WRITTEN IN FIRE by Marcus Sakey

It can be difficult to maintain stamina with a series of books, but the Brilliance Saga is different. "Written in Fire" is a solid finish to an excellent trilogy by Marcus Sakey. It is easy to jump back into the book and recall the characters and their motivations. I recommend reading the other books first for context and enjoyment. I think that his first two books have more finesse and energy than this finale, but it is still a good wrapup to Sakey's look into humanity's persecution of those with gifted traits. It is hard to ignore the painful themes of persecution, alienation and racism that are prevalent in this book that are also so prominent in today's daily news.

Sakey delves into the inequity between "normals" and "brilliants" and the war the two are waging against one another. This story has it all including deceit, conspiracy, political intrigue, romance, grief, battle scenes and romantic betrayals. All of the characters are very interesting and many are playing sides within sides. There are three primary groups on the Brilliant side all representing different factions. The first is Nick Cooper who is the hero who used to be with the government group the DAR, but is now trying to make amends for not killing John Smith when he had the chance. There are the Epstein brothers who run the refuge for the Brilliants and control major amounts of information. Finally there is the rebel John Smith and his group who want to cause as much damage to as many people as possible. On the Normal side there is the Government, Luke Hammond and his militia group and the scientists who invented the "brilliance replicator".

It is interesting to see how Nick resolves his guilt and deals with John Smith. It is fascinating to watch the different people use and develop their different skills/gifts. I probably could have done without the conflicting romance themes with Nick. Having said that, there are many other intriguing parts of the book that make you want to continue reading. The battle scenes alone are amazing.