Review: “Infinite Magic,” Linsey Hall

Pros: Gets intense again!
Cons: Some inconsistencies
Rating: 4 out of 5

Linsey Hall’s Infinite Magic (Dragon’s Gift: The Huntress Book 5) is book five–the final installment–in her “The Huntress” series. Although, I should note that she has other sub-series in her “Dragon’s Gift” world. Cass and her sisters-by-choice, Del and Nix, woke up in a field when they were fifteen years old. They knew what they were, but not who they were. They were FireSouls, able to steal the powers of the dying. As such, they knew they would be hunted and thrown in the Prison for Magical Miscreants, but they’re also fleeing a mysterious Monster, Victor Orriodor. In book one, Cass had to find and then hide a scroll that could reveal the identities of herself and her sisters. Along the way she met Aidan, a wealthy, handsome, and powerful shapeshifter who’s more than happy to help her out. In book two, the Alpha Council of shapeshifters hired Cass to rescue a missing child. Cass and Aidan found out she’d been stolen by wayward shifters who were working for Victor. In book three, an expanding portal threatened to overtake the local museum, potentially destroying the entire magical city in which Cass and her sisters live. While they managed to partially thwart Victor’s efforts and save the town, Cass lost her powers in order to save everyone. In book four, Cass was told by a seer that if she couldn’t regain her magic, she’d lose an upcoming battle with Victor. She found a group called the League of FireSouls, a small group of people who would love to help take down Victor. She also found out that she and her sisters were a prophesied Triumvirate. At the end, Cass found herself trapped in the Prison for Magical Miscreants–but with her full powers unlocked. In book five, Cass must find a way to escape from the Prison, reunite with her sisters, and stop Victor’s evil plans–once and for all.

Cass got caught an awful lot in this installment; it felt a little much. That said, there are once again some fantastic fight scenes in here. Hall has a nice knack for interweaving magic use with physical battle. Again I was surprised by how little of the book was left when I temporarily surfaced from the fog of being sucked in.

No guns? I’ve thought this before, but since it still hasn’t come up nor been addressed, I’ll finally mention it here. This is modern-day urban fantasy. If people fight with weapons then why don’t they use guns at all? Not a single gun shows up in the story, nor does anyone mention they exist. I haven’t seen any reason mentioned why they wouldn’t work. Even if they don’t work against demons–something that I doubt, since every other weapon works against them–there are plenty of other creatures to fight.

I still don’t understand why Victor left Cass in the Prison at the end of the last book. His minion sort of explains it in this one, as needing a place to store her while preparing for all the evil stuff that’s going to happen. But since Victor’s been searching for her for ten years, and had reason to expect he’d find her soon, I’m sure he has the means of holding her. Especially since he’s been constantly finding and imprisoning FireSouls in the meantime.

Fire and lightning won’t work against a denizen of Hell? This is the reason Cass expresses for why her lightning bolt feeds a certain critter instead of frying it. But fire and lightning have worked against demons for five books now.

Okay, it sounds like I’m unusually unhappy with this installment, and overall I’m really not. There are just a few inconsistencies that caught up with me and rubbed me the wrong way this time. A couple of them have been problems before, but I wanted to wait until I read the whole series to see if an explanation came to light. That said, I definitely enjoyed this story! Don’t worry about one seemingly-dropped plot thread toward the end–remember that there are more books by the author set in this universe and involving these characters. Overall these are wonderful, kick-ass characters facing great odds in a fight for the world as they know it–it’s a great read and a lot of fun.

• Dragon’s Gift: The Huntress (5 Book Series)
• Dragon’s Gift: The Seeker Complete Series: An Urban Fantasy Boxed Set
• Dragon’s Gift: The Protector Complete Series: Books 1 – 5