By the end of the first book, the Quartern is at war, the surviving Breccia rainlords are either enslaved or on the run, Terelle is headed with her grandfather to Khromantis and the dune tribes are planning raids and attacks in their attempt to rid the world of water sensitives and return to a time of "random rain".
137 pages into the book and I hit a segment that really stood out to me - that really defines the character Laisa and how underhanded and manipulative she is.
...he asked, "Laisa, if you wanted to gain ascendancy over an enemy too strong to be defeated in battle, how would you do it?"
She turned her head to look at him. So cat-like, he thought. Bruised but sated.
"That's easy," she said. "Take hostage what he loves most in the world: his lover, his child, his land his wealth, his power, whatever. The trick is to find out what he values most. Then you will have your enemy in the palm of your hand."
A slow smile lifted his lips as her words seeded the beginnings of an idea. "of course. Why didn't I think of that."
That segment means a lot to the rest of the book and the series and tells a lot about not only Laisa, but Taquar as well. They will stoop as low as they have to to get exactly what they want from a person. It should have also told Taquar that Laisa wasn't to be trusted, and I think he knew that on some level, but didn't take it to heart.
Jasper (Shale Flint) is full grown and back in the hands of Taquar in this book. Terelle has escaped and not been able to be tracked by Taquar. Jasper pines after her, but does his duty as the existing stormlord and with the help of Taquar, continues to bring water to the Quartern.
Similar to the first book, the story jumps back and forth between those in Scarcleft, to Terelle and Russet making their way to Khromantis, to Vera Redmane in the dunes tribes, and to Garnet/Ryka, Kaneth, Elmar and Ravard - who is actually Shale's brother Mica who he thinks is deceased.
The story flows smoother and there are more definitive cut off points - logical places where the story shifts to another part of the story and it makes the transitions smoother than the transitions in the first book.
As I try not to spoil too much of the story (which I may have spoiled a bit above), the war within the Quartern is brought to a partial end by the end of the book, Shale and Mica know each other are alive but are going down very different paths, Ryka has her baby and many other things are discovered and the book has an ending that closes that part of the story and segues into the next book smoothly.
Even though there are plenty of unfinished stories left, the book ends in a good way to make you want to find out how things end in the third book.
This book receives 4 out of 5 stars. I feel the writing is much improved in this book and the story flows smoother - perhaps due to the fact that all the world building and character defining happened in the first book and didn't have to happen in this book.
If you struggled through reading the first book, I strongly encourage you to read this one as it will give you a better understanding into the first book and why it is the way it is.
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