Wildcard #22 ~ “A book with more than one author.”
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
My opinion in three sentences:
A space opera crossed with Arthurian legend sounds pretty up my street but I was even more nonplussed about this than its prequel. There was very limited character development (most of which happened off-page) and whilst I loved the diversity, most of the characters lacked any other defining qualities. The plot resolved many outstanding points from book one, however, although I’ll admit some I was less convinced by than others.
(Without spoiling anything) the best bit:
Plot points new and old are wrapped up by the end, offering a sense of resolution to the duology. Both side and main plots are addressed, and even those hanging over from book one aren’t forgotten. Sure, I may not have been sold on the way several were resolved (most notably Merlin’s ageing conundrum) but at least they were acknowledged and concluded and not unnecessarily dragged out.
A warning for the book:
This is yet another YA novel (and there seem to have been several of late) where I find myself making the same plea: make your characters more than just a token defining trait! Don’t get me wrong, I am loving this increase in diversity and representation going on, but let’s not go around making this the only identifiable factor – life is much more complex than that and people are more than just one neat box you can place them in.
Dreaming With Your Eyes Wide Open 