Gem Tunuviel's father is threatening to destroy the entire Rikashi, dragon shape shifters, race and she is determined not to be used as his pawn. When she finally escapes she begins searching for the faces that she has been seeing in her dreams, ten other Rikashi that she has never seen before and two shadowy figures that never come clear. She finds Shirak Gwindor, one of the ten faces and a Rikashi that her father held prisoner and tortured. Shirak is also following the dreams, finally gathering together all but the two shadow figures and fighting against his attraction to Gem the whole time. Gem must find the strength within herself to become all that she can be even as danger draws ever near and forces beyond all of them put an ancient magic into play.
The Gathering is the sequel to Antonia Tiranth's first book, The Quickening. The books are definitely dependant on each other and should be read in order for full enjoyment. Ms. Tiranth definitely has a unique story arc going here and the characters are great. I love the fact that Shirak is willing to give up everything for Gem and that her friends never judge her based on her father. It is a sweet story with a couple very hot love scenes and one sad scene that made me cry. The end is a true cliffhanger and I can't wait for November when the third installment will be released.
