eBook, 387 pages
English language
Published Jan. 1, 2012 by Night Shade Books.
Moon, once a solitary wanderer, has become consort to Jade, sister queen of the Indigo Cloud court. Together, they travel with their people on a pair of flying ships in hopes of finding a new home for their colony. Moon finally feels like he’s found a tribe where he belongs. But when the travelers reach the ancestral home of Indigo Cloud, shrouded within the trunk of a mountain-sized tree, they discover a blight infecting its core. Nearby they find the remains of the invaders who may be responsible, as well as evidence of a devastating theft. This discovery sends Moon and the hunters of Indigo Cloud on a quest for the heartstone of the tree — a quest that will lead them far away, across the Serpent Sea.
This entry to the series is still strong. Exploration of places and gripping turns. I felt emotionally attached to the group's outcomes.
This entry to the series is still strong. Exploration of places and gripping turns. I felt emotionally attached to the group's outcomes.
When I was a teen I used to daydream about and try to draw, bigger than life fantasy settings. Taking fantasy tropes such the Elves of Lorien and their tree houses and imagining them bigger, grander and ridiculously impractical.
In The Serpent Sea Martha Wells does a similar thing, pushing grand fantasy settings to their limits and she does it with forethought and style.
When I was a teen I used to daydream about and try to draw, bigger than life fantasy settings. Taking fantasy tropes such the Elves of Lorien and their tree houses and imagining them bigger, grander and ridiculously impractical.
In The Serpent Sea Martha Wells does a similar thing, pushing grand fantasy settings to their limits and she does it with forethought and style.
Much less world- and character-building than the first book, and the book really drags in the 3rd act.
I could not put this book down.
I love the inventive nature of this world and all its inhabitants. We keep finding out more and I am here for it!
EDIT in 01-2023: I re-read this, and it was still a page-turner, even remembering (most of) what happens!
Martha Wells is an excellent world builder. This is a fun setting (a world, on a leviathan!) and some interesting cultural clashes between the different groups in their world and a very nice metaphor about what different communities need to be sustainable and thrive. The Rift plot didn't work that well for me, and I wish there were more development of many of the metaplot questions raised in the first book. Solid 3.5 stars
Martha Wells is an excellent world builder. This is a fun setting (a world, on a leviathan!) and some interesting cultural clashes between the different groups in their world and a very nice metaphor about what different communities need to be sustainable and thrive. The Rift plot didn't work that well for me, and I wish there were more development of many of the metaplot questions raised in the first book. Solid 3.5 stars
Really enjoyed a world where the populations are diverse as heck, and the stories were excellent as well.
