Bethany Jacobs follows up her blistering, twisty space opera debut These Burning Stars with an equally propulsive sequel – On Vicious Worlds – the second on her Kindom Trilogy. The follow-up does what all good second books should do – deepens reader’s understanding of the main characters, their backstories and motivations, increases the complexity of the issues and then leaves readers hanging for the finale with a massive cliffhanger. Warning – this review will, necessarily, contain some spoilers for These Burning Stars.
On Vicious Worlds, for the most part, runs on two separate rails. The first is on the planet Capamame, where the Jeveni have retreated to hide from the Treble, a coalition of three star systems ruled in an uneasy sharing of power between clerics (the Clerisy), administrators (the Secretaries) and the military (the Hand). The colony is facing unexplained deaths and sabotage and when Jun Ironway goes to investigate she finds herself up against an enemy who may well have the best of her. Meanwhile, Cleric Chono and the unpredictable Six have returned to the Treble to try and spread the news about the way in which the Jeveni were used, and to attain freedom for 5000 Jeveni still being held in detention. While there Chono runs into her old lover, a Secretary called Ilius, who has risen in the ranks and wants to use her for his own political ends. As with the first book, the main narrative is intercut with some flashback sequences which fill out and deepen the story and the characters. And as such, keeping a note of the dates is important.
There is a lot going on in On Vicious Worlds, readers in particular need to keep track of the loyalties and allegiances of the large cast of characters. Complicating this task is that, as with the first book, a number of characters are not what they first seem, and there are twists within twists. That is, just when a reader might think they have twigged to what is going on, Jacobs pulls the rug out and resets the field. But Jacobs keeps it all under control, quickly upping the stakes for her protagonists and letting the action and character beats carry the story. And that action is relentless. Jacobs has established her main characters as crazy-good fighters and they all get to demonstrate their skills as the situation deteriorates.
On Vicious Worlds is another great entry in a stunning new space opera series. Jacobs, along with writers like Megan O’Keefe, Arkady Martine and Emily Tesh are reinventing and reinvigorating the genre, taking the standard tropes and redeploying them in new and exciting ways. Unsurprisingly, for the second novel in a series, she leaves her characters at a low ebb and facing a huge cliffhanger. The final instalment can’t come soon enough.
On Viicous Worlds by Bethany Jacobs
No Comments
Comments are closed.