Thirteen (Women of the Otherworld) [Kindle Edition]

Kelley Armstrong (Author)

Book Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong delivers the novel her fans have been clamoring for: Thirteen, the epic finale of the Otherworld series.

It’s been more than ten years, a dozen installments, and hundreds of thousands of copies since Kelley Armstrong introduced readers to the all-too-real denizens of the Otherworld: witches, werewolves, necromancers, vampires, and half-demons, among others. And it’s all been leading to Thirteen, the final installment, the novel that brings all of these stories to a stunning conclusion.

A war is brewing—the first battle has been waged and Savannah Levine is left standing, albeit battered and bruised. She has rescued her half brother from supernatural medical testing, but he’s fighting to stay alive. The Supernatural Liberation Movement took him hostage, and they have a maniacal plan to expose the supernatural world to the unknowing.

Savannah has called upon her inner energy to summon spells with frightening strength, a strength she never knew she had, as she fights to keep her world from shattering. But it’s more than a matter of supernaturals against one another—both heaven and hell have entered the war; hellhounds, genetically modified werewolves, and all forces of good and evil have joined the fray.

Uniting Savannah with Adam, Paige, Lucas, Jaime, Hope, and other lost-but-notforgotten characters in one epic battle, Thirteen is a grand, crowd-pleasing closer for Armstrong’s legions of fans.

Editorial Reviews

Review

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
 
“Prolific and ultra-imaginative Canadian author Kelley Armstrong offers book No. 13 in her Women of the Otherworld series.”
—The Globe and Mail
 
“A spectacular finish to the stellar Otherworld series.”
—Bitten by Books (blog)
 
“The best series finale I’ve ever read.... Non-stop action and adventure.”
—Fall Into Books (blog)
 
“An incredibly satisfying resolution to an amazing and expansive series that is tops among its urban fantasy/paranormal counterparts.”
—The Book Swarm (blog)
 
“Excellent, emotional, action-packed.”
—All Things Urban Fantasy (blog)
 

Review

Praise for Spellbound:
"Armstrong keeps the focus on hip, impulsive, and likable Savannah, building suspense with plenty of plot reversals and betrayals. Fans of the series won't want to miss what is clearly the first battle in an Otherworld war." Publishers Weekly "Powerfully written.... Moves along at a sprightly clip, and Armstrong's senses of humour and suspense are spot on. She knows when to break the tension and when to ramp it up, as evidenced by the climax and dénouement. The reader who gets through that without feeling a bit ragged might want to be checked for a pulse."
—The Globe and Mail

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 648 KB
• Print Length: 464 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult (July 24, 2012)
• Sold by: Penguin Publishing
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0073XV768
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,008 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It Was A Really Good Book... But July 25, 2012

By Lola Jane

Format:Hardcover

I gave it five stars but...

Okay. It gets five stars because as a stand-alone book it deserves five stars. The action alone entitles it to the full five stars. But, if you aren't grounded in the former twelve books (maybe not all of them- at least a few important ones), then you'll really miss the impact of the book.

See, here is where a review gets tricky. I can only talk about my tiny, limited opinion about this single book that finalizes a series that has had 13 books, quite a few novellas and short-stories, a graphic novel, and so many characters. Heck, Kelley Armstrong even has a hopping web-site. I'm going to try and mostly separate this one book from the series.

The positives: a favorite universe, beloved characters doing their thing, the return of old enemies, and basically good vs. evil battle to control the end of the world. Not too shabby. And, Kelley Armstrong has a real talent for action sequences and plotting. Which helps because the majority of this book is on the run. They fly from one danger to the next in a matter of sentences. She is a great writer. She seamlessly narrates this massive, multi-state and multi-dimension battle through solid narrative, excellent first-person points of view, and dialogue. And, she hangs onto the emotional intimacy among her characters despite the heavy action sequences. This is an author who LOVES her characters and they have very tight relationships. And she bounces from character to character amazingly well. It is never clunky. It really is a solid thriller.

The negatives. Okay, this is where we get into matters of preference- I'm not a huge Savannah fan. Out of all the Women of the Otherworld, Savannah is my least favorite. Which makes sense, to me. I still see her as mostly immature, cocky, and irritating. I love Elena, Eve, and Paige. So, while Elena and Paige and Jaime and Hope and Eve made appearances, the weight of the story was all on Savannah. And, I've never been a huge fan of the Savannah with weak powers story-line (especially with the revelation and non-resolution about that story-line in this book). So, for my personal preferences (which matter only to me, I fully realize that) that is a negative for me. I just wish I had more Elena and Paige. More Lucas. More Karl. More Jeremy and Jaime. More from the other dimensions. More Cabals. More Jaz. More of the characters that put Kelley Armstrong on my must-buy list 10 years ago rather than Savannah, the upstart.

I know, I'm insanely greedy. I can't even say how much more I would like. This didn't detract from the quality of the book- just from my own selfish pleasure at the epic conclusion of the series.

The neutral. So many loose ends! I'll say up-front that Kelley Armstrong was candid in her final notes in the book. There is no nice and tidy bow at the end of this book. Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny are not waving their kids off onto the Hogwart's Express for a blissful and static Happily Ever After. The problem as I see it is that Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld is freaking huge. Readers may love the vamps, the werewolves, the witches, the sorcerers, the half-demons, the humans, the angels, the demons, and on and on and on. Whichever most caught your fancy may not be strongly represented in this finale. You may not get closure on your particular burning question. A lot of little threads went into making this final battle happen between all these characters, and not every thread is followed up. And, I'm ambivalent on that point. It's gotta be rough on an author having such rabid fans demanding to know every unwritten action of a eudodemon and the how's and why's of angel politics. But, eudodemon motivations and angel politics come up- so the lack of closure can disappoint some readers who really groove on those plot points. And, I have some love for the open-ended ending.

So, if you buy this book expecting a full reveal on your favorite character, you probably will be disappointed. If you buy this book expecting the same solid work and talent Kelley Armstrong has shown throughout this series, you'll be very happy. It is a really good book.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Stellar Conclusion July 25, 2012

By A Book Obsession.. TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Over the last twelve installments the Women of the Otherworld have been telling their tales of danger keeping readers enthralled. But everything prior to this point has been leading to one final showdown that will bring all of the beloved characters characters back together one last time. The stakes have never been higher as the lives of every supernatural are hanging in the balance. Told from Savannah's perspective, the reader will be enthralled as they watch her scramble with her other allies to stop the war from destroying them all. But it won't be easy as the fight isn't only on earth, but heaven and hell have joined the fray. No matter the outcome, in the end nothing will ever be the same.

There are so many elements in Thirteen that I would love to talk about, but in all honesty the entire book is one big spoiler and I completely understand why the publisher opted to put such a strict release date and no early review copies. This is a book that truly deserves to be savored not spoiled, and for that reason, I won't be going into many details or specifics in this review. I apologize in advance if things seem overly vague or I end up sounding like a squealing fan girl as a result. It just wouldn't do this fantastic book any justice to give anything away in advance.

From the very start, Thirteen took off with a bang. It was so jammed pack with action that the even when the characters would score a small victory, both they and myself barely had a chance to breathe before it was off to the next crisis. Seriously, I don't think my heart rate lowered once while reading Thirteen as the stakes were that high. However, even though that action was incredibly exciting, what really kept me enthralled were the emotional aspects of the book. Again, keeping from spoiling things I won't go into specifics, but suffice it to say the emotion took the book from really good to absolutely stellar. I especially loved the added in chapters from the different characters' perspectives periodically throughout the book. Don't get me wrong, Savannah's perspective was great, but it was nice to see into the heads of some of my favorite characters from the rest of the series.

I am always torn by my emotions whenever the final book in a series comes out. On one hand I am very excited for the anticipation and wait to finally be over, so I can dive into the story and see how everything plays out in the end. However, on the other hand, finding out that resolution also means saying goodbye to characters that I have grown to love. In Thirteen's case this inner conflict was even worse due to the long build up over so many books. With each installment, my anticipation of the final showdown and resolution only grew, but so did my love for the characters, making saying goodbye even harder. Even though I knew the blow would be softened somewhat by the short story collections set to be released in the future, I still was still rather nervous as I started this book. However, after finishing it, I am happy to say that Thirteen not only delivered on but exceeded my expectations. Granted the ending wasn't exactly what I was expecting, with nothing tied up in pretty bows, but in not doing so, it served these characters so much better. Their personalities and circumstance wouldn't allow for anything less and I'm very happy Kelley stayed true to them. She really is a fantastic writer, and will always be one of my favorite authors. Thirteen is an absolute must read for fans of the series!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Neat and Tidy Ending - Fell Flat August 15, 2012

By Ravenly

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I really really wanted to love this book. I had been waiting for it and I guess I expected it to be epic. It wrapped up everything very nicely and made sure to include every character and loose end. It was just all so very neat and tidy that it felt like the story outline with zero emotion and intensity that I found in the previous books.

I felt absolutely nothing for Savannah and Adam - that had to have been the most ho hum romance in the series. It could have easily been left out.

As for the unfolding and conclusion of the main plot - I wasn't really worried. In fact, I struggled to finish this book. I must have read about 10 books in between chapters and only finished this out of duty and a sense of needing to hurry up and get it off my kindle. Really too bad as there have been many books in this series that I thoroughly enjoyed reading.

More About the Author

I'm married with three kids and live in rural Ontario, Canada. After graduating with a degree in psychology, I switched gears and studied computer programming. Currently, I'm a full-time writer and parent. Could I make this section any more dull? Probably not.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#65 in Books > Teens

#89 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy

#65 in Books > Teens

#89 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Fantasy