Summary:
“Call it ritual or cult, if you will. But it is just business… And the dead have long been our commodity.”
The Vulkari do not belong within the walls of a city, and Zyntael Fairwinter is no different.
So when a perilous quest into the heart of the Old-Reach is planned, Zyntael jumps at the chance to join it.
Together with her closest allies, she embarks on a journey to travel beyond the mysterious “Mortuary-City” of Quaresh—to cut off the source of the Merchant Combine’s Necromancy.
But there is a reason they call it the Mortuary-City. Between dangerous arcane rituals, pirate attacks, bar fights, and battles—death lurks at every turn. And to make matters worse, only a few short moons remain before Zyntael’s pup is due.
Review:
Sister of the Dead is the second book of the Vyshivka Trilogy and the follow-up to the excellent Daughter of the Beast. Picking up almost immediately after the intense climax of DotB, SotD follows Zyntael Fairwinter, a Kimora raised by the warrior hyena-like warrior Vulkari, as she navigates her impending motherhood and a growing war between her baby daddy’s Sacharri Legion and the buggers of the Merchant Combine. Zyn’s journey throughout this story is about growth — not only as an individual, but also as mother-to-be & mate — mixed with the realization she might not be a master of her own destiny.
I have to be honest, while I did enjoy following the next stitch in Zyn’s journey, it did not reach the same level of greatness Daughter of the Beast set. I don’t want this to sound like I didn’t like this book, far from it! But DotB was so great a read for me that I felt like a follow-up was always going to struggle to match it. And I think, at least for me, the reason book 1 was so great compared to book 2 had to do with the structure/timeline. DotB took place over many years and we witnessed Zyn grow from a child of 10 summers to a full-grown (ish) adult. Those formative years (and her naivety to the greater world around her) gave DotB a really interesting and fun structure, leaving the readers with a lot of questions. Book 2, on the other hand, took place over a few months, and for me, that took away some of the mystique, meaning, some scenes felt added in because we couldn’t just skip ahead to the next Zyn growth moment, if that makes sense.
Again, this is not a negative review, I truly enjoyed this book!!!
Just as with DotB, the best part of this book was Zyn and her stellar friendship with Mazgar and Sarga. Then throw in her Kimorin friend from childhood, Lleyden, and the gnome, Phobos Lend, and you have yourself a troupe of characters that are full of banter, full of care, and full of fun. If there is one thing Mr. Greaves does well, it’s showing the true nature of friendship, and this book is chock full of it. The humor is in full force as the sisters tease one another relentlessly, the love for each other is impossible to ignore, and the desire to see the others succeed is on full display. Even the small scenes are great, and I would read books like these all day long, plot be damned! Then you have Zyn’s baby daddy, Anra, and their interactions were so natural, it felt realistic when these star-crossed lovers had their spats and their make-ups. Even though they aren’t human, it felt human. And then add in Zyn’s trysts with Adder, that raised the stakes (not to mention hilarious jokes from her sisters, as well as Zyn being her complete naive self upon some realizations) between their relationship that fully illustrated that this book, and series as a whole, is all about the characters.
Now, about that plot, it is also great (but you said it wasn’t as great as DotB…yeah yeah calm down). As with DotB, Zyn and her sisters are constantly left in the dark about where they are going and what they need to do. And while this might turn off some readers, I still find this type of style engaging. I literally, just like Zyn, had no idea what was coming next, all I know is that we saw some really cool bits of this world. Oh, and necromancy! Most of this story takes place in the city of Quaresh, which is called the Mortuary-City, and it is really neat. Aside from the sepulchral vibes of the architecture, we get snake priestesses, Grand Thurmatages with stones for eyes, an island temple to the dead, lots of funerary rites, and summonings of the dead. This city (and the plot) is teeming with dead things and it’s awesome. It’s through one seance with the dead that we finally get some hints to Zyn’s odd dreams she’s had throughout both books as well as overt answers to the question of why Karthak stole/adopted Zyn in the first place.
Throw all that against the backdrop of Zyn’s growing babe and the onset of impending war with the Merchant Combine (who did some nasty things with the dead spirits) and we have ourselves a concoction that will blow over in the final book of the trilogy. Again, the action sequences are dynamic. We even get a great pirate scene where these landlubber Vulkari go all berserk on ships. There is a lot of action scenes, not as many as book 1, but enough to keep us enthralled, especially a siege in Quaresh by the Merchant Combine. We see some of our characters grow as warriors, especially one particular character who has some explicit spoiler action happen during said siege.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that I was a tad letdown with the Karthak reasoning reveal and I feel like that’s because Karthak was not around much in this book. Sure she joins Zyn et al for the early part of their journey, but then she disappears to do things until the very end. So when the titanic reveal happens, I didn’t feel as emotionally connected as I would have if she was around for much more of the story. But that’s just a me thing as I know another reader who found the ending to be the best part of the book. Also, a complete lack of Star-Star in this book!
Sister of the Dead was an excellent read, it was a fun journey with characters I truly like following, and it sets up a stellar climax that I cannot wait to see unfurl. If you aren’t reading The Vyshivka Trilogy, you are missing out. Also, E.C. Greaves is one of the raddest dudes on the interwebs, such a cool, caring, funny guy!