Michael Breen (3)

A wonderful sequel to the first volume, fantasy at its best!
Dagny is looking for her sister who vanished to the mythical city Jud that is magically secluded from the rest of the world. It is hard to find and enter, and once inside, it is hard to navigate, as during the Shift every day, large parts of the city change completely. Dagny has to go through various and very dangerous adventures, supported by different allies that each help her to survive parts of her quest.
While there are several story arcs following each other, the book feels much more like a whole than the first volume. And Michael Breen is really a master of writing great characters! I loved Dagny and her friends so much that I really hope that the author will write more about this universe. The last story from the first volume has now come to an end, but there are still many opportunities for new adventures.
The writing style is effortless and perfectly conjures up those magical worlds that are at the heart of all good fantasy novels. Add those wonderful characters, and you get irresistible books that just glue you to the pages and create a wonderful reading experience. Not too easy, but not too bleak or depressing, either, not idiotically heroic, but with the great dose of bravery that fantasy needs.
This is fantasy as fantasy should be. A must-read for every fan of the genre!… (more)

Can I just start off by sayin that the maps at the start are gorgeous? More fantasy books need maps of this kind of quality. As for the actual book? My views on that are a little more divided. The world building was well done. The author clearly put a lot of thought into making a well thought out and believable world. The plot, however, wasn't always the easiest to follow and meandered off to the side a bit occasionally (although the latter is not too uncommon in fantasy books and not necessarily a bad thing). My feelings on the characters are... complicated. I didn't particularly feel any strong connection to them and Dagny felt rather young (although I guess it makes sense given her background?) The romance was just uncomfortable and came out of nowhere. It could definitely have done without the more sexual nature (even if it wasn't super explicit), especially since the book largely reads as mid ish YA. Although it has been years since I read it, something about it reminds me a bit of the last book of the Golden Compass trilogy by Phillip Pullman.

If you like YA set in worlds with beautiful scenery, it is probably worth giving this book a look. Just be aware that it ends on a cliffhanger!… (more)