Alicia

Not as spectacular as the first in the series, but I'm still left wanting more.

This author and this series is going to become required canon reading for this genre, mark me. Brilliant, unstoppable fiction I simply could not put down to save my life!

Some may read this and not see the subtext beyond the general revenge/persevere plot, but I heard (loud and clear) "Be careful who you become when you believe yourself to be the hero of your own tale."

Our "hero" is a member of a colonial race of magic users running from a nebulous "great evil" when they land in an occupied new world, embarking upon a war lasting hundreds of years with the original inhabitants. Forgetting this set up may cause you to miss the nuance of this particular hero's journey. I very much hope in future installments, we hear more about this tale from the perspective of the invaded, and that this new framing may help us critique what at first reads as a standard "chosen one" narrative! I expect big things!