The action-packed story continues with the same three main point of view characters. Laurel is a young girl from the forest city of Zedalum, who has recently lost her threadweaving abilities and is now an achromat, having lost her powers in book 1. I was very excited to see the return of Asher, Laurel’s animal companion from the first book, a chromawolf with whom she develops an even deeper bond in this book.
Chrys is an ex-soldier who is hosting a fearsome and violent immortal god, Relek, in his body, fighting for control of his mind. He will need all of his courage and determination to win back control and attempt to return to his wife Iriel and baby Aydin, who is one of a very small number of amber threadweavers left in the world, and an extremely important player in the war against evil.
Alverax is the third main character, the last obsidian threadweaver, unaware of how important this makes him to the world in which this story of good versus evil takes place. He gradually begins to understand his role in the fate of the world and shows incredible bravery and both strength and depth of character as his story arc develops. The characterisation in this novel is excellent!
We now have evil creatures, the corespawn, which have been released into the world by the destruction at the end of book 1, of the wonderstone, which the Zeda people had been protecting. The corespawn can only be seen by threadweavers which makes them an extremely dangerous opponent. We also have other interesting species introduced in this book, including deadly red and white bees, which I found particularly intriguing, as well as the vengeful gods, Relek and his sister, Lylax.
There are new geographic locations introduced, the beautiful and serene city of Felia being one of these:
“Out of his window, the Terecean Sea as far as the eye could see, dotted with a large archipelago that formed the start of the Alirian Islands. Dozens of ships traveled between, carrying valuable trade cargo. Down below, at the piers, thousands of people traveled like ants along the streets and boardwalks. Nearly every building in Felia was white. He’d seen similar designs in Cynosure, inspired by Felian architecture, but these were something else.”
We also learn more details of the two main religions within this world, those of the Alcheans and the ape-like wastelanders. Perhaps they are not so very different from each other after all.
The Threadlight magic system is explored more thoroughly in this book, particularly the differing powers people have - which are dependent on the colour of their irises. The idea of having multiple threadweaving capabilities is introduced and this results in super-powered threadweavers capable of astonishing skills. I really enjoyed this magic system and thought it was very well thought out and clearly explained:
“His corethread broke with urgency, and he felt gravity dissipate. In the same moment, Iriel pulled again on the wall and, together, they shot through the air toward the window. The glass shattered as metal ripped out of the sill, shards drifting through the air like beads of rain, cutting at his cheeks and hands.”
This is a book full of reunions: Laurel with the Zeda people, Laurel and her animal companion Asher, Chrys and his family, and perhaps the most surprising reunion happens at the end between Alverax and someone who I will not name for fear of spoiling the final surprise.
I highly recommend this book to all fantasy fans who enjoy detailed magic systems based on physics, imaginatively described locations and inventive creatures. I will be eagerly anticipating the third and final book in the series!
