Book Review: Wing Rebel

Reviewed by Erin Britton

The battle for Earth continues to rage in this third installment of the imaginative Wings series.

M.A. Arana’s Wing Rebel is built on richly detailed lore and populated by an eclectic cast of fantastical heroes and villains—including a few inscrutable characters who fall somewhere between the two.

With the threat posed by King Waqar and his Garghon horde still looming, the winged Avan warriors led by King Mabon seek to rebuild their kingdom in the clouds and ensure that the Earth below remains safe. However, King Mabon still suffers from physical wounds inflicted during previous battles as well as deep-seated doubts that could be manipulated to draw the Avans into a trap.

At the same time, the danger caused by the specter of Ibis, King Mabon’s former bride—and the mother of his eldest child, Sada—continues to grow. Although Ibis’s corpse has long been trapped in a tomb of ice, “Magic had kept her alive [as] a spirit who could take physical form. Yet, without a heart, she was doomed.” The chill of her burial has done nothing to quench her burning desire for both vengeance and the throne of Ava.

King Mabon will have to rely on the power of his extraordinary offspring to defeat dangers on several fronts. Sada has the gift of foresight, allowing her disturbing insight into the machinations of her mother’s ghost, while her twin brothers, Xander and Xio, are skilled in both magic and combat, although Xio continues to battle the darkness that entered his psyche after he was kidnapped by the Garghons.

Down on Earth, Gabriel Rosales tries to blend in while working at a market, anxious to remain incognito despite being “a secret keeper and the sole connection to the magic.” He and Edouard are the first to notice the Garghon incursion, but they little suspect what its real purpose is. As various fates converge, the true horror of what faces Ava and Earth slowly emerges and sundry characters must confront their role in it.

As the third book in an epic speculative series, Wing Rebel is built on a lot of backstory and a great number of trials and tribulations on the part of the central characters. While M.A. Arana does provide explanations for most things through either dialogue or exposition, to properly enjoy and appreciate the full breadth of the story, it is recommended to read Wing Clipped and Wing Stroke first.

Of course, all the detail that has gone into the character- and world-building means that Wing Rebel is rich and immersive. From the overarching lore to the petty squabbles between minor characters to the potentially devastating schemes of the myriad villains, Arana has clearly put a great deal of thought into the plotting and ensuring that all the strands of the story hang together.

One of the main connections between those strands is the theme of family. King Mabon certainly has a very complicated home life, with both a homicidal phantom ex-wife and a conciliatory human current wife, as well as children who are battling more than their fair share of demons. However, they all draw strength from their familial bonds, even during times of conflict, which unites them when dark forces threaten to tear them apart.

By contrast, King Waqar has little time for the idea of family and views his Garghon subjects are little more than cannon fodder. For instance, following losses in the last battle against the Avans, he has instituted a decidedly unemotional breeding project to replenish his forces. “He didn’t want familial ties that bound his Garghons to another instead of to him. He didn’t want complications in an age where Garghons would think of defending their kin.”

And while King Mabon being pursued by the ghost of his former spouse is hard to beat, he is far from the only character with a complex romantic history—Sada and Gabriel have an entanglement too. “Sada had come to help Declan heal him, but she remained distant, claiming her role took much of her time. He should be grateful. But his heart had broken into pieces long before.”

The romantic aspects of Wing Rebel add further depth to the story, as well as some much-appreciated humor and humanity. As the dialogue doesn’t always flow naturally, such aspects help to ensure a connection is maintained to the characters. What’s more, while romance can provide a nice break from brutal combat, Arana makes sure that the tangled relationships reflect the overall tone and atmosphere of the story.

In other words, true love never does run smoothly, and neither does a kingdom in which mythical creatures and magic exist. Arana does a great job of realistically integrating the magical aspects into daily life for the winged inhabitants of Ava. For example, Xander and Xio are not permitted to use magic to change their clothes when they get soaked during combat training.

“Magic comes at a cost, my sons. Many have suffered for it.”

Wing Rebel makes for an exciting continuation of The Wings series, posing questions for the future of both Ava and Earth and placing great danger between characters and their goals. Given the threat offered by magic and standard combat, there is a real sense of peril and a distinct possibility that the forces of good will not emerge unscathed.

Thank you for reading Erin Britton’s book review of Wing Rebel (The Wings, 3) by M.A. Arana! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post Book Review: Wing Rebel appeared first on Independent Book Review.