Ascension by S.T. Gibson invites you to sit down so it can spill some tea and tell you about an overly ambitious man who makes a whole lot of bad decisions and ruins his life. Add in some demons and a dash of magic, and you have been served a bitter drink that is hard to enjoy. The trio from The Summoner’s Circle series returns to tackle not a demonic pact, but a new problem: Rhys.
Feeling inadequate with a lot to prove, Rhys decides he needs extra demonic powers to help him reach his goals. It’s the only way he can remain powerful enough to protect the ones he loves and help the struggling occult society flourish once again. But when a random public ritual catches the media’s attention, Rhys and the society fear the fingers will point to them and spur a satanic panic wave. With a tenuous hold on his inner and literal demons, Rhys begins to erode away his relationship with Moira, David, and the entire supernatural society at large with huge consequences.
There is a bizarre, blasé attitude about all the horrible things happening in this book, and it saps the tension from the entire story. It was hard to care about the bad decisions Rhys was making when the consequences were only a moment of discomfort. Rhys has overextended himself with demon contracts, and his behavior sucks. His actions are hurting the people around him, and these characters get mad in the moment, but the plot’s fast pace doesn’t let that hurt fester. It’s a vibe shift from the first book, which languished in the ticking clock that was David’s impending doom. Ascension reads more like a reality TV show following a secret occult society. Rhys does something bad. Everyone yells. The night ends. Characters reconvene to talk it out. And then the next event happens. Rhys is just the problematic paranormal friend starting drama, and everyone reacts on a level equivalent to if he caused an embarrassing scene at dinner.
Rhys is too ambitious for his own good, and his thirst for power dominates this story and the characters in it. Because his decisions affect the society so much, a lot of the issues primarily affect his relationship with David, who gets a little more share of the spotlight in this story. But Moira, his wife, is basically a footnote. She only gets called into moments for very specific plot purposes. It’s weird that she’s so removed from everything when she’s married to the man who is the main problem. Moira is pushed so far outside the sphere of influence that she feels distant and out of touch with what’s going on in this story. This was a huge damper on my experience with book two because she is my favorite character, and it was a bummer to see her have less influence on the plot.
I am also dumbfounded by some of the plot choices made in Ascension. Book one ends with a large, unresolved demonic issue, and it’s not even addressed. It’s mentioned in passing with a hand wave and a sentiment of “oh, we’ll figure that out later, I guess.” That was a wild choice when handling the big bad from book one. It’s like if Gandalf just stopped caring about the ring in The Two Towers. It reeks of a series that had to cram in a middle book to extend its time in the sun. The second atrocious choice is the inciting incident of the entire plot, but yet it doesn’t stick around to actually be inciting. Everyone gets in a tizzy with the staged public ritual, but no pressure or consequences actually come from the media, normal society, or other practitioners.
Ascension was bewildering. The tone shifts away from its contentious, heartfelt predecessor and becomes a supernatural entertainment show that is living for the drama. Even this beloved throuple couldn’t satisfy me, and I’m left a little dazed and confused from the events.
Rating: 6.5/10 – Ascension
-Brandee
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The thoughts on this story are my own.
