The Assembly of Thirteen: The First Two Companions by Omayra Velez

ALICE IN WONDERLAND MEETS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING!!!

June is a minimalist suffering from PTSD.  As a photojournalist, she and two of her colleagues were kidnapped-only she made it out alive.  June is transported by a mysterious box into the Forest of the Living Death, with blue trees and over-proportions flowers.  She is chosen to serve as the Blue Companion, one of four companions bound to reset the balance of power in the Empire.

The Companions are meant to break the curse of the Athany by forming a new Assembly of the Thirteen to choose a new leader to rule Quetza.  That can only happen when the Blue Companion Judge protects her charges and helps join the other Gifted to the other Companions.  June is the protector of two Gifted, the Teacher-Magi and the Water-Magi, as well as the leader of the other Companions.  

Kara is the Red Companion.  Her first charge is Kuroi, a Healer-Magi. 

The Assembly of the Thirteen is a collection of stories that tells a greater story.  Velez introduces each new Gifted giving a little bit of their back story along the way.

 The good: I loved the complexity of the individual characters.  Each one of the protagonists has struggled through their own life-battles, fought against their own demons, and beat the odds. I loved how each individual story played a part of the bigger picture.

The bad: I felt that there were too many characters which made it hard for me to identify with “one” in-particular. I would start feeling the vibe with one character but then be introduced to a whole new set of characters and a different back story which made it hard for me to stay focused on the main goal of the novel—to find the Companions and their Charges.

If you want to read this novel check it out here.