Synopsis
On the moon of Knyadrea, the sea yields intelligent life. For a species shaped by tides, change is the only constant.
Little can be hidden in the glare of a spotlight.
Charismatic and innovative, Oklas Sayve has risen to prominence in Apidecca, the moon’s capital city. A politician and college director, he has the resources to effect the changes he envisions for the world. But the sovereigns he serves oppose him at every turn and his status cannot protect the low-strata students attending his college. After a young knyad is wrongly linked to insurgent activity, Oklas must find a way to smuggle her out of the city while hiding his involvement from the authorities.
A spark in the dank depths.
Below the grand Assembly Chambers, a knyad in a mask sculpts, grasping for scraps of beauty in her shrinking world. Years ago, Prismer made a costly mistake and now has only her job at the projection booth and a few special interests to fill her days. But it is not her sculptures that draw the attention of a powerful client, and she is soon met with a request to undertake a dangerous mission. Will she answer the call and risk losing the little she has left?Mysteries surface. A supernatural substance is used in corrupt ways. As identities shift and predicaments are reshuffled, what alliances might be forged?
Review
The cover of this book has stood out to me ever since I first saw it and the premise sounded really interesting so I happily accepted a review copy. While it wasn’t exactly what I had expected, I’m still really glad to have read it and am looking forward to the second part of this duology.
What I really enjoyed was the incredible world the author created. It was absolutely fascinating and I’m honestly sad about having finished the book because I wanted to know more and more and more. This is a society and world I could read endless stories about. I did think that it was a bit confusing at first in terms of social strata and I admit I put it down at one point and took a longer break than planned because of it. But once I picked it back up and learned more and got re-immersed, I was hooked.
Another thing that was a little two-fold for me was that the description didn’t quite fit the book for me. It wasn’t wrong. Those things definitely happened. But they were over much sooner than anticipated with much of the book still left to go. And the rest of the book felt like it had less of a direction. I can envision the overall arc for the series, I think, but this book didn’t have as much structure on its own as I usually like. But despite that, I still loved the adventure of the first part (as hinted at in the description) and the developments in the second. That second part is what really made me feel so invested in this world. I just would’ve liked a bit more structure.
Overall though, like I said, I had a really good time with this book. I honestly miss reading about the characters and still think about them a good bit. I’m glad I have a short story downloaded for this series already.
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