The Princess and the Orrery (The Pathways Tree Series - Book 3)

The Princess And The Orrery by F.D. Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Q: Where did Seven go after the incident with the Ball in Llanotterly?
Q: What happens to Bea's dream of becoming an FME?
Q: What's the effect of the Letheinate on Mistasinon?

This installment of the book as stated in the summary starts with events after the Ball and continue's to where Book 2 ended. Starting in the majorly mentioned City of Cerne Bralksteld. This city ad the Baron have been a major looming shadow in the last couple of books and finally reading about this 'technologically advanced' city clarified so much of why this Baron has such a stronghold on the surrounding kingdoms.

Bea, Mistasinon, Chokey and Hemmings, after leaving the Academy, and following the experience with West, decide to keep a distance until the dust settles. Here starts a new adventure, an amazing magical journey! Somewhere, making me draw a visual interpretation from Aladin's Genie, the steam machines of the 'Mortal Engine' movie..... it introduces a few move characters who are central to this book. Along the way we see

Mistasinon Struggles to come to terms with his individuality
Bea embraces her identity
Melly becomes a central character and we learn so much about her
Hemmings grows into his skin, find where he fits and gains confidence in 'thoughtsmithing'

Seven, central to this book, we learn about his source of magic and his roots. His history with the 'Countess' and how he ends up where he does. If you loved Book 1 & 2, you sure will love this new journey!


View all my reviews

Expanding on that.. here is my experience with the Read - 

The story starts out showing the repercussions of the Ball of Llanotterly has on Seven. Where the Djin is now and why? Along with him, we are introduced to a few new characters who played a big role in the 'why' of Seven not returning to his friend, King John, and the absence of all news of him in Book 2!

We meet Amelia, a cultivator in the making, who has the fascination of the 

What we see in this book is an awakening of sorts. The Fae, are waking up to a plateau of stability; before the big drop that's inevitable. It all unfold in the Human kingdom, with the Baron's brother playing a key role in the development of the 'plot' (One that has nothing to do with the plots the Fae run!)

We see atrocities, evils and manipulations, betrayal, hope and sheer courage. This one was an action packed, and keep you on the edge kind of read.

Special mentions - 

*The bond between Seven and Amelia. The little girl finds an unlikely friend in this Blue man.

* Courage and dedication of Naima. She is the human protagonist on this book, the way Ana was at the end of book 1!

* Melly finds herself. We see her grow stronger and believe in herself more and more. Ana has a strong hand in that!

* Fairy United is a strong voice and Bea, now left with no Academy or FME assigned role, finds herself being the support to Joan's movement. 

There is more to come, as I read The Cascade (book 4). I'm enjoying the series and the alternate reality of Fairyland. If you do like a good Fantasy series, do pick this up 😁

You can read this book and the rest of the series by F. D. Lee on Amazon Kindle (e-books).

Here are the links to my review of Book 1 and Book 2.