Vengeful Minya is holding Sarai's (Strange the Dreamer) soul in thrall. In interspersed chapters, in another world, Nova is dealing with her own trauma. By the time Nova appears in the main narrative, readers have learned how her story fits among the puzzle pieces of the plot. Taylor's prodigious imagination is on full display: marvelous world-building, suspenseful plotting, complex characterization, finely crafted prose, and grand thematic flourishes.

Love and hatred haunt survivors in this otherworldly sequel.It's been 15 years since the people of Weep slaughtered the gods and godspawn in the seraph-shaped citadel, an event known as the Liberation by the citizens of Weep…and the Carnage by the five godspawn who secretly survived. But an explosion revealed their existence and killed 17-year-old Sarai. Yet she remains, anchored by malevolent Minya and still in love with Lazlo Strange. Grief-stricken Lazlo experiments with his newfound smith powers and reunites with Sarai in exotic, erotic dreams. Also sharing narrative duty: fellow blue-skinned, magically gifted godspawn Ruby, Feral, and Sparrow—absorbed in their own romantic triangle—Minya, literally haunted by lives lost in the Carnage, and the mysterious Nova, fleeing a wintry wasteland in pursuit of her sister Kora and revenge. Freed from isolation, the godspawn struggle to connect, wondering about their parents—both Mesarthim "gods" and unwilling Weep humans—and their missing fellow godspawn. Taylor (Strange the Dreamer, 2017, etc.) dances between fantasy and sci-fi, indulging in gods, magic, alchemy, and lost desert civilizations, only to subvert them with spaceships, interdimensional travel, and alien worlds. Depending on readers' tastes, this is ornate, emotionally charged, and poetic—or florid, overdone, overstuffed, and angst-y. The people of Weep are brown-skinned, but godspawn turn blue when they are in contact with mesarthium.A sequel that surpasses the original. (Fantasy. 14-18)

Gr 9 Up-Following directly after the acclaimed first novel in Taylor's lush series, Strange the Dreamer, this sequel finds the lovers Lazlo Strange, former librarianturned-warrior, and his beloved, Sarai, thrown into an impossible situation. Lazlo, while trying to preserve the citadel of the Mesarthim, is unable to save Sarai from a terrible fall. Impaled on an iron gate, Sarai dies only to be brought back as a ghost by Minya, a child with the power to control the dead and a uncontrollable need for vengeance against the Seraphim who travel between multiple worlds wreaking havoc on the lives of lesser beings. Now they must all find a way to work together to free the worlds from the godlike Seraphim despite overwhelming odds. The author of the "Daughter of Smoke and Bone" trilogy has created an intricate universe that will both intrigue and repel readers. Unfortunately, the constant switching between scenes, points of view, and plot lines is confusing and somewhat detracts from what would otherwise be truly lovely world-building. VERDICT Purchase where Taylor has a loyal following and where the previous title is popular. Jane Henriksen Baird, formerly at Anchorage Public Library, AK