Thirst No. 2: Phantom, Evil Thirst And Creatures Of Forever By: Christopher Pike (Book Review)

 (There will be spoilers in this review)

Summary:

What Alisa has desired for five thousand years has finally come true: She is once again human. But now she is defenseless, vulnerable, and, for the time in centuries, emotional. As she attempts to reconcile her actions as a vampire with her new connection to humanity, she begins to understand the weight of life-and-death decisions. Can Alisa resolve her past and build a new identity, or is she doomed to repeat her fatal mistake?

This book has been a rollercoaster of epic proportions. Yes, it is, essentially, three books in one but it was for a long time a never ending rollercoaster of highs and lows in Alisa's life and her story even though was long and tragic never left me bored but left me wanting more. Until there was nothing left to want. Pike never ceases to amaze me. 

This book starts off with confirmation that Sits was turned into a human. Somehow, Ray finds his way back to Sita, telling her that he never perished in the fire. She believes him for that is what she wants, they settle down together and end up pregnant. Of course, this pregnancy is not normal because nothing ever seems to be normal in Sita's life. After giving birth to her daughter Kalika, named after the hindu goddess Kali Ma, Kalika grows up supernaturally quickly and needs blood for sustenance just like her mother did. 

Sita named Kalika after Kali Ma also known as the 'Dark Mother' and throughout the story we find out that she was the reincarnation or Avatar of Kali Ma. I despise that Sita thought the worst of her daughter based on the name that she gave her to begin with. I hate that she was so distrustful of her daughter because she needed blood to survive. You would think someone living for thousands of years needing the exact same thing to survive would show some empathy and trust towards her living daughter. She only compared the worst characteristics of Kali Ma to Kalika but she forgot most importantly of all that Kali Ma was the most compassionate goddess of them all. I understand why Kalika never advised Sita what her intentions were. Sita had to make her own judgements and come to her own conclusions. If Kalika would have spilled the beans then it no longer is free will and would have influenced Sita's decisions. 

Sita being human and having a not so human child definitely pushed her over the edge emotionally. And once she finally lifted the wool off her eyes, she realized that Ray all along was a phantom. Ray was a delusion that Sita's mind created as a defense mechanism to deal with his death. She ironically turned back into a vampire since she thought she had to defeat her daughter. 

On top of that she was led astray by the Setians, followers of the Egyptian god Set. They took a scripture that was created by Suzama and twisted it so Sita would unknowingly help them get to the child who is said to be the reincarnation of Christ. Setians are sort of alienlike beings who can inhabit bodies and have advanced technology. Kalika was actually trying to protect John; the child from the Setians but instead was murdered by Ory (old foe from Ancient Egypt). Side note: there is actually a cult named the temple of Set who apparently follow some satanic practices. 

Sita has changed so much in so little time. From having Yaksha's blood, turning back into a vampire and using John's blood in her transformation, Kalika giving her mother her blood and in turn passing some of her powers onto her. Sita has changed so much compared to the vampire we were originally introduced to. It was thanks to Kalika's blood that Sita was able to defeat Ory and his Setian allies. But of course her story never ends. One would think that body switching aliens, the reincarnation of Christ and Kali Ma would be enough but no! Onto the third part of this book we're introduced to time travel. 

Sita comes across Alanda who is supposedly an old friend which we never find out how they ever met but Sita has to go back in time to stop Lord Landulf from taking her blood. It is through taking her blood that this Ancient civilization is able to turn so many people towards fear. Humans are said to be in a third dimension and it is through spiritual growth that they can evolve towards the fourth dimension (called a harvest) and that also requires some negativity. However, because these Ancient people used Sita's blood to grow stronger and unleash their evil onto mankind, it caused an unbalance. With only fear and negativity ruling someone's life, they never have the chance to feel the touch of hope and evolve spiritually. 

The last part of this book definitely had a different feel to it. It was darker, gruesome and had a much more evil tone to it. Sita time travels (psychically) about a thousand years ago right before she met Lord Landulf who used to do satanic rituals to invoke demonic spirits into the world and use their strength for his personal gain. Before she supposedly met Lord Landulf she came across Dante and saved him from people who were torturing him because he had leprosy. When she arrived at Landulf's castle, he welcomed her with open arms because he knew how powerful her blood is. She was able to defeat him using the spear of Longinus, the same spear that pierced Christ's side while he was crucified. 

I loved Sita's aha moment with Dante. She realized that Dante was actually Landulf and the person she came across in the castle was a decoy. She made the comparison of Klingsor from Wagner's Opera to Landulf and how they shared so much in common. As well, Dante even though under her influence would be able to skirt away from the questions she asked. And seeing as he was a Leper who seemed defenceless and truly harmless, even needing her help during the beginning of her quest to kill Landulf she didn't see him for what he truly was but instead fell for his illusion. The progression of their relationship is very telling. The people who start a journey with you are sometimes those that are quick to tear you down before your moment of grandness or success.And that those who appear weak are sometimes the one's who you really have to watch out for. Just because they wear sheep clothing doesn't mean they are as such. 

After having defeated Landulf and not falling for his tricks, instead of traveling back to her time she travels even further back to the moment where Yaksha was supposed to be born. Sita truly changed her history. She killed Yaksha while he was still in the womb, thus, Sita never becoming a vampire, giving birth to Kalika and spared the life of countless people she killed over her five thousand years. Essentially, the end of Sita's journey but time travel is a tricky thing and who knows how the future changes because of her changing the course of time. 

Rating:

I am going to give Thirst No.2 5 stars on 5! Let's start off with wow! So much happened in so little time and I know many people thought that Pike was crazy adding in the aliens and time travel but I personally thought that he added everything in seamlessly. Aliens isn't such a strange concept and with a technologically advanced race time travel isn't so far fetched. Granted, the method of time travelling psychically is a little out there but not really. With Sita being able to read minds, feel people's emotions and control someone's mind so psychically time travelling isn't too crazy of an idea. The ending was definitely bittersweet because there is so much left to do with Sita's story but she deserves to be happy and she was at her happiest when she was married and had her human daughter. Obviously, this isn't the end of Sita since there is a third book in the series but this book's ending tied up all the loose ends and was a great way to end her story. Hopefully, Pike doesn't screw up the next book because authors have this uncanny ability to fuck up a series after giving it a perfect ending and then wanting to add more books to said series. Let's hope Pike keeps up the great work.