The Rise of Magicks

Chronicles of The One, Book 3

By: Nora Roberts

Narrated by: Julia Whelan

Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's Summary

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Year One and Of Blood and Bone concludes her stunning new trilogy praised as “A match for end-of-the-world classics like Stephen King’s The Stand.”

After the sickness known as the Doom destroyed civilization, magick has become commonplace, and Fallon Swift has spent her young years learning its ways. Fallon cannot live in peace until she frees those who have been preyed upon by the government or the fanatical Purity Warriors, endlessly hunted or locked up in laboratories, brutalized for years on end. She is determined to save even those who have been complicit with this evil out of fear or weakness - if, indeed, they can be saved.

Strengthened by the bond she shares with her fellow warrior, Duncan, Fallon has already succeeded in rescuing countless shifters and elves and ordinary humans. Now she must help them heal - and rediscover the light and faith within themselves. For although from the time of her birth, she has been The One, she is still only one. And as she faces down an old nemesis, sets her sights on the enemy’s stronghold, and pursues her destiny - to finally restore the mystical shield that once protected them all - she will need an army behind her....

©2019 Nora Roberts (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

"[Julia] Whelan's ability to portray a large cast of characters, giving each a unique voice, is laudable. Each character is discernible from the rest — no matter their gender, age, or regional accent. Her soothing tone and even pacing keep the lengthy story moving for the listener. Overall, Whelan deftly presents another production worth listening to." —AudioFile Magazine

Not great. Not even a little.

I never write reviews, but this was so bad, I have to warn you all. I loved the first book, the second was okay, but this was agonizing. Hokey, bad battle scenes, no character development, no relationship development between Fallon and Duncan...plus he’s a jerk about their “fated” relationship. And don’t even get me started about how she saves herself for him and meanwhile he’s off making notches on his bedpost. Also, the witchcraft and magic were super cheesy. I should have made a drinking game out of it — take a shot every time someone chanted “so mote it be”.

So much potential for this series, but it didn’t even come close to achieving it. It’s too bad.

How did Nora Roberts get boring?

I was so excited about this book. I pre-ordered it so I'd be sure to get it right away. My disappointment was in reverse proportion to my excitement. I kept hoping it would get better - but it didn't.
Nora Roberts is one of my favorite authors. I've ALWAYS LOVED her trilogies, but not this one. There was nothing new here - just more of the same. There was no real plot, just seemingly endless battles. The bad guys are weak and unruly (Yawn), the heroes are disciplined and strong (Yawn), oh yeah they train a lot (Yawn).
The Canadian Witch Vivian had potential but her character was never fleshed out. Why was her specialized knowledge needed anyway since Fallon learned all Magicks since the beginning of time in of Blood and Bone? Most of the other characters were mirror images of previous charcaters (Yawn).
By all means read Year One, and, if you like it - get of Blood and Bone, but don't bother with The Rise of Magicks unless you like reading about the same fights again and again and (Yawn) again with no new characterization or plot to speak of.

Disappointed

Loved the first two books but, this third one was very disappointing and the finale was bleh.

What happened?

A strange experience in this one. Feels like some one else wrote this third book. To happy and simply black and white

A brilliant finale.

I don’t understand the reviews of people who loved the series but couldn’t finish the final book. It is a continuation of the first two. It is written and performed the same as the first two. I loved and and will miss the characters. I wish the story could continue.

Could not sink the landing

First book was great, second wasn't bad, but the third was awful. What a train wreck. Nora can't write a battle scene. Lazy storytelling. No real pressure and any obstacles are resolved without any complications.

Ehh

I had a hard time getting into this book... anyone feel the same?
I usually love all Nora Roberts books, but this one fell flat for me.

Magick

Loved the story, from beginning to end and the narration was just amazing.

In this finally, we get to see all the characters mature and come into their own. I feel empty that this was the end.

Laborious listen

This was just painful to listen to, I tried so hard I have an hour and a half left and I couldn’t tell you what’s happened in the last four hours because it’s just slow and boring and awful. I hate to say this because I love Nora Roberts trilogies & multi story books because I drive a lot, but this one I just taken me two weeks (since it came out) I have not been able to finish it and usually I listen to two or three books a week! So sad because I waited so long for this book to come out!

Not what was expected

I loved the first 2 books but I was disappointed with this one. There was so much emphasis on the war and not the love found during or after.
just not what I expected.

Disappointing

Very disappointing end to the trilogy , pace felt stop/ start with no twists in the story

Not for me - SPOILERS -

Narrator was good, not really any big differences in the characters' voices, but I prefer it that way. Really don't like it when the narrator tries too hard to make tons of different voices and just confuses me and gets me annoyed.

Story, sure, story was good. Part of the story is characters though and this is were it by the third book fell completely flat for me. I might go back and re-evaluate my reviews of the two earlier books, not sure yet. Anywho.
While there were many different characters that the author made you really care for, by the third book it was just painfully obvious that everyone was almost exactly the same.

Say what, you ask? Yes, that was my question too! All characters were broody, strong, the same amount of angry, wanted to battle, were really good in battle, and so on... There were just two characters I found that didn't follow basically the exact same arc as all others, and the only differences were that one of them was painfully optimistic and the other was painfully dull for such a cool concept of a character. Dull in such a way that he could do sooo much yet there wasn't really any story about him, he had a wolf and that was sadly the most interesting part of his entire arc. Once the wolf died, yes sorry, the character went away and never came back. Literally.

Then there were the same painful re-iterations and constant repetitive dialog and scenes that I wished I had a paper book instead of an audio book so I could just skip those pages.

I really did like the story, it was unique and had a whole lot of good exciting parts, but I'm a sucker for details and for me, it fell flat because of the details.

Would recommend this for YA readers that are fine with immense gore and want a unique story that doesn't go by on plot twists x infinity but can actually hold its own without trying to shock the reader all the time.

Would not recommend this for any and all that hate gore because yeah, there's a lot of intestines and blood, and all sensitive readers that don't want to have to read about someone being raped every second page.

ten out of ten

love all the books in this series. If you love magic and a good story this is the book for you.

Excellent Trilogy

From first to last this trilogy surpasses any of Nora Roberts previous works. Hoping to read many more of this ilk.

good read

I just love the author and I have enjoyed many of her books and I will read more them

Captivating brilliance

It held me spellbound throughout all books. I listened to all three on a blockbusting bundle of bounty and intrigue. Thank you Nora.

Great Trilogy!

The first two books were absolutely brilliant, this one was good, but seemed a little long winded.

It wasn’t until 3/4 of the way through until the story really became enthralling.
As a trilogy, it is excellent and a solid storyline, but the main character Fallon Swift just seemed a bit bratty in this conclusion until the end.

As a trilogy, 5🌟’s, but this particular book is no more than a 4🌟

all hail queen Fred.

even better second time around. helps with the anxiety too. especially now as we are fighting through our own doom in a way.

The One trilogy

Totally mesmerising. Year One, Of Blood and Bone & The Rise of Magicks, all fantastic books.
Brilliantly narrated by Julia Whelan.
Can't say I've ever read books that bring up so many emotions.
Be sure to start at the beginning with Year One, you won't regret it.

great ending

Brilliant ending to the seriess, best of nora roberts for sure . well read too