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A review by mackle13
Seven for a Secret by Elizabeth Bear
3.0
This book is far more Sebastian's than it is Lady Irene's, though she is in it. She's older and seemingly home bound, so it is through Sebastian's eyes, mostly, that we see a London which fell to the Prussian regime, who are pretty much the Nazis, complete with an obsession of Nordic magic.
We also meet Ruth and Adele, two young English girls in training to be the Chancellor's personal guard - perhaps with motives of their own.
It was an interesting story, though it reminded me of how little I remember of the first book, which I read back in 2008. I feel like maybe I should've started from scratch - but this book does a good enough job of reminding us of who the characters are and some of the more pertinent events from the first book.
My biggest issue with this book is that it's too short. Investment for the characters is somewhat assumed from the prior installment, and the ending is rather abrupt. It's one of those endings where because things are set in motion in a certain way we sort of are left assuming how it's going to turn out, but we don't actually see it.
I actually found myself wondering if my Nook copy got corrupted and I was missing the actual ending...
That said, there is enough of a resolution that it's not a cliffhanger or anything. It just requires extrapolation - and while I can assume what comes next, I think I would've found more satisfaction in seeing some of it play out.
We also meet Ruth and Adele, two young English girls in training to be the Chancellor's personal guard - perhaps with motives of their own.
It was an interesting story, though it reminded me of how little I remember of the first book, which I read back in 2008. I feel like maybe I should've started from scratch - but this book does a good enough job of reminding us of who the characters are and some of the more pertinent events from the first book.
My biggest issue with this book is that it's too short. Investment for the characters is somewhat assumed from the prior installment, and the ending is rather abrupt. It's one of those endings where because things are set in motion in a certain way we sort of are left assuming how it's going to turn out, but we don't actually see it.
I actually found myself wondering if my Nook copy got corrupted and I was missing the actual ending...
That said, there is enough of a resolution that it's not a cliffhanger or anything. It just requires extrapolation - and while I can assume what comes next, I think I would've found more satisfaction in seeing some of it play out.