Blaze of Memory by Nalini Singh is book 7 in the series and it took me a bit to remember who these characters were! Dev and Katya are both introduced in book 4 and book 5 but they are very minor, secondary characters and so I really had to think hard in order to place them. Plus, it was stated that Katya died in a lab explosion. However, once I placed them, I was able to jump back into the story. Neither of these characters were quite as dynamic as some of the previous couples. Dev is a forgotten, a descendent of the Psy who left the Psy-net at the onset of the Silence Protocol. He isn't a full Psy, but he does have some residual psy powers. He runs the Shine foundation to help find children of the forgotten and ensure they are screened for any latent abilities. Katya was a scientist working with Ashaya, doing experiments on the children of the forgotten. She and Ashaya were not willingly doing the experimentation and now Katya has been programed by Counselor Ming to kill Dev.
Dev has a strange 'power' to interact with metal. You don't really get a lot of info about it until pretty late in the story. It plays very little role in the story so it just seemed a little odd. Dev was a difficult character for me to like to be honest. I just never quite connected with him.
Katya is very un-Psy like. I believe its because she has had her mind altered by Ming, but she craves touch. I actually liked Katya because she was a new take on the Psy in the series. Not only is she different in obvious ways, but she isn't a cardinal either. The previous Psy characters in the story are all very powerful. Katya is a mid level medic and telepath. It was nice to see a 'normal' Psy character.
Blaze of Memory was not my favorite of the series. I just didn't feel that the characters were as dynamic as the previous books and overall the story felt kind of static. However, I am so in love with the world of the Psy-Changeling series, I enjoyed just getting back into that aspect of it! I will admit, the way the story worked out in the end was not at all what I expected and had me serious worried about Katya!
You get more of Sasha and Lucas, Dorian and Ashaya, Judd and more. You find out more about Keenan and Noor, and you are introduced to William, a child of the forgotten with some major power. The story is really building towards a major revolution. I think if the story was more about all the developments, with Dev and Katya's story being a side plot, I would have enjoyed this more.
Narrated by one of my favorite narrators, Angela Dawe, the story really is performed instead of just read. Dawe does an amazing job and makes listening to these books a must!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: yes
- Trope: amnesia
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: series
- Cliffhanger: not for Katya and Dev but the overall arch of the story does still have lots of unanswered questions
- HEA: yes
Books by Ilona Andrews, Danika Dark, Christine Feehan...then you will probably like Blaze of Memory!
See full review on The Book Disciple