A change of tone compared to the first book but all the better for it.
Maniye has finally overcome her enemies but now she finds herself at a crossroads as the North no longer know what to make of her. So she decides to help Asmander with his quest down south, bringing with her a crew of other outcasts and misfits to help in the potential conflict between the Sun River Nation ruler siblings. Asmander himself will have to negotiate his feelings for each of the siblings while Loud Thunder is needs to finally accept the leadership of the North and deal with a potential existential threat to all of the nations.
I really enjoyed the last book but my main complaint was that it was a bit repetitive. Maniye just went from one disaster to another with random help and if this book had been the same I may have stopped the series. However it was completely different, the main plot only really seems to kick off here. Maniye is probably still the main character but Asmander and Loud Thunder get nearly as much screen time with Hesprec and Kalameshli also getting a few chapters.
The world just really feels much bigger here. I did love the cold barren North from the first book but the history and other tribes that we encounter just adds a lot more depth to the world. We also have the first interactions with the Plague people, a seemingly much more advanced race technologically speaking, that appears to be main antagonists of the series.
Things get tidied up fairly well by the end but it seems to have all been setup for the next book where I imagine things are going to escalate fairly rapidly. Very much looking forward to the concluding volume.
4.5 rounded down.
Barry's Bloody Books 