A review by crowyhead
The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson

4.0

I found this, the sequel to Anderson's award-winning The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party to be a little bit of a let-down. It's still an excellent book, but it's twice as long as the first volume and yet does not seem as eventful. Perhaps the issue is that it lacks much of the eerie confusion of the first novel; unlike in the beginning of The Pox Party, where one isn't even quite certain whether the book is historical or speculative fiction, the reader is pretty much aware of the historical context surrounding Octavian. This makes it slightly less intriguing. We still want to follow Octavian on his voyage of discovery, but we already know the score in a way we didn't in the first novel.

Probably if I hadn't been so blown away by the first volume, I would be more enthusiastic about this one. But while I feel it was well-written and interesting, it didn't leave me excited or singing Anderson's praises quite so enthusiastically.