Customer Reviews

Twilight Fulfilled (Children of Twilight)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Brigit Poe and her twin James, are the only ones of their kind. Part mortal, part vampire both having powers with one being a healer, and the other a destroyer. Brigit has always accepted that she was the evil twin and that her brother would be the savior. So imagine her surprise when a twist of fate happens making her the only one who can save her people, what little are left. Fierce with determination, she sets out to destroy the first of their kind, Utana, to stop his bloody rampage and destroy him at all costs. Things get a little tricky when she finds her heart softening towards him. She'll have to make the choice no woman should ever have to make. Her heart or the lives of her family, as to lose either might just break her.

I'll be honest that I was very skeptical at how realistic a relationship between Brigit and Utana could possibly be. There were so many things against them. The biggest being how unlikely it would be for Brigit to be able to forgive him for her family's deaths. How do you love someone that has taken so much from you. Another is that he is literally out of his mind from being captive in an unmovable state for thousands of years. I just wasn't sure how he could be capable of real love. However, after getting to see past the facade each of them wears on the surface, I realized there was so much more to both of them underneath than meets the eye. In fact they seemed to be the perfect complement to one another, making the romance very believable in the end.

I cannot imagine being having to grow up as Brigit has. While she had love an affection from her parents and her twin, the only other one of their family who treated her as more than a destroyer was her "Aunt" Rhiannon. Instead of acting like she was evil, Rhiannon helped her to embrace herself. I'm not sure how Brigit would have held up if not for this, as it was she still had a pretty hard heart. Well that is until she started falling for Utana. Of course that doesn't help her complex of feeling she is evil, falling for the immortal that killed so many of their race. I was very happy to see her finally stand up to the other's perceptions of her tell them they are wrong about her being evil. I think in time she will throw off the "chains" of those perceptions and be finally able to grow.

Twilight Fulfilled is to be the last installment in the Wings in the Night series. I feel things ended naturally and rather well. Of course I've only read the last two books in the series, so I am eager to go back to the beginning. I didn't have any problem jumping into the series with the 18th book, Twilight Prophecy, but I wouldn't recommend reading this one without reading that one first. While there was a focus change from one couple to the other, they still read like a continuation of the other rather than stand alone books. Twilight Fulfilled is a great finale to the series, that leaves you with a sense of completion, yet still leaves a little open for possibilities in the future. Perhaps someday Maggie Shayne will revisit this world, but for now I am very content with the way things have been left.

The highly awaited conclusion to Maggie Shayne's Twilight Prophecy is the new novel, Twilight Fulfilled. The US Government's Department of Paranormal Investigations (DPI) has orchestrated both the unveiling of and the subsequent annihilation of the vampire race. Only a few remaining vampires exist due to the government's efforts and their own.

In the previous novel, immortal healer and quarter-vampire twin, J.W. thought to find the vampire savior in the first immortal named Utana. After researching, locating, and resurrecting Utana, J.W. finds that the immortal has lived trapped in his ashes for hundreds of years and has gone insane. Utana's belief of being punished for sharing his immortality with others, that started the vampire race, prompts him to destroy vampires to appease his gods' wrath.

Twilight Fulfilled starts with destructive twin, Brigit sent on a mission to destroy Utana before he kills all the remaining vampires left. Brigit is a spunky, powerful, quarter-vampire with more resourcefulness and cunning than most female leads. She starts on her hunt with only misgivings of whether she can kill this first powerful immortal as he has the same destructive power as her. However, as she observes Utana and feels his sorrow and confusion in this world she wonders if this being deserves to be sentenced again to a living death. Unexpectedly, she also discovers a sexual awareness and yearning for this powerful male but how to convince him that destroying the vampire race is not what his gods want!

Utana is similarly torn and confused in this new world. He has no understanding of the customs in modern time but has the ability to touch an object to understand its function and purpose. He has the government aiding him and treating him as a king for his future service of destroying the vampires. Brigit is unexpected in his world with her warrior spirit, intelligent insight, and beautiful body. He is also feeling guilt and remorse for the lives he has taken and misgivings of whether his gods truly decree this genocide.

Brigit and Utana are wonderful characters with depth and emotions with humor and humility. They make mistakes and acknowledge their culpability in their actions and words which is refreshing. Each struggles with their attraction to each other and betrayal of their family or gods in acting on this attraction. However, this reader keeps hoping for a miracle so these two star-crossed lovers will have a happily ever after. But to save the vampires and chosen (people that can become vampires) from the DPI's plot to destroy both may not allow a happily ever after. Read the book to find out more! http://obsessedreviews.blogspot.com/

I loved this book and thought it was a good end to the series. I am sad to see this series end. I have been a fan of this series since "Twilight Phantasies" when it first came out as part of the Silhouette Line. I couldn't put it down.

I am saddened to see this series end, but love the way it did. I have been a fan of this series since "Twilight Phantasies" when it first came out in as part of the Silhouette Shadows. I still have my copy of that book. The characters are old friends and I have loved watching them develop.

Over the Wings in the Night series, Maggie has been building towards this end. Each story is interlaced by characters who have become family to each other. Their bonds of friendship and love are very strong. Brigit and James benefit from this family bond. They know that they are special in both the vampire world and the human/mortal world. However, growing up they were told they had a certain role to play. James is the "good" twin, while Brigit is the "bad" twin. It isn't until this book they realize neither of them are fully good or fully bad. They learn how to deal with family and also with their own paths. Rhiannon tries to shape Brigit into a mini-me, but also tries to show her that she can change her destinity. Brigit is like the daughter Rhiannon never had.

When Utana and Brigit cross paths, their lives will never be the same. Both realize that the other one has valid points and strengths that have not been explored. It is Utana that makes Brigit realize that because something is destroyed, something else is created. Whatever is created can strengthen a person's resolve and embrace life. Brigit makes Utana realize that the gods are not punishing him for sharing the gift, but showing him from his sharing a beautiful group of people have survived and flourished. That is his legacy. It is a legacy that includes love, friendship and family. When they realize that they love each other and would sacrifice themselves for the greater good is such a poigant moment.

It has been a great journey with this series. I have laughed, cried and cheered the characters. I am sad to see it end, but it was time. I look forward to future books by Maggie to add to my collection. I know she has more stories to tell with more amazing characters to come.

Maggie Shayne's Twilight Fulfilled (Children of Twilight) is an incredible story! This was my first book from Maggie Shayne and after finishing the book I couldn't help but want more. I loved the idea of there being the Chosen those who vampires are sworn to protect. I found it extremely interesting that there was a gothic, scientific element to Shayne's story. The characters within Twilight Fulfilled are interesting to say the least. The main character Brigit Poe is a smart, strong and sexy female leading lady. The chemistry between her and Utana is undeniably irresistible.

Shayne's story is unique, fast paced and easily draws you in from the start to finish. Although I have not read all of the previous books in this series I am eager to go back and start the series from the beginning. I would highly recommend reading the previous books because a lot of history is touched on and current/past relationships are mention but I also think Twilight Fulfilled is a fantastic book on its own. Shayne does a fantastic job re-introducing previous characters as well as new.

Maggie Shayne did a wonderful job with her villain character Nash Gravenham-Bail. He was just so easy to hate. I despised him because he was always one foot a head of the game. I couldn't help but want Utana to just tear him to shreds. I found it extremely engaging and realistic to the story that Brigit struggled with her family about her relationship with Utana. With so much previous history it would've been silly if there was no struggle.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Maggie Shayne's Twilight Fulfilled. I would highly recommend this book to vampire series lovers everywhere! This is a wonderful and exciting end to a FANTASTIC series!

4 STARS
I really enjoy Maggie Shayne series twilight. I think I have read all of them. The last two are of Children of Twilight. The only child to be born of vampire was Amber lee and she had twins J.W. (James) and Brigit. Who were born with special powers. J.w. right after birth healed Brigit who was born not breathing. Brigit has power to destroy shoots a lazer from her eyes. She is known as the bad twin.
James had raised up from ashes the imortale Utana who was trapped for 5000 years, thinking he was the one to save the vampires from being wiped out. Utana actually thought he was supposed to kill all of his children the vampire because he was not supposed to share his power.
Utana stole James power to heal. He also killed many vampires. At same time it was made known about the vampire race and a lot of vampires houses and some humans were burned and died.
Brigit knew that her power was the only one that could stop Utana and she battled him till they both could not fight any more that night. Utana was wounded but stole her power. Brigit was drawn to know more about Utana and was attracted to him.
Nashmum was head of the goverment agency that has been for years killing and torchering the vampires and expermenting on them which is how Amber Lee was born. He was tricking Utana and wanted to help him kill all the vampires and the chosen people his agency had rounded up to trap the vampires.
The only problem that I had with the story is Utana was supposed to be the flood survior who took his family and animals on a boat. I was a little touchy about that.Decided to not think he was Noah just someone made up from that time frame.
I enjoyed the story and wonder if Maggie has finshed this series or where would it take them next book.
I was given the ebook in exchange of honest review.

The species cleansing of the vampires has left the Undead nearing extinction. Based on an ancient prophecy, the only offspring of a vampire, hybrid twins James William and Bridget Poe, believe they are the only hope for salvation. J.W. liberates from a five-millennium incarceration, the immortal patriarch of the Undead Utanapishtim; the healer assumes their sire will save his children (see Twilight Prophecy).

Instead of being the savior, Utanapishtim believes this is his chance for redemption by eradicating the abomination he created. The warrior twin Bridget confronts Utanapishtim, but is taken aback by her attraction to him. As they battle one another, she also reasons with the founding father that his return to the living is to save not destroy the race. Meanwhile Nashmum the Fed does not want an alliance that could intrude on his torcher experiments on vampires.

The second Children of Twilight urban fantasy is a great finish to the hybrid twins' next generation's duology. The complex story line is fast-paced, but character driven by the battling lead couple and key support cast who starred in previous entries of the overarching saga. Readers will relish the climax wondering whether the attraction between Utanapishtim and Bridget will be strong enough to overcome the machinations of Nashmum and his goons, and the doubts as to right and wrong by the ancient one.

Harriet Klausner

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I have got to go back and read the early books in Maggie Shayne's Wings of the Night series. I came to the party late, with Twilight Prophecy --and I really enjoyed it. Now, this book picks up right where that one left off... dropping us right back into the action.

Now that vampires have been revealed to humanity, they are becoming targets for extinction. Human vigilantes are burning them out of their homes and killing them in their sleep. And if that's not bad enough, the world's first immortal is targeting them as well. Half-breed vampire James resurrected Utana in the last book, trying to fulfill a prophecy that said he could save their race. But Utana has gone mad from thousands of years with his consciousness trapped in the ashes of his body. He thinks his agony was a punishment from the gods for starting the vampire race. And to atone, he thinks he must eradicate his creation from the face of the earth.

The surviving vampires send James' twin, Brigit, to face him. She shares the same destructive powers as Utana and if anyone can stop his murderous rampage, she can. But when Brigit and Utana face off, they quickly realize there is an undeniable connection between the two of them. Each believes they need to kill the other, but neither can follow through. Their first battle ends with them in each other's arms and the pull between them only gets stronger as time goes by. Eventually Brigit's mission changes in her own mind. Instead of trying to kill Utana, she needs to find a way to help his mind heal and convince him to change his plans to kill her kind.

I really enjoyed watching the romance unfold between Brigit and Utana. Brigit has spent her whole life feeling less than her brethren. But with Utana, she has finally found the place where she belongs. The love scenes are great, but the romance is even better! It is a kind of "love at first sight" thing, which I'm not a fan of, but I can live with it, if I tell myself it's a vamp thing.

The plot was fast moving and the book, action packed. Like in Twilight Prophecy, there were appearances from characters featured in previous books in the series... which I'm sure will give a thrill for longtime fans. I think this book will be better to those of us who read the book immediately before, but the world building is simple and easy to understand for new readers. I liked it alot. 4 1/2 stars.

Twilight Fullfulled, Book #18 of the Wings in the Night series
Author: Maggie Shayne
Synopsis: Utanapishtim has paid dearly for the sin of creating the vampire race--imprisoned in a living death for centuries, driven to near madness. With a single white-hot glance, he immolates his descendants...and the vampire Armageddon begins.
Beautiful and deadly Brigit Poe, not wholly vampire but fiercely loyal to that shared bloodline, is called into action. She abhors yet cannot deny her destiny: to vanquish the once-great king of the immortals and save the vampire race.
Two warriors, equally matched in power and determination, are soon locked in an unwinnable battle, only to discover a passion so shocking it threatens every truth they've ever known--even as they must face one final battle that seems fated to end in death and heartbreak for them both.

Our Review [by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L Olson]:

The wonderfulness of this book can be gleaned from one of the best literary quotes ever in my opinion... "Never, has a great king been brought so low by one so slight. My heart...you hold in your hands. The mighty heart of an immortal king is more fragile than a butterfly's wings in your grasp. No arrow, no weapon, could pierce its stonelike shell. And yet at your touch, at your kiss, it quivers like a frightened lamb. I find there is anything I will not do if you only ask it. These things I admit to you with great trepidation. -Maggie Shayne, Twilight Fulfilled" If your heart did not just melt at that, then...

The last in an epic journey, Twilight Fulfilled left me laughing, cheering, squealing, and ultimately crying; all with a smile.

An action-packed thrill ride, Twilight Fulfilled leads you on a roller coaster of human (er...immortal??) emotion, dissects the way that society affects our way of thinking with propaganda and the like, thereby planting seeds of doubt where none should belong. It also proves that even in some of the direst of circumstances, love really CAN conquer all.
Knowing the author the little that I do, I'm almost certain that last one was the big `message' she was hoping to get across with this book, and she did it beautifully.

I'm very saddened, yet in a light hearted way, to see this series come to an end. It has been a cornerstone of strength for me on many an occasion and I can pretty much guarantee that I'll be going back to its books for repeat performances and re-reads!

Maggie is a genius with the written word, truly did write vampires before vampires were cool, and has wrapped up Wings in the Night with a pretty blood red bow--a gift for any reader!

LITERAL ADDICTION Paranormal Book Club gives Twilight Fulfilled 4 ½ Skulls.

We definitely recommend it for ALL Maggie Shayne fans, Urban Fantasy readers, Vampire lovers, and even Paranormal Romance addicts (though this installment was more about the story and tying up the series than the sex).
Three cheers for Maggie Shayne, Twilight Fulfilled, and the entire Wings in the Night series. You truly have been my Author Lifesaver....

TLDR recap:
Utana, father of the vampire race, and an immortal who has been trapped inside the ashes of his body for thousands of years, is on a crusade to purge his sin against the gods by obliterating the origination of that sin... his vampire children, all of them. Brigit Poe, one of the prophecied Twins, the "evil" twin who has been trained to fight and kill with her laser-eyebeams-o-death, has been given a terrible task: kill Utana before he kills all of them. This second offering in the Children of Twilight series by Maggie Shayne starts off slow, but really takes off about halfway through, before barrelling non-stop toward a heart-breaking, explosive conclusion. A GraveTells recommended read!

Title: Twilight Fulfilled
Series: Children of Twilight - book #2 / Wings In the Night - book #18
Author: Maggie Shayne
Prominent Characters: Brigit & Utana
Recommended reader age: 16+
Sexual content level: light-to-moderate


Thoughts:
Brigit is modern, spunky, irreverent, tender, and intelligent, and she doesn't need a man to save her... usually. Utana is old-fashioned (duh, thousands of years old!), has been a king, a priest, and (considered to some) a god, can shoot crazy lasers of destruction from his own eyes, and is working some major mojo in that big sculpted (and apparently revivable) body of his. Needless to say, he doesn't think he needs a woman to save him either, but he hasn't met Brigit yet. Over the last few years, Harlequin has really been busting out of its staid, rusty old ravishing-innocents-and-bodice-rippers stereotype, and Twilight Fulfilled is an engaging contemporary, hip paranormal romance story in a much beloved series.

This story is told in third-person, but the characterization of the voices is so well done, it reads like first-person. It starts off as a composite cast story, with several storylines weaving in and out; that's probably what made the first half of the book feel slow for me, and the main reason for the 4.0 rating (would have otherwise been higher). We should take into account that I read Twilight Fulfilled without first reading Twilight Prophecy (the first book in the Children of Twilight series) or any of the numerous Wings in the Night books, so my observations are from the point of a true newbie to this universe. That will be helpful for readers who, like me, are starting fresh with this one, and probably annoying to readers who are long-time fans of Maggie Shayne's vampires. Something else that was both a positive and a negative for me was Utana's obvious initial trouble with the English language. His stumbling pronunciations and word misuse made for a few fun comedic moments (which, IMO, could have been played on a little more heavily), but also made it difficult for me to identify with him as a character. Ms. Shayne does a great job, though, of progressing his language skills at a believable pace; he may be highly intelligent, but he's no virtuoso and I like that - it makes him more real and he needs it. I mean, seriously, this dude is the original Noah, the father of the vampire race, an ancient Sumerian king and priest, and can wipe out entire blocks with his mega Cyclops gaze... he definitely isn't your average easily-relatable hero-next-door type!

Something else that was very notable, and may actually be a detriment for Ms. Shayne's more devout monotheistic fans, was the emotional and psychological debates (rather obviously) hidden within the dialogue and characters' thoughts. I don't know whether the views expressed in this story are Ms. Shayne's or simply what came to her with the characters, but she certainly does a convincing job of debating against the one-all-powerful-deity-who-oversees-everything-and-demands-war-and-carnage philosophy. In case that last bit has anyone feeling a bit put-off, the message doesn't come off as atheist, but rather only that men shouldn't presume to know the minds of their gods or to speak for them in text (and rely on those written words), and should independently make decisions without shackling themselves to unfounded restrictions and expectations.

Another interesting psychological observation, that I haven't seen in a PNR book to date, is that perhaps the old standby behead-em-burn-em-scatter-the-ashes method of executing a vampire might be killing these creatures, good and evil, in body only. If a vampire is truly immortal, then you cannot kill him, right? So what happens to the spirit when the body is destroyed? Wouldn't it go mad after thousands of years of sensory deprivation? Do they never get to "pass on" to whatever life is next? Interesting indeed! Sorta makes me view vampire hunters in a whole new, less than flattering, light.

On other characters, J.W. is really memorable and likeable, and this isn't even his story! Twilight Prophecy is definitely going on my 2011 Reading List!

Memorable quotes:
No one ever said love was easy...
She was supposed to kill him, not wound him and then worry about whether he was feeling it.



Protection-proschmection, go for the throat!
"I felt compelled to protect you. And I suppose that's natural too, given that I... took a little sip from your..." She made the mistake of looking at his shoulder and then his neck as she spoke to him. "Your great big, corded, hard, salty neck."



Justification for war?
She wanted to convince this man that religion was not a good enough reason for genocide. Then again, it was one of the main reasons why anyone had ever committed such an atrocity or gone to war in the history of mankind.



On how Utana became immortal...
"Maybe the gods wanted you to start a new race. Or maybe it was something you ate."



If you like Twilight Fulfilled and the rest of the Children of Twilight and Wings in the Night series...
If you enjoyed Twilight Fulfilled for its long, family-like history of related vampire novels, you may also like the books in Christine Feehan's The Dark (Carpathian) series (beginning with Dark Prince: Author's Cut Special Edition). The Dark series has more than twenty consecutive novels published and links most of the characters together with close ties of family and friendship.

If you enjoyed Twilight Fulfilled for its intense climax and spunky heroine/hero chemistry, you may also enjoy the Night Huntress (starting with Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1)) novels by Jeaniene Frost. Ms. Frost's Cat is, like Brigit, a kick-ass vampire-human hybrid with an independent streak and a weakness for a sculpted male chest. And Bones... well, Bones fans would agree that PNR heroes don't get much better than Bones. *grin*

Final thoughts:
Whew, that was a lot of "thoughts", yeah? If I didn't lose you at the religious part (hey, I don't write it, I just review it!) and you've made it this far, I recommend reading this book. Would I read Twilight Prophecy first? Definitely. For starters, you're going to spoil some of the events of the initial Children of Twilight book if you don't read it first. Secondly, there's a lot of groundwork for this story laid down in the first novel, and the explosive ending will probably have a much greater impact if you've followed the story from the start.

Speaking of explosive conclusions, Twilight Fulfilled has one of the most charismatic endings in a book that I've read in a long time. It starts picking up steam about half-way through, and becomes nearly impossible to put down as it progresses. Utana and Brigit may not have known each other long, but you REALLY want things to work out for them! If this series is not already on your reading list, put it up there somewhere near the top - the part you're actually going to read (yeah, you know you're guilty!). If you were already looking forward to this new Maggie Shayne novel and have been a fan of her vampire world since the Wings of the Night series, you will not be disappointed! Twilight Fulfilled is a GraveTells "Recommended!" novel.

Rating: Twilight Fulfilled

4.0 Hearts: Recommended!

Original review by DaVinciKittie of GraveTells.com:
[...]
*ARC provided by Netgalley. No compensation was received for this review and all opinions expressed are the honest opinion of the review, not influenced by outside factors.