I finished this series the other day and almost reread the first three books to give it justice. However, the story is quite rememberable and rereading would have simply been for pleasure and the fact that I was so tempted to reread it shortly after finishing the series should be proof of how much I enjoyed this series and the universe that Megan Linski and Alicia Rades created.
First thing first is that these are not small stand-alones that can be read in any order. The order you see above is the order they need to be read in: The Fire Prophesy, Water Legacy, Earth Legend, Air Omen, Elemental War and Soul Sacrifice. This review will contain some spoilers but I’ll do my best to keep them minimal.
Second thing is this series delves into problems that are very much of the actual world and not just fantasy. There are descriptions and actions that go deeper into the issues that can plague us in real life such as PTSD, addiction, adoption and abandonment, war, genocide, pregnancy (especially rough pregnancy), different forms of communication, LGBTQ+ relationships, abusive relationships (both romantic and familial), long term health issues similar to what I would call auto-immune diseases, a lot of physical intimacy, body image issues, sexual identity, pet loss (for lack of better phrasing), assault (including SA), break-ups and ultimately a significant amount of loss of both minor (what some would consider insignificant) and major (characters that drastically affect the main characters’ lives but are not the main characters themselves). If any of these things could or would affect your emotional and mental health for whatever reason, I do not suggest these books no matter how much I think they are worth reading.
Third is that I do not consider this young adult. It is about college age to early twenty year olds and their behavior is as such. There are steamy (sexy times) scenes that are not fade to black and include some detail. While younger and older characters are included in the book, the story is mostly about four eighteen to twenty two year old people.
The first book is the Fire Prophesy and that is where we meet many of the characters that will remain through the whole series for the most part. It is when we are introduced to Sophia and the fact that she is not who she believes she is and neither are those closest to her. And considering the blow that would have been to my own world, Sophia handles it quite well but the addition to element based powers probably made that a little more interesting. All the books are dual POV with Sophia as the main female character (MFC) and the main male character (MMC) Liam who is somewhat forced into bringing Sophia into the world of the Elementai to regain favor since he was essentially disowned by his people due to circumstances beyond his control which will remain a major point in the rest of the books. By his people, I mean the tribe of the Toaqua, the water Elementai. There are four tribes based on the elements: Koigni (fire), Toaqua (water), Nivita (earth), and Yapluma (air). There is or was a fifth house known as Anichi (spirit) but more about them unravels through the series. Anyways, it turns out that Sophia is part of the Koigni or fire tribe And as you may be able to guess, fire and water create steam!
From learning of an ancient prophesy about the Elementai and Sophia’s central role, there is also the set of elemental trials that the people from different tribes must work together to overcome a history of hate and frustration. Think of it like Harry Potter meets Hunger Games to the extreme, either work together or die trying and hope your teammates don’t just care about winning and leave you to die in one of the trials. Rivalries begin in the book and only grow through the whole series. This book drew me in like Sophia and Liam’s chemistry and stayed for the rest. I also kind of want a version of Sophia’s familiar called a Kurble.
The following books Water Legacy, Earth Legend and Air Omen are focused on the individual tribal pieces of the prophesy and ultimately how they may stop it. But as it will be said, prophesies can’t be stopped only interpreted differently. In these books, we see relationships struggle, political manipulation, powers grow and change, and riddles that only seem to lead to more questions and only make sense at the end. Liam and Sophia’s relationship grows and we learn more about his illness. I feel the Air Omen affected me the most as that it was the most emotionally jarring. All the books had me on a roller coast of emotions with joyful moments tossed in between but Air Omen shows how brutal people can be in the search of power and how some are willing to betray, manipulate and assault others to gain and keep that power. The genocide of hundreds of people both young and old in order for those that consider themselves more powerful begins and it leads to in my opinion the most important book The Elemental War.
The Elemental War has a twist that I didn’t immediately see coming. The Anichi weren’t destroyed by the power hungry Koigni of the past but rather escaped to create their own place in the cruel world and the four friends escape there only to find out those they once thought were lost, really weren’t lost but part of a resistance against the so-called ideals of the ones in power or who rather stole and took by brutal force the power from the people. This and the Air Omen caused me to take many emotional breaks in the process of reading as I cried excessively. I admit I am one who really dives into the worlds and characters in books but if anyone doesn’t have an emotional response of either WTF, NOOOOO, or HOLY SHIT or some other variation of disgust, shock, dismay, hatred, love and fear, then I am honestly not sure how to help you.
The Elemental War leads to even more surprises in the final book. Sophia now knows the truth behind her birth and who her parents are, questions about Liam’s condition have been figured out, relationships are strengthening but the costs are even higher and now the enemies know who and where they are. The wins feel huge but the losses rattle their core until they are almost willing to give up and when I realized right before what was going to have to be done, I had to put my phone down for a few minutes because it broke my heart even though the loss was done in a beautiful way.
If you like fantasy, books that will take you on an emotional ride and can handle all the things I mentioned at the beginning, I feel this is a great option. Again, not young adult and very steamy. I like the world building that is developed over the series rather than giant info dumps and I surprisingly didn’t catch all the misunderstandings and changes until right before the characters did and I was thoroughly engrossed in this series. This series is one of I believe four series within the same world and I have already purchased the next series which is the University of Sorcery by Megan Linski and it is followed College of Witchcraft by Alicia Rades and they co-author another series in the world called the Prison for Supernatural Offenders. I believe the University and College series are happening concurrently but based on the descriptions the Prison series is definitely last. There are tie ins in the epilogue of The Soul Sacrifice for the other books.
You can go here to find all the Hidden Legends books from all the different retailers.
Tina Rischlynn 