Riders of the Storm: Stratification #2

This book is a great and imaginative story, well told.

The middle book of a trilogy is one which I approach with patience. I know it won't have the zing of the new - Book 1s have all the fun of introducing new characters and situations and can throw all sorts of problems and dangers at the characters without having to worry too much about cleaning up the mess. Book 3s have the grand climax with all the emotional pay off. Book 2s are stuck with “...the plot thickens...”.

Somehow Ms Czerneda has avoided this pattern most triumphantly. Not only does she add tons of character development, she expands and deepens the world in a way that just took my breath away. The challenges thrown at the characters were resolved in an immensely satisfying way, enough that other authors would have just left it there - but Ms Czerneda managed to walk a tightrope of giving closure while at the same time leaving threads loose and mysteries to be solved so that if I didn't have Book 3 handy then I might go a bit batty wanting to know what happens next.

I am so glad I discovered this author. This is great stuff!