Sovereign (The Books of Mortals)
Mortal (2012), book 2 in the Books of Mortals trilogy, took place 10 years after the first book in the series, Forbidden (2011). This third installment, too, skips ahead a decade. Rom Sebastian, leader of a group of rebels trying to restore emotion to the human race (it was bred out of the species by the despotic Order), is facing a difficult challenge. After a desperate battle, he has been left with too few followers to go up against the Order again. And yet they must, if they are to keep the Order from wiping them out entirely. Dekker’s fans know that he is partial to grand themes (like the battle between Good and Evil), and they also know he handles them adroitly, working in Christian ideas without hitting readers over the head with them, keeping the action moving at a brisk clip, and giving us lifelike characters to root for. Here we are seeing him at his best (ably assisted by Tosca Lee). Although this is the trilogy’s concluding volume, an epilogue leaves the door open for more stories set in this same world. Fans will welcome more. --David Pitt