Alistair is quite excited that she joins their ranks, but for a different reason than she thinks – one that he brings to her attention late one night in her chambers, much to her astonishment. However, it doesn’t matter, because Ember’s choice has already decided her fate. I’ll skip the rest of the summary by saying that despite her father’s wishes and the debt that he needs to pay to these people, he is furious when Ember chooses to become a member of their Guard and causes quite the commotion about it. As the first chapter unfolds, the reader learns that the debt is to a society called Conatus that her childhood friend – Alistair – belongs to and that Ember longs to join as a member of their elusive Guard. She is given that chance because of a debt her father has to pay that dates back to her birth. The Nightshade prequels take place in the 1400s Scotland and followed a girl named Ember Morrow – a girl who like most in fiction that takes place in this time period – who isn’t too happy with the station that she has to fill and wants to change her fate. However, when it came to Rift and Rise by Andrea Cremer I was thoroughly impressed. Why? Because most of the time, I have already read the original series so I know what happens and/or who those characters are, and sometimes – not all the time – the authors create plot holes by writing the prequels that aren’t answered in either series. Usually, I hate when an author writes a prequel series to one of their other series.

Rift nightshade series