did like, it just felt too loosely structured and jumped over a lot of time within the story that I never really got her discomfort about being with the serpiente camps or her disconnect with that side of herself. Half-human shapeshifters weren’t really explored in any of Atwater-Rhodes’ prior books, and I think that she missed an opportunity to really get into the prejudices and problems that Kadee would have experienced. There are shades of it in here, such as Kadee’s uncomfortableness around the serpiente’s very open society and their attitudes towards their bodies and sexuality. (Especially considering how young Kadee is.) But I don’t really like the jump from meeting Shkei and realizing that she wants to be with him living as an outsider.

(I’m also a little disappointed that this clearly starts out with Kadee saying that this is not only taking place in America, but during the Revolutionary War as well. One of the problems I’ve had with the Kiesha’ra books is that there’s supposed to be all of these great, medieval-esque societies that no humans know about (and yes, I know, there’s witches that put up magical barriers), but it just feels so detached that it’s easy to forget “Oh, yeah, this is all going on.”)

It’s an okay story, and I think it’s more to do with the fact that I really didn’t grasp onto Bloodwitch. I think there’s a lot more that Atwater-Rhodes can do with this concept, but as a short story, it doesn’t entirely work.

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what purpose this short is supposed to serve. It really just gives more conversation and filler to Keeda'a backstory, which is already referenced in the main books. I guess it could act as a type of teaser, but still not sure it warrants it's own book.

[Sarah Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

short but good

If you haven’t read the Maeve’ra trilogy this story wont make much sense beside being a good short read. But if you have read the series it helps give a little background on Kadee and her relationship with Shiite.

[Tawnie S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really short story. But a nice intro to Kadee.

[EscaPe iNTo thE PaGEs · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars! I'm glad Kadee will be the main character of the second book..

[Brandee Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have the hardest time reading her books