The great city of Tova is shattered. The sun is held within the smothering grip of the Crow God’s eclipse, but a comet that marks the death of a ruler and heralds the rise of a new order is imminent.
– GoodReads
My Review
Book 1 Review:
Well
The world was going down in flames..or darkness really and with Serapio escaping his ultimate destiny and sacrifice, the world is on a dangerous cusp. In the city of Tova the sun and the crow battle for dominance in the sky and unbeknownst to them all is that the gods aren’t done with their chosen ‘victors.’
Serapio lives, and he knows he shouldn’t but there’s something missing, a gaping hole and he knows its the absence of the crow god who battles the sun in the sky. Still, he becomes a living beacon of faith to his people and a dangerous person to leave alive for those who cannot use him.
Naranpa also lives, and she has determined her fate to be her own after the betrayal she’s barely escaped. But she has more after her now; the crow god needs her gone and Serapio is still his tool.
Okoa gets more ‘page time’ in this book. He now has to deal with loyalty to his family and loyalty to his people which may not always be the same thing as things get complicated.
Meanwhile Xiala will not leave Serapio to his fate alone and the path she chooses will test her on every level. She is going far from her true Mother but maybe that leads her to somewhere unexpected.
The pacing in this one is a bit faster, after having so much thrown at you in book one to lay the foundation, Roanhorse almost quite literally runs with it. We are left watching these characters start to realize what new trouble brews now and how it is no longer just contained to Tova, this is no longer just about a Crow god wanting to gain power, this is the beginning of the culmination of it all.
Character development is steady, we get more of these characters and some side characters are coming into their own as well.
The world is expanding, we are seeing more of the cultures that these characters belong to and we’re getting close to the end of peace; it’s holding on by a thread.
Honestly, this book is excellent, I may have even loved it a bit more than the first which is really saying something because I definitely loved the first book.
This is certainly setting up for the sort of finale of a trilogy that will probably knock us off our feet. I am not sure I’ll be able to read the third book without screeching because this book was phenomenal and was just astounding. There was no outwardly crazy plot twist but the tension was built so well that I was ready to start biting my nails, and that’s one bad habit I don’t even have.
Anyway, go read this, be amazed.
5/5 HUGE cups of coffee again and this bad baby is published tomorrow 4/19/22. I won the ARC off of GoodReads for putting it on my TBR and my review has been given honestly in exchange! So thank you to the Pub and GoodReads for my ARC!
The Caffeinated Reader 