Of Darkness and Dawn by Will Wight
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The strife between the Imperialist Guilds and the Independent Guilds continues. The Regents have also come under attack from individuals with ties to Shera's past. Meanwhile Shera has become a Soulbound. The only trouble is her vessel has a murderous voice that can't tell the difference between friend and foe. It only wants to kill and steal the power of the powerful.
Of Darkness and Dawn proved me wrong. After of Shadow and Sea, I was convinced Shera was merely a sleepy sociopath, but this book made her so much more. She cares for her friends and humanity as a whole even if something isn't quite right with her. Shera being impacted by Syphren also made things incredibly interesting. Adding Jorin Curse-breaker to the story was a great addition as well. Jorin is a powerful man out of time who still cares for the world.
The flashbacks were excellent in showing the Emperor. The view of the Emperor is quite opposite in the Shadow side of the series than the Sea side. While Calder and his companions see the Emperor as a callous man who behaves like a Great Elder, Shera and her friends see a powerful man who cares for humanity more than his own well being. The Emperor came to life with the flashbacks and I can't help but pity the man.
I still have an issue with how Will Wight chose to split the series up into 6 shorter books rather than 3 longer ones. I absolutely abhor going through lengthy scenes in a different book from a different perspective. That's not exclusive to this series, I don't like it in any book if it's more than a tiny flashback. That being said I really enjoy Will Wight's writing which is the only reason I gave this parallel story a chance. It went well with this book, because outside of one pivotal moment, the book avoids retreading any aspect significantly.
So I'd say Of Darkness and Dawn was better than Of Dawn and Darkness. I'd say after two books the Sea and Shadow are tied. The Sea side of the story was better than it's parallel companion in the first set of stories. I'm looking forward to seeing if I enjoy Of Killers and Kings more than it's parallel story.
3.5 out of 5 stars
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