Review: _Troika_ by Louise Cooper

Pandora opened a box and let the ills out on the world in Greek mythology. Fantasy author Louise Cooper takes this theme, making it the central story of her “Indigo” series. Indigo let demons loose on her world and must now search the world to destroy them before she can resume her life. Troika is the fifth book in the series continuing the story. The book is an entertaining addition to the series because of the characters, setting and plot.

Strongly developed characters keeps the reader’s interest. Indigo is a sad, cursed woman. Driven on a quest to destroy the demons she loosed on the world, she is made immortal by a goddess. That immortality creates a terrible loneliness she must overcome to achieve her goal. She has one companion and friend in the female wolf Grimya, who is intelligent and has the ability to talk. Together, they provide a memorable relationship to survive their latest trial. Ms. Cooper gives readers realistic characters that a reader can sympathize with throughout the story.

Next, the author provides a vivid setting that draws readers into the story. The world of this book has some continents and large islands. This story is set on a northern island near the polar zone. There is a harsh environment of bitter cold winters and dangerous animals like snow tigers that people must know how to survive through. In the book, it is this vivid setting that drives the plot into interesting directions. Ms. Cooper uses believable descriptions to portray a natural place of forests during a winter of blizzards, snow and cold, which helps drive the main plot elements.

In the end, it is a suspenseful plot that hooks readers into the story the most and keeps them reading. Indigo searches for a demon while traveling through the winter landscape. A sudden vicious blizzard forces her and Grimya to take shelter with a family for many weeks. They are drawn into the troubles of the the family as strange events begin to occur. Indigo has the added complication of trying to avoid falling in love with the head of the family who looks like her lost true love Fenran. The weaves the conflicts of the plot together into an entertaining adventure story.

Troika by Louise Cooper is a nice addition to the “Indigo” Fantasy series. The heroine’s quest to rid the world of dangerous demons grows with each new book. This book’s characters, setting and plot weaves into a suspenseful tale of adventure, sorrow and love. Readers could not ask for much more in a book and will want to seek out the other books in the series.