Korian and Lucy

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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I'm not sure how to go about this – this makes no sense if you haven't read Part 1 of this tale – and neither would really make that much sense without the novel, Daughter of the Sun. So if you haven't read either – skip this, really. Go read Kalo's novel (or at least my take on it) instead of this post.

Still, I want to say something – and not just because I said I would. I liked this a whole lot better than Part I , which is just about the fainted praise possible. And, like with the novel, Kalo is starting to win me over – she has a certain charm, no doubt about it. I liked Lucy more after this book – her mother. too – and I'm a tad more interested in the story. All good – and well done, Kalo.

Here's the problem: I'm less convinced than I was after Part I that Kalo's readers need this story. We haven't gotten anything we couldn't and wouldn't have assumed from what we learned in the novel about this period. I don't need to know anything about Trinity's mother, or her romance with Trinity's father, to be invested in Trinity. Also, I'm not sure that Part II actually accomplishes anything other than letting us know that time passed and that the pregnancy progressed – oh, and it charms curmudgeonly readers like myself. But the story needs to do more than that to justify itself, doesn't it?

Now, will Part III be able to change my mind about this entire story? Sure. I truly hope it does. But at the present, I don't see why she bothered with this installment.

Still, I enjoy this world – I like Kalo's writing (which was better here than in Part I, but not as good as in Daughter of the Sun, Kalo's one of those writers that needs space), so I'm glad I read this, as will most of her readers be. I'm looking forward to Part III (and truly hope that it wraps things up) – but even more, I'm looking forward to the sequel to Daughter of the Sun.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this from the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion.