In this sequel to her much-lauded Daughter of Smoke and Bone (2011), Taylor continues the saga of Karou and Akiva. Karou's chimaera "family," Brimstone and Issa, are dead; Akiva, her former angel lover, is now her bitter enemy; and Thiago, the evil white wolf, has secreted her away to a desert Kasbah. There she has assumed Brimstone's role of creator of new chimaera from the souls of the dead so that Thiago can continue his war against the seraphim. It's a bitter, violent story full of unrequited love, loneliness, and cruel, pointless war. Readers will be delighted at the reemergence of Zuzana and Mik, as they solve the riddle that enables them to track Karou to the Kasbah. Their presence eir humanness ghtens the plot, allowing a thin ray of hope to permeate this otherwise dark and brutal story. Because of its complexity, the series is best read sequentially to prepare for the promised third book, in which Karou, Akiva, and their tribes face the apocalypse.

Karou and Akiva, torn apart by unforgivable betrayal at the end of Daughter of Smoke & Bone, are now engaged in the renewed war between the chimaera and the seraphim. The first half of the novel is full of rage and anger; the second half is dominated by surprises that ratchet up the suspense. The concluding volume of the trilogy promises to be a doozy.

In this emotionally intense if loosely woven sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone (2011), Taylor puts Karou, a chimaera resurrected into the body of a blue-haired human teenager, through severe tests of both heart and soul. Sundered from her seraphic lover Akiva by rage, guilt and a huge blood debt, Karou has led charismatic chimaera leader Thiago, the White Wolf, to a refuge in the Atlas Mountains. With her magical skills, she provides him with a band of reanimated warriors to protect the remaining chimaera back in the world of Eretz. But Thiago is more bent on vengeance--even at the cost of seeing his people exterminated in reprisals. On Eretz, Akiva is driven by abhorrence of the general slaughter to plot an attempt on his cruel emperor's life. And meanwhile on Earth, to no evident purpose beyond comic relief ("What?…I was starving and our hostess was passed out on the bed with a hot monster boy"), Karou's street-performer friends Zuzana and Mik show up suddenly, having tracked her to North Africa. Ultimately violent events, revelations and no few contrivances drive both the war and the central romance ("As ever when their eyes meet, it is like a lit fuse searing a path through the air between them") into new phases. Mostly about licking wounds in the wake of the opener's savage inner and outer conflicts, but well-endowed with memorable characters and turns of phrase. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

Taylor continues to build an irresistible fantasy world in this grim sequel to her masterful Daughter of Smoke & Bone. The war between chimaera and seraphim is in full force, with Karou reluctantly playing an essential-and painful-role. Having realized her destiny, she is now living it; feeling alone, abandoned, and betrayed, she is harder of body and of heart. Alternately focusing on Karou and her estranged love interest, the seraphim Akiva, Taylor traces their parallel discouragement at the perpetuation of bloodshed between their peoples. Since the first book is, at heart, a love story and a journey of self-discovery, its fans may be surprised to find this one is primarily a war story, filled with battle scenes, killings, anger, and hatred. The occasional scenes with Karou-s Czech friends Zuzana and Mik bring welcome moments of lightheartedness and humor. Taylor-s dazzling writing and skill at creating suspense are strong as ever; fantasy lovers will gobble up this book with satisfaction, even if it offers less of the cross-genre appeal that made its predecessor so extraordinary. Ages 15-up. Agent: Jane Putch, Eyebait Licensing & Literary Management. (Nov.)

Gr 9 Up-Rebellion foments in secret places in this complex sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Little, Brown, 2011). The battle between chimaera and seraphim moves from one world to another as estranged, star-crossed lovers Karou and Akiva struggle to stem the rising tide of annihilation embraced by their respective leaders. While Karou attempts to resurrect the chimaera army in a remote Moroccan kasbah, in a parallel world Akiva desperately seeks to atone for his past by warning civilians fleeing the advancing seraphs. Occasionally overwrought language is leavened by humor supplied by Karou's human friends, Zusana and Mik, who arrive at the kasbah and make unlikely places for themselves among the resurrected chimaera. The dream of peace cherished lives ago by Karou and Akiva achieves a shaky foothold when chimaera soldiers and seraph rebels reluctantly unite to battle the greater evil: Jael, the psychopathic new emperor of the angels, who is poised to invade the human world in his search for powerful weapons. Assassinations, betrayals, and revelations drive the plot through decoratively ornate prose that sometimes slows the pace, but deepening characterizations anchor the action, and the emotional and political stakes are higher. Multiple worlds teeter on the edge of apocalypse, unaware that a curious magic is reaching out from past exile to affect the present. The rising tension of the coming battle overtakes the unexceptional unrequited love story to make this a suspenseful, satisfying sequel. Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL