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arockinsamsara 's review for:
Mirrored Heavens
by Rebecca Roanhorse
I remember noticing that Fevered Star definitely felt like it was moving a lot of chess pieces into place, and sure enough Mirrored Heavens was a consistently explosive novel as a result. We already knew this world and yet somehow Roanhorse was able to develop it even more, with additional bits of lore and history to add flourishes here and there. Characters continued to grow and evolve, letting us learn to love and fear them again and again. Even the magic and divine powers continued to deepen and grow—somehow, even in the third book in a trilogy Roanhorse is able to not only raise the stakes and not only pay-off a dozen plot threads, she does it without resting on her laurels but continuing to expand and complicate our experience of the world and its characters.
I worried a little before starting this book. It had been two years since reading the last one, and more than any of the specific details I remembered simply that there were a lot of details. I didn’t have anything to worry about, as the writing brings you right back into the story, with just enough snippets to remind you of what has already happened while never dropping any exposition or hand-holding. Like the salty, sometimes biting embrace of a tempest-tossed ocean Roanhorse’s writing and pacing pulls you back into the story and you never feel lost, instead you feel immersed, submerged, even, but you have no interest in coming up for air. The intensity of emotion, and the genuine love and joy that is found interspersing some very dark and heart-crushing scenes, was phenomenal. No lives are safe, prophecy and death pervade the atmosphere, and yet our strongest characters find themselves empowered by love, even amidst great loss.
We moved across so many different character POVs that sometimes it felt a little strange how time was moving, it didn’t always consistent (we might see two weeks pass as we follow one character, and then the next chapter resets back those two weeks for a different character, things like this). And certain magical techniques or technologies were learned conveniently quickly right before they were needed. But you know what? None of that matter. The narrative was consistently moving forward, I cared about every character, and I loved seeing all the breadcrumbs that Roanhorse was laying down right from the beginning, letting you anticipate how things would come together and still feeling it not just earned but breath-taking when everything did.
This whole trilogy was quite a wonderful feat, and Mirrored Heavens was an exciting and fitting conclusion. Filled with action, magic, life and death stakes, and most importantly heart. I couldn’t put it down, and still didn’t want to once it was finished.
I worried a little before starting this book. It had been two years since reading the last one, and more than any of the specific details I remembered simply that there were a lot of details. I didn’t have anything to worry about, as the writing brings you right back into the story, with just enough snippets to remind you of what has already happened while never dropping any exposition or hand-holding. Like the salty, sometimes biting embrace of a tempest-tossed ocean Roanhorse’s writing and pacing pulls you back into the story and you never feel lost, instead you feel immersed, submerged, even, but you have no interest in coming up for air. The intensity of emotion, and the genuine love and joy that is found interspersing some very dark and heart-crushing scenes, was phenomenal. No lives are safe, prophecy and death pervade the atmosphere, and yet our strongest characters find themselves empowered by love, even amidst great loss.
We moved across so many different character POVs that sometimes it felt a little strange how time was moving, it didn’t always consistent (we might see two weeks pass as we follow one character, and then the next chapter resets back those two weeks for a different character, things like this). And certain magical techniques or technologies were learned conveniently quickly right before they were needed. But you know what? None of that matter. The narrative was consistently moving forward, I cared about every character, and I loved seeing all the breadcrumbs that Roanhorse was laying down right from the beginning, letting you anticipate how things would come together and still feeling it not just earned but breath-taking when everything did.
This whole trilogy was quite a wonderful feat, and Mirrored Heavens was an exciting and fitting conclusion. Filled with action, magic, life and death stakes, and most importantly heart. I couldn’t put it down, and still didn’t want to once it was finished.