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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
This was a fantastic conclusion to Black Sun and Fevered Star - everyone's stories converge in really interesting ways and while the conflict and battle was different than I thought it would be, I really enjoyed that. I loved the ending, though a little vague and would love if the author revisited this world!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The final book in the Between Earth and Sky trilogy. Unfortunately the great Mesoamerican inspired world, creative magic, and interesting characters were wasted here in a predictable, pat conclusion. I also struggled to find a cohesive theme for the series—not that every series needs to have one—but there were so many things that could have been highlighted here, and in the end, just weren’t. Not a complete waste of time, just kind of disappointing.
I don’t know that I was fully on board for this trilogy until about halfway through this, the final installment. From the start, the world Roanhorse created drew me in, and the magic system and society she created were particularly intriguing, but I was never sure that there was a character I was really rooting for. In this conclusion, Roanhorse successfully convinced me that each of our focal characters was likeable. I think I’d like to reread the whole trilogy again after a while, I’ll probably like it even better.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What a fabulous conclusion to what is now one of my favourite series!
As always I loved the setting, with a world inspired by the pre-Colombian Americas. It's such a vibrant time and place, and I loved exploring the idea of power and what makes a God from all sides. You don't know who is supposed to be in the right or wrong and I think that is a really important part of this plot.
Roanhorse's writing, as expected, was fantastic. I just love her balance of worlbuilding, action, character plotting... just excellent. We have a lot of POVs here, I think 7, but not once did I get lost or confused about who or what we were seeing. Each thread slowly and satisfyingly crept towards a singular point for a wild ride of a finale.
Xiala was far and away my favourite character in this entry. I love how she embraces who she really was to finally, finally come into her full power. No spoilers here but there is a scene when she is chasing a ship... amazing, everything I wanted from her.
I was also really happy with how Serapio developed over the course of this part of the story. Seeing him slip more into darkness, but still cling to some sort of morality was so interesting to read. The scene with him, Xiala and Balam was true heart in mouth moment and I think I may have dented the cover of my book with the tightness of my grip haha.
Another thing I found really interesting in this finale was the flashback scenes to before Serapio was even born and seeing how his parents and their companions bought about the events of the trilogy.
I am so sad that Between Earth and Sky is now over (secretly hoping for some spin-offs please), so brb while I start reading it all over again.
As always I loved the setting, with a world inspired by the pre-Colombian Americas. It's such a vibrant time and place, and I loved exploring the idea of power and what makes a God from all sides. You don't know who is supposed to be in the right or wrong and I think that is a really important part of this plot.
Roanhorse's writing, as expected, was fantastic. I just love her balance of worlbuilding, action, character plotting... just excellent. We have a lot of POVs here, I think 7, but not once did I get lost or confused about who or what we were seeing. Each thread slowly and satisfyingly crept towards a singular point for a wild ride of a finale.
Xiala was far and away my favourite character in this entry. I love how she embraces who she really was to finally, finally come into her full power. No spoilers here but there is a scene when she is chasing a ship... amazing, everything I wanted from her.
I was also really happy with how Serapio developed over the course of this part of the story. Seeing him slip more into darkness, but still cling to some sort of morality was so interesting to read. The scene with him, Xiala and Balam was true heart in mouth moment and I think I may have dented the cover of my book with the tightness of my grip haha.
Another thing I found really interesting in this finale was the flashback scenes to before Serapio was even born and seeing how his parents and their companions bought about the events of the trilogy.
I am so sad that Between Earth and Sky is now over (secretly hoping for some spin-offs please), so brb while I start reading it all over again.
AHHHHHHH!!
This book broke my heart, but the ending was absolute perfection so I'll forgive the author for
The audiobooks for this trilogy have been outstanding and this installment was no exception. I loved every minute. How I wish HBO or Netflix would adapt a series like this. This would make a truly incredible anime.
I'll definitely be reading more by this author.
This book broke my heart, but the ending was absolute perfection so I'll forgive the author for
Spoiler
killing my favourite charactersThe audiobooks for this trilogy have been outstanding and this installment was no exception. I loved every minute. How I wish HBO or Netflix would adapt a series like this. This would make a truly incredible anime.
I'll definitely be reading more by this author.
All that build-up for exactly zero actual payoff. After an amazing first novel (one of the most original, riveting things I've read in years in an "oh my god I need everyone I know to read this book RIGHT NOW!" kind of way), the second and third installments ended up as disappointments. I can forgive this in book 2 due to "middle book syndrome" in a trilogy, where much of the time is spent moving everyone into position for Book 3 and building up to a spectacular series climax, but the final installment of Between Earth and Sky fizzles where it should have been resplendent.
Nara and Serapio are wasted as characters. Major setups in the second and third book end up going absolutely nowhere, and most of the big climaxes either take place off page or are left to reader imagination.
I wanted great things from this series, but it almost seems like the author was afraid to give it the ending it deserved, which would have included
(SPOILERS FOR ALL MAJOR PLOT POINTS AHEAD):
1.) The god-avatar versus god-avatar rematch between a Nara (who finally understands her powers) and Serapio, as their previous standstill has left the city in a literal eclipse state outside of time and space and the rest of the world. This is the greatest, and most unforgivable misstep.
In book 1, we see Serapio at the height of his powers, and know exactly how he got there. Books 2 and 3 lead us to believe there is so much about the Sun God and the gods in general that we do not understand. Nara is sent on a journey to understand these things, and we see her growing and learning so much. But, in the end, it is all dropped and remains a mystery as the narrative inexplicably shifts to a dream-world battle between Nara and a Balam who seems far more centered of time-lost lustings after Serapio's mother than causing any real world-shifting acension to the godhood he claims to want.
So, Serapio is left to face the clans and Nara has to something something battle against Balam,(who never should have been elevated to main character/nemisis status in the first place), instead of fully coming into herself and her power, and learning secrets that centuries of heirarchy seem determined to keep hidden. Nara deserved better.
2.) Something....anything....meaningful with Coyote Clan after all that damn build-up in book 2. (But Ang, the prophecy! Shh.....vague predictions don't count. Give them actual things to do.). There was such a lead-up to Nara possibly forming a major alliance with the Coyotes, and implications of major, game-changing machinations of the clans. And, much like the other major plots that could have had such spectacular payoff, we get absolutely nothing and the storyline wanders somewhere else instead.
3.) Xiala (sp? I listened to audio for the trilogy) vs Balam, since he is responsible for wrecking/trying to enslave her homeland. Their characters have circled one another since Xiala's introduction, and a final, cataclysmic confrontation would have brought them full circle. And or fuck's sake, don't tame her via the good old-fashioned pregnancy/child trope. This is a wild, willful woman who refuses to be bound to anything. And I will grant you that a significant part of her story is reconciling to her roots and to Teek in general, leaving her as a mother on the search for her baby daddy feels like an insult to her.
I get it, yes, she and Serapio loved one another as much as either was able to love someone. I shipped it. I wanted them to be endgame. I love that Serapio did not die horribly, as seemed inevitable, and ended up finding some damn peace as a woodcarver. But I hate that Xiala is the one who has to temporary abandon everything (her own child included) to go on a long journey to find a man who does not put one single foot forward to do the same for her. Or, you know, bother to send a messenger to Teek, where he MUST know she's now set up as Queen. I miss my wild, fierce, take-no-shit, independent deep-sea shipbreaker.
4.) Remember how Serapio and his allies were surrounded on multiple warfronts for, like most of the narrative and the inevitable battles were going to be devastating? That they had basically no hope, even with Xiala's last-minute arrival, because they were drastically outnumbered by both sea and land? Yeah, something should have been done with that ON PAGE. We needed to see the final battles. See the destruction of the city. See Xiala single-handledly wrecking that fleet she promised to destory (but Ang....she already wrecked boats outside of Teek. Yes, a few warships. That Kracken fight should have been saved for the novel's climax. Or there should have still been a big naval battle at the end. Or something.) This books sets up for so damn much, and fails to deliver on any of it.
And we KNOW Roanhorse can write the big confluicts. We saw them played out magnificently in the first book. It just seems like, once she artfully established an outstanding cast living in such a vibrant world, and moved everyone more or less into position for one hell of a series climax, she lost any interest in finishing the series in any meaningful way, and rushed forward to be able to say "the end."
I swear, I thought I fell asleep during the end of the audio and missed the important parts of the final act. But it turns out, they just aren't there at all. I feel like Writing 101 should be "never, ever, ever under any circumstances let the damn climax of your series primarily occur off-page, or leave it to the readers imagination" but I'm also not a published author, so what do I know?
I'm just a frustrated, disappointed reader.
Nara and Serapio are wasted as characters. Major setups in the second and third book end up going absolutely nowhere, and most of the big climaxes either take place off page or are left to reader imagination.
Spoiler
And what the heck is with that HP/PotC3 epilogue?I wanted great things from this series, but it almost seems like the author was afraid to give it the ending it deserved, which would have included
(SPOILERS FOR ALL MAJOR PLOT POINTS AHEAD):
Spoiler
1.) The god-avatar versus god-avatar rematch between a Nara (who finally understands her powers) and Serapio, as their previous standstill has left the city in a literal eclipse state outside of time and space and the rest of the world. This is the greatest, and most unforgivable misstep.
In book 1, we see Serapio at the height of his powers, and know exactly how he got there. Books 2 and 3 lead us to believe there is so much about the Sun God and the gods in general that we do not understand. Nara is sent on a journey to understand these things, and we see her growing and learning so much. But, in the end, it is all dropped and remains a mystery as the narrative inexplicably shifts to a dream-world battle between Nara and a Balam who seems far more centered of time-lost lustings after Serapio's mother than causing any real world-shifting acension to the godhood he claims to want.
So, Serapio is left to face the clans and Nara has to something something battle against Balam,(who never should have been elevated to main character/nemisis status in the first place), instead of fully coming into herself and her power, and learning secrets that centuries of heirarchy seem determined to keep hidden. Nara deserved better.
2.) Something....anything....meaningful with Coyote Clan after all that damn build-up in book 2. (But Ang, the prophecy! Shh.....vague predictions don't count. Give them actual things to do.). There was such a lead-up to Nara possibly forming a major alliance with the Coyotes, and implications of major, game-changing machinations of the clans. And, much like the other major plots that could have had such spectacular payoff, we get absolutely nothing and the storyline wanders somewhere else instead.
3.) Xiala (sp? I listened to audio for the trilogy) vs Balam, since he is responsible for wrecking/trying to enslave her homeland. Their characters have circled one another since Xiala's introduction, and a final, cataclysmic confrontation would have brought them full circle. And or fuck's sake, don't tame her via the good old-fashioned pregnancy/child trope. This is a wild, willful woman who refuses to be bound to anything. And I will grant you that a significant part of her story is reconciling to her roots and to Teek in general, leaving her as a mother on the search for her baby daddy feels like an insult to her.
I get it, yes, she and Serapio loved one another as much as either was able to love someone. I shipped it. I wanted them to be endgame. I love that Serapio did not die horribly, as seemed inevitable, and ended up finding some damn peace as a woodcarver. But I hate that Xiala is the one who has to temporary abandon everything (her own child included) to go on a long journey to find a man who does not put one single foot forward to do the same for her. Or, you know, bother to send a messenger to Teek, where he MUST know she's now set up as Queen. I miss my wild, fierce, take-no-shit, independent deep-sea shipbreaker.
4.) Remember how Serapio and his allies were surrounded on multiple warfronts for, like most of the narrative and the inevitable battles were going to be devastating? That they had basically no hope, even with Xiala's last-minute arrival, because they were drastically outnumbered by both sea and land? Yeah, something should have been done with that ON PAGE. We needed to see the final battles. See the destruction of the city. See Xiala single-handledly wrecking that fleet she promised to destory (but Ang....she already wrecked boats outside of Teek. Yes, a few warships. That Kracken fight should have been saved for the novel's climax. Or there should have still been a big naval battle at the end. Or something.) This books sets up for so damn much, and fails to deliver on any of it.
And we KNOW Roanhorse can write the big confluicts. We saw them played out magnificently in the first book. It just seems like, once she artfully established an outstanding cast living in such a vibrant world, and moved everyone more or less into position for one hell of a series climax, she lost any interest in finishing the series in any meaningful way, and rushed forward to be able to say "the end."
I swear, I thought I fell asleep during the end of the audio and missed the important parts of the final act. But it turns out, they just aren't there at all. I feel like Writing 101 should be "never, ever, ever under any circumstances let the damn climax of your series primarily occur off-page, or leave it to the readers imagination" but I'm also not a published author, so what do I know?
I'm just a frustrated, disappointed reader.
It is hard to end a trilogy for anyone. It is even harder to wrap up all of the loose ends of characters that have been extremely well developed while
still maintaining the structure and
ethos of the world built. This book does both effortlessly.
still maintaining the structure and
ethos of the world built. This book does both effortlessly.
i love these characters so much but there was just way too much going on in this book for it to be a satisfying ending :(
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes