Review: The Rot
5/5
For fans of: High fantasy, Norse mythology, coming-of-age, slow burn romance, finding a place to belong, political and cultural upheaval, travel between worlds, modern Europe, family feuds
Synopsis: Hirka is lost in a world not her own: modern day Europe. She does not speak the language, know the customs, or understand the technology. She may not know much about our world, but someone here knows about her. This someone has been patiently waiting to reignite a war that ended a thousand years ago and she is the key to start it all over again.
Rime is the Ravenbearer, the most powerful being in Ym, but is just as lost. The fate he did everything in his power to avoid has taken everything he ever loved and he is alone. Alone to reign in a corrupt Council and protect his world from the return of the blind. Determined to make the best out of his situation, he thinks he can move on from Hirka and be the Ravenbearer his world deserves, but the world he thought he knew is about to reckon with the past it tried to bury and he must face giving up even more than he thought he could lose.
Review: Now this is a sequel. Siri Petterson should write a master class on how to approach the dreaded middle chapter of a trilogy. No true beginning and no true end, characters journey and change, plots twist and turn, new characters enter and old characters leave, all while leaving the reader on a cliffhanger more treacherous than could have ever been expected.
Whenever I read a story told from multiple POVs, I find that one journey tends to be stronger than the other. Not in this case. Both Hirka and Rime’s journeys had me captivated as each one navigates a brave new world. The connection these two have is put to the test again and again. Throughout their journeys, they think on how the other would help them in their situations and draw strength from each other even as they are worlds apart. The new cast of characters in Hirka’s world are a great addition to the overall story as they both help and hinder her discovery at how much bigger this story actually is. I did not expect this middle chapter to just blow wide this story’s universe.
Rime’s journey is more personal as he grapples with his own desires and the demands that his world has placed upon him. He really grows up in this middle chapter with sacrifice after sacrifice demanded of him as he learns what truly is at stake and what he is willing to do to stop a war thrust upon his young shoulders. He is reckless, brokenhearted, bitter, and so full of rage. But he funnels all that within him to continue to put his world before himself, even if it means burning it all down to save itself.
The middle chapter ends with quite the cliffhanger and readers can be thankful that the final chapter will be coming out next month! Pre-order from your local bookstore to get your copy ASAP!