Firestorm

Firestorm by Rachel Caine

Weather Warden #5

Rogue Weather Warden Joanne Baldwin is racing to New York to warn her former colleagues of the impending apocalypse. An ancient agreement between the Djinn and the Wardens has been broken, and the furious Djinn, slaves to the Wardens for millennia, have broken free of mortal control.

With more than half the Wardens unaccounted for in the wake of the Djinn uprising, Joanne realizes that the natural disasters they’ve combated for so long were merely symptoms of restless Mother Nature fidgeting in her sleep. Now she’s waking up—and she is angry....

After narrowly escaping the event of the last book, Joanne has a whole new challenge, maybe the biggest one yet, motherhood. When Johnathan sacrificed himself for David to be restored as a djinn, he also gave life to Joanne's djinn daughter, Imara. She never really believed Imara could possibly be able to be born without David's death, and she really did not expect her to be born as a six foot tall amazonian goddess. Imara looks just like Joanne, just made "exotic." Now that all the normal djinn, including David, have been possessed by mother nature and turned against all of humanity, Joanne realized its up to her to try and convince Mother they are worthy of survival. If she fails, so does all of humanity.

Even though it came at a complete shock, Joanne takes to motherhood very well. She instantly forms an unbreakable bond of love with her daughter and would do anything to protect her. This is kind of ironic considering Imara is a djinn who is so much more powerful than a human, but a mother wanting to protect her child truly is universal. Imara has all of the knowledge from both her parents, but she still has a vulnerable aspect to her. At times it is almost easy to forget she is only a few days old, but then she will do or say something to show that vulnerability. I don't know if it was as a result of Joanne and David's immense love for her, but I found myself instantly caring for her. She was born just in time for the world to start crumbling, and must learn immediately the hard lessons of life.

Joanne has always been special. When she was human, she was abnormally powerful with weather, then she became a djinn and all the powers that came with that. Now that David is no longer draining her, Joanne's powers are finally back in full force, with a new addition as well. Her change back to human made her manifest new powers in the fire warden category, which is extremely rare. Putting her powers aside, there is something even more special about her. She is the only one who even has a chance at convincing Mother Earth of humanity's worthiness. It isn't really clear why this is, but my guess would be that it is because of her constant self-sacrifice and drive to do the right thing no matter the cost.

This is yet another fast paced book in the Weather Warden series that will not disappoint. Each book makes me only care more for the characters, especially the newest one, Imara. The ending is very heart wrenching, and lives up to cliffhangers of the previous books. Just like its predecessors, this book is a must read for any urban fantasy lover.

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Firestorm (Weather Warden, Book 5)