A review by bhnmt61
Stories of the Raksura, Volume Two: The Dead City & The Dark Earth Below by Martha Wells

4.0

It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that reading Martha Wells is what got me through the past fifteen months of the pandemic, both Murderbot and the Raksura. The two series have a lot in common—they both star loners who long for connection, for one thing—but they read very differently. The Murderbot books are tightly plotted, with one action scene after another. The Raksura books are as much about world building as they are about plot, so they unfold slowly, with dense layers of detail. In fact, I can’t switch between them without reading something else in between. This particular book of Raksura stories was like pulling on an old favorite sweater, revisiting friends and finding out what they’ve been up to. The highlight, of course, is that it ends with the birth of Jade and Moon’s first clutch. Loved it.