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Friday, 20 May 2022

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna


It's been six months since Deka has freed the goddesses and discovered who she really is. There are now wars waging across the kingdom. Otereans now think jatu are traitors to the nation. Deka is called a monster.

But the real battle has only just begun and Deka must lead the charge. Deka is tasked with freeing the rest of the goddesses. Only as she begins to free them, she begins to see a strange symbol everywhere in places of worship and worn on armor. There's something unnatural about that symbol; just looking at it makes Deka lose her senses. Even worse, it seems to repel her powers. She can't command or communicate with the new deathshrieks. In fact, she can't even understand them when they speak.

Deka knows freeing the goddesses is just the beginning. She can tell whatever dark force out is powerful and there is something sinister out there threatening the kingdom connected to that symbol--something merciless--that her army will need to stop before humanity crumbles. But Deka's powers are only getting stronger...and her strongest weapon could be herself.

You're expecting this, so I'll get it very quickly out of the way; there's no recap of any kind, but this is a proof, so there may be one in the book proper. Otherwise, I recommend rereading the first one before you start this one, as there is a lot going on, and as a high fantasy there are specific terms being used whose meanings aren't immediately apparent.

Right, we've dealt with that.

This is an intricate, complicated fantasy with a lot of things going on. I did guess one of the big reveals, but it was fairly well telegraphed. I loved the friendship between Deka and some of the other characters; found family is always amazing and I really liked it here. It's really well done. 

This is a long read, longer than the first one, I thought. Parts of it seemed repetative, but on the whole it moved quickly and there was almost no padding.

There's at least one more book to go, and I'll be interested to see what happens in it. This is shaping up to be a great series.




The Merciless Ones publishes on the 16th of May, 2022. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.

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