THE EMPEROR. When his claim to the Imperial throne is challenged by a traitorous House, Vanya Sa’Liandel must adhere to the ancient tradition of the Conclave to stay in power. Refusing to face his peers alone, Vanya will stand before the Houses of Solaria with Soren by his side, a decision that risks his heart when an unspeakable betrayal threatens everything he’s fought for.
THE REBEL. With her entire world upended, Caris Dhemlan is on the run, struggling to come to terms with the truth of her heritage. As the Clockwork Brigade is targeted by Daijal, she must fight to save the people she cares about. Every rebellion needs a figurehead, but Caris is determined not to become a martyr.
THE QUEEN. With a crown claimed, Eimarille Rourke sets her sights on Ashion and the continent beyond her country’s borders. Promised a world by a star god, Eimarille sets into motion the gears of war and launches the opening salvo of a battle whose repercussions will ripple across the whole of Maricol.
Comment: Since last month I've liked reading the first book in this Infernal War saga trilogy by author Hailey Turner, I've decided to read the other books too. Besides, I was quite curious over a few situations and felt like I couldn't wait that long to know what would happen.
In this second volume, all key characters are found exactly where we left them, with decisions to make and missions to accomplish. Soren is helping protecting Vanya's daughter, Eimirille is still bent on conquering all of Maricol and Caris feels betrayed that everyone expects her to be queen when all she wanted was to be an engineer. As all the Rourke siblings go on with their plans, others around them make plans and some make unsavory alliances. With a few of the star gods helping some of these players and some even going as far as to bless them in their actions, is there any hope the world won't be destroyed by Eimirille's ambition?
This was, once more, a very complex and fast paced story. I was impressed with the first book because it was so busy but everything made sense and engaged my attention from start to finish. I'm glad to say the same quality was found in this second volume and the fact this is the second story, middle of the road, didn't mean it was only a filler, as often happens with trilogies.
The world building remains as complex and detailed as I expected and the characters' decisions both not that easy nor dependent on only one's mind. I've said before this world is a mix of fantasy and steampunk, where humans go on about their lives, although some have special magical powers, there are zombies revenants too and six gods, whose agenda I can't yet truly determine. Some of the gods seem to appear more often than others, and they kind of manipulate a few humans into doing things, but I can't tell if that is because they want something to happen, or because they are simply playing games with one another... I imagine this will be answered in the last book.
The main plot revolves around one main idea: before the war that decimated the Rourke bloodline, the ones ruling the country Ashion, their queen wanted to abolish any trade with Dejal, another country, where debt slaves are in practice. With the war, the children of that queen were placed in different homes, and each one has a specific god helping them in some way. As adults, they must fulfill their roles, but what are they exactly? I've said about the first book that I had not seen any character I'd label as a villain, for the POV of so many characters helps having a broader idea about what is happening, but now, after the events of this book, it seems one person is meant to be a clear villain/antagonist.
I actually felt a little anxious to read this book. Considering what happened right at the end of the first one, and knowing there would be a third to come, this second one certainly would include a lot of less than good situations and I was not anticipating I'd have a good experience reading about things I'd prefer not to see. While it is true there are some positive situations, and one or two lighter scenes to make things easier, and there are as many manifestations of caring and love and friendship between some characters, there are also several problems which become worse, many bad or sad scenes and things that seem so black and white that I can't understand now how the author will solve them or explain them in a positive context.
Eimarille is now queen of Dejal and she has always planned to recover Ashion, but the price seems to pile up and the god helping her seems to be the most manipulative. Caris has had some disappointments in how her life would go and is wary of being queen herself, but if she isn't, how can peace ever exist among all the nations in Maricol? Besides, with a few situations that took place in this book, now it seems war will happen for all countries. As for Soren (or Alesandair), he is still with the wardens, after finally revealing himself to Vanya and having to leave. I'm in such a state because of them yet, I want them to have a HEA and I dream of how it will happen, I surely hope the author won't do anything else but what I hope will happen!
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