[A quick note: This is the second book in The Silent Gods 2 series. I read and reviewed Master of Sorrows HERE if youโre interested. This book is out today. Make sure you head over and grab a copy for yourself! There are rumors that this might be a twelve book series. So if you like long series (think Wheel of Time) then youโll probably be even more into this one.]
โ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ช๐ง๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฌ๐ ๐ก๐ค๐ซ๐, ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐๐ก ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ก๐ ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ง๐ซ๐, ๐จ๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐ค๐ก๐ก๐ฎ ๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ. ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐จ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐๐๐ก๐ฅ ๐ค๐ง ๐ง๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ.โ โJustin T Call
After surviving the attack on Chaenbalu, Annev and his companions embark on a new journey to seek answers. In time, they go their separate ways. But Annev stays the course, hoping to find someone powerful enough to remove his magical artifact arm. In the mean time, his enemies are building their strength, honing their powers, and preparing to come after him.
Tons of magic, detailed world building, a host of characters, and plenty of adventure. The second installment of The Silent Gods definitely packs a punch. Our story follows multiple POVs this time around, as each character grapples with his or her own journey. My favorites were Annev, Fyn, and Myjun. But especially Myjun. Which surprised me because I couldnโt stand her in the first book.
Iโve got to say, this is the most magic heavy book Iโve ever read. The attention to detail is impressive. Thereโs so much behind each of the types of magic, artifacts, and world building. Itโs in a league of its own. There is a downfall to this, in that it adds many layers of complication making the story extremely long. At 900+ pages, it takes the cake as the longest book Iโve ever read.
I enjoyed this one a bit more than the first, especially Fyn and Myjunโs journeys. I found myself especially engaged. Even though Myjun was sort of an evil character, I like morally gray or even black characters. The contents felt more mature. While the characters are YA aged, I think itโs more fitting for adults simply because of the story complexity. Thereโs a lot of detail. Youโve really got to pay attention. Thatโs the brilliance behind the writing.
My only gripe is that the story moves slow in places, and is just too long for me. It got to the point where it felt like it was dragging on forever, even though the content was good. While the first 600-ish pages were much slower, the last 300 really raced. Thank the gods! I think the saying goes: too much of a good thing is not necessarily a good thing. Or something along those lines. I know Justin T Call is very aware of this. I think he even called this book a โdoorstop.โ LOL.
But itโs good, and there is certainly an audience of people who love super long books. Like Wheel of Time fans. Speaking of Wheel of Time, there were some places that I got that sort of vibe. I do enjoy the WoT series, so thatโs definitely a compliment.
In terms of rating, I teetered between 3.5 and 4. And if the book length would have been shorter, I would have rounded up. But the length really frustrated me at times. It just took me too dang long to read this one. Nearly a month. I generally read two books a week. So my TBR is pretty pissed. If the third book is this long...I am not sure Iโm going to have the courage to tackle it. So weโre going with 3.5โญ๏ธ
A huge thank you to Blackstone Publishing for sending me a physical ARC of both this and the first book. I now have something to hold my doors open! All joking aside, I really did enjoy this one, and if youโre a magic/fantasy loving reader, you will too.