Wednesday, November 27, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ecilpse the Skies by Maura Milan




Eclipse the Skies is the second in a YA Space Opera trilogy by Maura Milan which began with last year's "Ignite the Stars" (Review Here).  I liked Ignite the Stars a good bit - sure it had some pretty predictable plot beats, but it had 3 excellent lead characters and a story with some interesting themes, and ended on a pretty strong sequel hook.  I noted in my review that I couldn't wait for the sequel to get a release date, and it actually snuck up on me here until just recently.

Does it measure up?  Yes and No - on one hand, our three characters remain excellent to some extent, and the book definitely once again deals with some interesting themes (an imperialist government vs a terrorist organization, the rights and lives of refugees within the imperialist territory, etc.).  On the other, the book relies upon a major turn towards the dark side of one character as well as a few awfully convenient coincidences to drive things forward, and I don't think Milan quite pulled these plot elements off.  That said, I look forward to seeing how this trilogy concludes in the final volume.

------------------------------------------------Plot Summary------------------------------------------------------
Ia Cocha, the Blood Wolf of the Skies, has joined forces with the Olympic Commonwealth to stop her brother Einn, who has plotted to use a mysterious technology to cause destruction to the galactic order - and of course, betrayed her and left her for dead.  It chafes her to work with the Imperialist government she fought against for so long, and damned if she isn't planning on using her own resources to stop Einn, no matter what the Commonwealth might think.  At her side, and just as confused by his emotions, is Knives, as the new headmaster of the training facility for the Commonwealth, torn by his strange emotions, his ambivalence towards his father and the government.

And then there's Brinn, Ia's former roommate and friend, the Tawnie girl and math genius who Einn had come for before.  As Einn's attacks increase, Brinn will see the Commonwealth she once trusted turn against refugees like her, just as Ia once told Brinn, and find it harder to stay supporting the government threatening her family - and to find Einn's campaign of destruction surprisingly appealing.  Einn is already using strange technology that suggests the capability to reach into another universe - a dangerous and deadly one - and if he add's Brinn's intellect to his side, there's no telling how much terror he can wreak upon the galaxy.....

Friendships will be tested, and families and governments may fall before it's all said and done, and between the actions of Ia, Knives, and Brinn, the galaxy may never be the same.....
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Eclipse the Skies follows the same format as its predecessor, in that the book alternates perspectives between our three main characters - Ia, Knives, and Brinn - every chapter, with chapters often being incredibly short (but allowing the author to shift perspective often).  Each character is rather different in their viewpoints, so the perspective shifts give very different looks at the situations involved - especially in this book, where our characters diverge in location and side to a much greater extent than the prior novel.

As such, our three characters continue to develop, and generally do so in pretty effective ways.  Ia continues her development of trying to balance her feelings for Knives, her want for vengeance upon her brother, and here ill feelings at working with the commonwealth - and this balance works really well, especially with Ia's independent and reckless streak in her actions.  Moreover, Ia's actions early towards Brinn in ignoring Brinn's concerns as Ia focuses on Ia's own problems are rather believable and in-character, if maybe a little abrupt given how the two ended the last book.  Knives is definitely the least interesting of the three characters - with much of his dilemmas feeling less significant than the other two - but he works rather well in acting essentially as the conflicted love interest, and in how he acts when Ia is in trouble and Knives needs to act for once utterly independently.

And then there's Brinn.  On one hand, I complained in my review of Ignite the Stars that Brinn's struggle with her identity as a Tawnie - the refugee people discriminated against in the Commonwealth - was a strong element but which seemed to get dropped in favor of the major conflict at the end with everyone on the Commonwealth's side - and that element is raised again here in a big way, with the conflict between Brinn's people, and her family in specifics, and those discriminating against her is a major driver of the plot.  On the other hand, Brinn's turn of actions here in this book, where she (minor spoiler since it happens pretty early) flirts with the dark side, didn't really seem convincing to me, especially in some of the actions she takes after that heel turn occurred.  It just didn't feel like a fully convincing shift in how the character would act: from scared girl afraid of her people, to a little prideful but still a little scared to....well, I won't go much further without ROT13 below.

Oevaa wbvaf Rvaa nsgre Rvaa frrzf gb xvyy Vn, qrfcvgr Vn cerivbhfyl hfvat ure bja crbcyr nf n cbjre fbhepr naq gelvat gb rafynir gurz nyy, orpnhfr Bylzchf vf rffragvnyyl trggvat evq bs gur ynjf cebgrpgvat ure crbcyr....naq Oevaa'f oebgure qlvat va n cebgrfg - jvgu guvf nyy abg urycrq ol Vn abg gnxvat n zbzrag gb yvfgra gb Oevaa'f pbapreaf.  Vg'f abg dhvgr na Nanxva-yvxr - V tb sebz pbasyvpgrq gb xvyyvat lbhatyvatf va 30 frpbaqf - noehcg urry ghea va grezf bs gur npgvbaf fur'f jvyyvat gb cresbez, ohg vg fgvyy srryf n yvggyr zhpu.  Guvf vf znqr rira fgebatre jura Oevaa fubbgf bar bs gur Bylzchf Dhrraf ng jung jnf zrnag gb or n cneyrl, juvpu whfg sryg yvxr gbb sne sbe ure punenpgre gb tb.  V whfg qvqa'g ohl vg dhvgr rabhtu.

The secondary characters introduced and returning here are nice, although one particular minor character from the last book is seemingly shoved aside into a smaller role that kind of annoyed me.  And the plot features a few points where some pretty heavy coincidence allows for character discoveries that....well, feels like deus ex machina to an extent, maybe literally.  Still, the plot is mostly believable and always interesting, and I still cared quite a bit about the characters throughout.  I don't want to sound too negative on Eclipse the Skies - it expands the universe of this story quite well, but perhaps overreaches a bit in its twists and turns: and I prefer overreaching to not trying anything in this respect.  It's a solid second installment, just could use a little more work, and I still look forward to the series ender, whenever that comes out.

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