A review by badmc
Earth Logic by Laurie J. Marks

4.0

Story about Shaftal, a land in a 20 years war, continues in this volume which also continues the stories of all the characters we had got to know in the first book. They are much changed from their ordeals, and yet stuck in passivity. The way out of that passivity is baffling, and frankly I didn't completely get it.

"Zanja asked if she and Karis would be separated forever - and the dreadful answer was that they would not separate at all. They were bound together on the side of the cliff, trapped there, each of them unable to choose to let the other one fall. And there they were destined to remain."

Here, the POV shifts between two warring people - Shaftali and Sainnites. I think it was very well done, as we got to understand the people we have come to dislike in the first book. I think Clement, a Sainnites Leutenat-General, is one of the best rounded characters in the series so far. I enjoyed her story and character arc!

"She should have known better than to become fond of a young soldier, Clement thought bitterly. All Sainnite children die in war. As fast as we send them into battle, they die. We might as well just kill them when they're born and save us all the trouble of raising them."

I like the world-building and how the feel for the world and its people grows through the narrative. There is no info-dumps and we get to experience many of the things through characters, or their flash-backs. I also like the way trauma is dealt with here: without unnerving detail, and respectful of the victims.

"You've seen some things worth seeing, and I like the way it's marked you."

The strongest selling point of these books for me are still characters. They are vivid, with strong personalities, and every one adds something to the story.

"Do you think there might be something a bit disordered about our lives?" "We've got too much talent and not enough sense."