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.
Much less world- and character-building than the first book, and the book really drags in the 3rd act.
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.
