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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The game's over. Humans have lost.", August 3, 2010
This review is from: Total Eclipse (Weather Warden, Book 9) (Mass Market Paperback)
WARNING: This is the last Weather Warden novel. It's not the last one in this fictional universe, but it's the last of the books about Joanne Baldwin.
And while it's sad to see a solid urban fantasy series end, it's nice that Rachel Caine decided to end her story about elemental magic, djinns and Weather Wardens before it lost its zing. "Total Eclipse" is a satisfying ending to the series, with a higher-stakes problem and potentially fatal handicaps -- it's a bit shaky at first, but still an enjoyable, well-written ending.
The Djinn and Wardens have lost their magic. So the Wardens are helpless, and the Djinn are slowly dying; when they leave the black corner, all the Djinn except David just vanish. David believes that the Earth is wounded, waking up, and trying to heal itself -- every continent is being hit by wildlife attacks, vast wildfires and storms.
So not only are the Djinn and Oracles in danger of being drawn back into the Earth's power, but the entire human race is in danger. Fun, huh?
And as the little group zooms toward Whitney, things get worse -- people Joanne cares for are hurt and even killed, Oracles are acting out, and possessed Djinn are stalking them with intent to kill. And Joanne isn't sure that she can keep herself and her friends alive, let alone stop an all-out armageddon...
I honestly hate it when fantasy books depict Mother Nature as some kind of benevolent personification of fuzzy-bunny-love. Let's face it: nature is cruel, brutal, beautiful, and human beings really don't figure into its balance. "Total Eclipse" takes that into account -- and honestly, Nature running amuck makes a pretty awesome finale for the series.
It isn't a PERFECT finale -- the first half is too patchy and episodic, and it takes them eons just to DRIVE to Whitney. But as the story smooths out into a wild, terrifying expanse of terrestrial destruction, Caine's story expands into a truly brilliant, explosive finale where the stakes could literally not be any higher unless the sun exploded.
And despite all the mayhem, Caine keeps in the human (and Djinn) element -- there's some heated romance, moments of comedy (Joanne's almost sexual ecstacy when driving her car), a bit of horror (an invasion of chimera!), and a truly exquisite grand finale that wraps everything up beautifully.
And Joanne is shown off at her best here: desperate, good at heart, and being torn to shreds as she sees the world literally fall apart around her. She's literally doing her best all the time, while knowing that it won't be enough -- and yet she still stops to help save a little baby from being in the line of fire.
The Weather Wardens series goes out not with a whimper, but with a clap of thunder. The first half of "Total Eclipse" is a bit patchy, but the second half is a slam-bang finale worthy of Caine's skills.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 stars - Goodbye Joanne - This final action packed 'road trip' brings the Weather Wardens series to a climatic finish, August 11, 2010
This review is from: Total Eclipse (Weather Warden, Book 9) (Mass Market Paperback)
After nine books Rachel Caine finally brings her Weather Wardens series to a climatic finish and Caine uses almost all the mythos she's built in her weather mage and djinn world to make the series finale in Total Eclipse a satisfying one.
The initial part of the story, which picks up at the end of the last book is a little slow as the cruise ship which carried the Weather Wardens and Djinn to battle now travels through a kind of magical Doldrums leaving both species powerless. But once they make it through the edge, all heck breaks loose - Mother Nature's awake and she's taken control of the Djinn. She's beyond angry and is pulling no punches and she's on a campaign to wipe the plague of humanity from the face of the Earth.
The only ones standing in the way of the annihilation are weather mage Joanne and her djinn husband David - both sans their powers - and a rapidly dwindling number of Weather Wardens trying desperately - but with little success - to use their magical control over earth, air, fire and water to mitigate a plethora of natural disasters. Fires rage, along with floods, hurricanes and earthquakes, cities fall and their besieged inhabitants become vicious mobs who are unknowingly hastening their own extinction. It's a bit more apocalyptic than the end of the world scenarios Joanne has triumphed over before but this time a nearly human Joanne just isn't going to be able to save the world all by herself.
Once Total Eclipse gets rolling the action is pretty much non-stop and this final Weather Wardens book is pretty much what you'd expect from the series with the requisite cross country trek in a hot classic car for Joanne and crew, multiple brushes with death for almost all of our favorite characters, some sad goodbyes, some sacrifices, and a bit of trickery by David to get Joanne out of some tight spots.
I really enjoyed this final road trip with Joann and if you enjoyed the earlier books - even if you've given up on the series somewhere along the way - you will want to pick up Total Eclipse and even if it's only to say goodbye to old friends - Joanne, David, Cherise, Imarra and Lewis.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An exciting ride comes to end..., August 15, 2010
This review is from: Total Eclipse (Weather Warden, Book 9) (Mass Market Paperback)
As I huge fan of the Weather Warden series, I am so sorry to see it end. As it has been mentioned, I would rather it go out on top than drag on and drag on like Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. Rachel Caine doesn't dissapoint with Total Eclipse, book #9 and final book in her Weather Warden series.
We left Joanne Baldwin and her husband/Djinn, David, having fought and lost both their powers. They are trying to navigate the soon to be apocalyptic world blind and powerless. Old friends join them on their journey like Cherise (human friend), Kevin (adolescent fire warden), and Lewis (the head of the wardens) to just name a few. The world is a strange one for all humanity and Djinn. Mother nature is awake and really pissed off at humanity and the Djinn are no longer controlled by humans but mother nature herself. The world is falling apart around them (fires, earthquakes, animal attacking humans, Djinn attacking humans, etc) and humanity is all going to die if mother nature has her way. Djinn that Jo has once called her friends can no longer be trusted and the one Djinn who could do something (David) has lost his powers. The journey takes them to all the Oracles who have a direct line to mother nature which are the Air Oracle, Fire Oracle, and the Earth Oracle (which is David and Jo's daughter Imara).
The journey is two fold in that Jo and David need to get their powers back and find a way to stop the end of the world. No small feat but this is Joanne Baldwin. She has seen worse and will not give up until this battle is over. David and Jo learn that their powers were transferred to the two people that were closest in proximity to them and the same people who are with them on this journey. This offers some funny moments as Jo has to teach her friend on how to use Jo's old Warden powers. I also like the scene where Jo rents a 1970 mustang boss and she just drools over it and will not let anyone else drive it (reminds me of the old Jo from earlier in the series with her love of fast cars).
Jo and David both get their powers back eventually and now they have to save humanity from certain doom. David cannot directly help Jo in the battle after getting his powers back because as a Djinn he would be under the control of mother nature, so he has to hind out in a protective bubble and indirectly help. The journey is fast paced and exciting with obstacles and crazy animal attacks (ants, chimeras, hawks, eagles, snakes, etc). The conclusion is bittersweet in that not everyone survives, but the ending brings hope to the future of humanity. I don't want to spoil it for you.
I am sad to say goodbye to Jo and David and all their friends and enemies. Rachel Caine gave an exciting conclusion to her Weather Warden series that didn't disappoint long time fans like myself.
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