Voices in the Dark (The Last Descendants Series #2) Book

This second volume of The Last Descendants trilogy picks up fifteen years later with a new teen protagonist. Featuring the same blend of fantasy and romance, this trade paperback will have readers primed for the final volume, available in 2011.

Anselm Andros has clearly defined roles in his family, and they are roles he plays very well. He is confidant to his mother, Maria. He is confessor to his stepfather, Leo, a man haunted by the secrets of his past. And Anselm is also the patient, caring brother to his precocious sister, Jasmine, whose growing magical abilities make him especially protective.

Life for this family of secondhand traders is ordinary in many ways. But when the political landscape of Malonia starts to shift, their lives begin to unravel. Even though Leo and Maria have spent the past fifteen years leading a quiet life, their actions are forever linked to the turbulent history of Malonia and its parallel world, modern-day England. The voices from the past still echo in the present and shape the lives of their children, especially Anselm, who is desperate to penetrate the secrecy surrounding his birth. With so much uncertainty at home and in his world, it is more important than ever for Anselm to put all the pieces together. He must listen to his own voice and acknowledge his fears and desires—whatever the cost.

VOYA

This second volume of The Last Descendants stands alone as an engaging melding of three stories into one fantasy novel. Taking place sixteen years after the first book, two of this volume's tales are told from the point of view of Anselm, Maria's baby in the first novel, Eyes of a King (Random House, 2008/VOYA August 2008). Now a teenager, Anselm is on a journey alone, fleeing his war-torn home. The story of his flight is intermixed with a second tale, that of Anselm's life in the capital city on the brink of war. This second story is the heart of the book, continuing the first volume's plot. It follows Anselm as his family falls apart; his first love, Michael, moves away; and he uncovers the mystery of his true parentage. Anselm uncovers many of the events of the first novel, but readers who start with book two will not feel as if they are being force fed the previous tale, nor will fans be bored, as Banner cleverly weaves the first tale into this one. Readers will also appreciate the return of the supporting characters in Anselm's life—Maria, her mother, Leo—and Aldebaran and the king have cameos. As in the first book, there is also a tale set in modern England. This sequel is short and is clearly left hanging for book three to finish. Seen through a book Anselm is reading, it melds nicely with his own tales. Reviewer: Beth Karpas