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Revision as of 15:33, 26 August 2020
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{{infoboxinfobox1
|title=The Calling
|sort=Calling
|borrow=Yes
|isbn=978-1907410475
|pages=288
|publisher=Atom
|date=April 2012
|website=http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/
|video=-g-h3IkXLNg
|summary=Maya's second outing is a tense thrill ride - she and the other survivors of the forest fire face hypothermia, dehydration and men with guns as they try to make their way back to Salmon Creek. But if they make it, who can they trust?
|cover=1907410473
|aznuk=1907410473
|aznus=1907410473
}}
Maya Delaney and friends have just survived a forest fire they think might have been set deliberately. Safely flying away in a helicopter, they think their troubles are over. Until the pilot turns out to be on the same side as those setting the fire.
Maya is a skin-walker, possessed of incredible senses, and the ability to shift into a cougar, not that she's managed to do so yet. And she's not the only one in the group to be coming into some supernatural powers...
It's been so long since I read [[Darkness Rising: The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong|The Gathering]] that I struggled to remember the events that led Maya to the point she starts this instalment at. And Armstrong doesn't give you much time to settle in to into the story - it's all action from the word go.
Surprisingly, for a book that is by and large a story about walking through the woods, the tension never eases up, and will have you turning pages as fast as if the action set pieces were moving from continent to continent. In fact, the claustrophobic setting of the forest added its own layer of fear. Maya may have the upper hand in the forest - as natural a home to her as her own house - but the ever -present danger of getting lost, dehydrated or hypothermic made the setting an antagonist as much as the men creeping round around with tranquilliser darts.
The gradual realisation of there being something wrong about the lives lived by Maya and the other teens is also unsettling, with every character ever met in the previous book suddenly under suspicion. Who can be trusted? In truth, no one.
There are plenty of hints at things that have happened in the wider 'Otherworld' universe, with mentions of the Nasts, and what happened in Buffalo, which I believe is a reference to the [[The Summoning (Darkest Powers 1) by Kelley Armstrong|Darkest Powers series]]. This interconnectedness is something I really like about Armstrong's writing and world -building - and it makes these series aimed a perfect platform for the older teens to discover the rest of the Otherworld from.
Overall, a tense thrill ride, which paves the way for what will undoubtably undoubtedly be a superb conclusion. I, for one, will be watching the bookshelves closely for it.
My thanks to the publisher for sending a copy.
Fans should definitely read (if they haven't already) [[The Summoning (Darkest Powers 1) by Kelley Armstrong|The Summoning]], and might also enjoy [[Strange Angels by Lili St Crow]]. You might also enjoy [[Betrayals by Kelley Armstrong]]. [[Kelley Armstrong's Darkness Rising Series in Chronological Order]] {{amazontext|amazon=1907410473}}{{amazonUStext|amazon=1907410473}}
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