Book Synopsis:
Expected publication: March 10th 2015 by Skyscape
378 pages | 
The walls of Ninurta keep its citizens safe.
Kai always believed the only danger to the city came from within. Now, with a rebel force threatening the fragile government, the walls have become more of a prison than ever.
To make matters worse, as Avan explores his new identity as an Infinite, Kai struggles to remind him what it means to be human. And she fears her brother, Reev, is involved with the rebels. With the two people she cares about most on opposite sides of a brewing war, Kai will do whatever it takes to bring peace. But she’s lost her power to manipulate the threads of time, and she learns that a civil war might be the beginning of something far worse that will crumble not only Ninurta’s walls but also the entire city.
In this thrilling sequel to Gates of Thread and Stone, Kai must decide how much of her humanity she’s willing to lose to protect the only family she’s ever known.
Book Review: 
An enormous and kind thank you to Skyscape publishing for providing me with a copy of The Infinite by Lori M. Lee in exchanged for an honest review.
I wonder often about the world. Mainly in relation to its limits. Personally I believe the world does has its limits. So much that it can offer and so much that it can take. Luckily for us readers imaginations are limitless. They provide us with countless worlds that can be lived in for a short while or for a longer time than we initially thought we’d stay. Our world should be grateful for imaginations such as Lori M. Lee’s. Although her worlds might not be the best place to live, this is only because the death rate seems to increase with each book. But seriously, who really doesn’t love a good war with a strong heroine leading the action? That’s what you’ll find in the Gates of Thread and Stone series.
So where did Lee leave us at the conclusion of the first novel in this series, Gates of Thread and Stone? Well Kai discovers that she is in fact an Inifinite, a God if you will. Okay, she is really the daughter of an Infinite, I think of Kronos as Father Time. There are only ever seventy Infinites in existence, and they are ‘incarnations of notions like strife and death, trapped by the limits of those concepts and by the rules of their kind.’ Way back when there was the Mahjo war, between the Infinites and the mahjo (their human/infinite offspring). The Infinites won and stripped the Mahjo of their power. The world is now in what is referred to as Rebirth. The city Kai lives in believes they are the only civilisation left, but the second book puts that all to shame.
Then we have Avan who sacrificed his life in order to keep Kai safe during their journey to try and find Reev (Kai’s ‘brother)…well Avan is now an Infinite too. Conquest to be exact. Although he has forgotten his humanity, which sucks. On the plus side he still has feelings for Kai…yay!! But Kai seems to have misplaced her powers to control the threads of time after killing Ninu (the old Kahl), and she is also wanted to be the knew Kahls advisor. Which she isn’t really that interested in but goes along with it anyway to try to create an alliance between her city, Ninurta, and a city found in the Outlands, Lanathrill.
As you most likely have realised, if you read my review on the first novel, I hopefully have got a larger grip on the intricacies of this world. I thought Lee really flushed out areas that I found incredibly confusing in Gates of Thread and Stone. She was able to do this in addition to expanding the readers world view, bringing in new cultures that consist within this universe.
I thought The Infinite one was an excellent sequel. Lee did something that I rarely read in novels where two neighbouring cultures are finally introduced to each other. That is recognising that the would each have different names for the same things. It just creates a richness to the tale, adding a layer of depth to the newly introduced cultures history.
There is so much deception in this one and bloodshed. It was great. Great in the sense that it was masterfully written, so much so that I couldn’t put this one down. I needed to find out what would happen next.
Kai was kick-ass! She never came off as fake, and I never rolled my eyes at her silliness because she never made stupid decisions. Her head was in the game. And you just know that she was willing to sacrifice what was needed to be regardless of her feelings, because it would lead to a better outcome for the majority.
I did miss Avan in this one. I knew that Lee would try and present Mason as the second love interest, but I admire how Kai wasn’t willing to give up on Avan just yet. Despite the fact that he remembered nothing of their time together when he was human. Avan as Conquest though was pretty bad-ass, and he did make a pretty solid case for the need that people have in order to be controlled. If I was Kai I would have given him back his memories as soon as she realised she was able to mend the threads of time that had been severed. Screw giving Avan a choice!! You two need to be together and rule side by side making the world a better place.
What is it with Reev though? Does he like Kai? Like, ‘like like’ her? Sometimes I think so, other times I think he’s just being a big brother. But Kai keeps on thinking things in relation to his body, how she wants to touch him. I feel that you shouldn’t be ‘wanting’ to touch your brother like that. He’s just confusing. Is he jealous? or just overprotective? I have an inkling that he might be the third love interest! Since Mason just clearly doesn’t cut it.
It’ll be interesting to see how Kai develops with her new powers in the next novel. I’m not completely sure how it will work, since there can only ever be seventy Infinite alive at once. So maybe after Kronos teaches Kai his skills he’ll die and she’ll take over. And then Kai will become even more kick-ass!!
This series is such an easy read with truly incredible characters. It isn’t your typical YA. There is no hopeless romantics in this one clouding each others judgments. Absolutely refreshing.
Read this series.
