Plagued by guilt over the death of her father and her half sister's lover,Tynisa travels to the Commonweal; home of Salma the man she once loved and lost. There she hopes to find his family and tell them about how he lived and died and then most likely seek her own death. However she is struck by the physical similarity of Salma's younger brother to her lost love and believes she may have found a reason to live again. However Salma's family have plans of their own for Tynisa. Meanwhile Che with the aid of Thalric is heading for the Commonweal as well hoping to save Tynisa from the ghost of Tisamon, who isn't quite done with his daughter. Seda the empress of the wasps is looking to expand her new found magical powers and ultimately plunge the world into war once more.
The world-building is exceptional once again. I especially liked how Tchaikosky showed the Commonweal warts and all and there were definitely major social problems there well before the wasp invasion. One theme which was carried along through both wasp and Dragonfly characters was the effects of war and it's associated losses as well as what losing one's purpose can mean. This really leads to some major character growth for some very interesting side characters.
I did enjoy the focus that was given to Che and Tynisa and this kept the plot centered and balanced throoughout.
Overall Tchaikosky continues to deliver in his very impressive series. 8.25/10.
I've never heard of this series, but I have to say that the cover art is amazing. (I know, I know, you should never judge a book by that!)
ReplyDeleteHi Loren artist Jon Sullivan put together that gorgeous cover. I would definitely recommend giving Shadows of the Apt a go.
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