The Lost Tide Warriors, moves the candles forward a bit

The Storm Keeper’s Island by Catherine Doyle was filled with mystery, adventure and the sort of book that fills the imagination of middle school students and older. The Lost Tide Warriors is the second book in the series and does what very few books have done in that it gets better in our memory. While I was reading The Lost Tide Warriors I remember thinking that the first book was so much better. This book had its moments, the second half of it is effortless and very fun to read and middle school ages will still enjoy reading it.

The book parallels some of the Potter/Percy Jackson vibes in that there is a greater monster world at play. In this case Fionn has been the Storm Keeper of Arranmore for a very short amount of time and there is great evil afoot on the island. The key behind the magic are the candles that Storm Keepers can control. There’s a candle for certain moments in history and by lighting the candle the keeper is able to go back and forth as they please. However, it’s a candle, a non-renewable resource, so they do decrease in the amount of times that keepers can use them.

Soulstalkers are the lemmings of the sorceress Morrigan who are getting landing on the island each day. Fionn is having dreams where Morrigan is tempting him, baiting him due to his inability to solve the island’s problems. This is, despite competing for and winning the mantle of Storm Keeper in the first book. Apparently wielding magic and protecting island is more challenging then we were all led to believe.

For us, the first third of the book took too long to set up the remaining two thirds. Once the book kicked into gear it did redeem itself a bit. The Lost Tide Warriors does do a great job of keeping audiences guessing as to who or what the ultimate goal is. The ending kept us satisfied just enough to warrant another return to Arranmore, but next time I hope the action is amped up and the characters are less chaotic.