We couldn’t be more glad to have the last book in Julie Plec’s three novel series about the Mikaelson family’s history in New Orleans. It gives us a little taste of The Originals to enjoy this summer.
There are two things that Klaus, Rebekah, and Elijah are always either in search of, or are desperately trying to keep possession of: love and power. The first two books of this series have illustrated that at different times in their lives, both love and power have played integral roles in the lives of each of the Mikaelson trio.
We saw all three of them find and lose love, proving that none of the Mikaelsons have escaped the awful feeling of heartbreak, despite Klaus’ apparent lack of desire to find it on the show. We’ve witnessed how painful it was for each one of them, and how it shaped them into the people they are in the present on The Originals.
Power is often used as a tool by the Mikaelsons to encourage or discourage friends and foes from making moves. Each has their own brand of power, but in these books it was made clear that power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Just when Klaus thinks he has everything under his control, someone who has been powerless at his hands finds a way to scratch out some semblance of power for themselves and comes back at him with everything they have. Power is always in flux in New Orleans, and never has that been more clear than after reading The Originals The Untold Story: The Resurrection.
After two novels worth of reading the “Always and Forever” trio’s crazy power plays, it was nice to see that in this final book in The Originals: The Untold Story trilogy, someone finally got a bit of a jump on them. The Mikaelsons have never respected the human faction as they should, and as such, it is refreshing to see that the humans have weaponed up and decided to take a stand. Don’t get us wrong, we love the Mikaelson family and cheered them on each step of the way as they fought against the human faction, but it’s also so relieving to see a marginalized group take power into their own hands.
Fans of The Originals will enjoy this book for all that it has to offer, especially since we are facing down a three or four month hiatus from New Orleans and the world of the Mikaelsons. It’s exactly the kind of story that you want from them, and the structure of the story will keep you remembering that something goes awry in their plans. The prologue does its job, as it will re-appear in your mind at the most opportune moment, providing the reader a glance at the future Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah only wish they had.
As for new readers, if you enjoyed the first two books in the series, this one will provide more of the characters you’ve grown to respect, even if some days that respect smells more like fear. It wraps up this trilogy, while also reminding the reader that this is just the beginning of the story. These characters go on to live crazy and ever-evolving lives of struggle and joy, which they take for granted in equal measure. We don’t know if Julie Plec plans to continue writing novels about The Originals and it’s ever-evolving cast of characters, but we will be happy to read anything she writes.