Fevered Star

The middle volumes of trilogies are tricky things. Book one introduces you to the new world and sets up the plot. Book three provides resolution. Book two, all too often, just moves the plot along. Given that publishing seems addicted to the trilogy format, authors are probably stuck with this problem even when they would prefer to just do two books. It is challenging.

I very much enjoyed Black Sun, the first volume in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky trilogy. But, with a To Be Read pile like mine, it is all too easy for books to fall by the wayside. In this case I have the Hugo Award for Best Series to thank for nudging me to get back into these books. I’m glad I did, even if Fevered Star does suffer somewhat from book-two-itis.

The world of Between Earth and Sky is a fascinating re-imagining of pre-conquest North America. Black Sun introduced us to the city of Tova (modeled on Cahokia) and the various clans that live there. We also learned of the enmity between the Crow clan and the rest of the city, and the plans of some Crow extremists to exact revenge. As we know from that book, things did not turn out exactly as planned. In particular, neither Naranpa, the High Priestess of the Sun, nor Serapio, the avatar of the Crow God, is dead, though most people in Tova do not yet know that.

Fevered Star explores the fallout from Serapio’s attack on the city’s religious hierarchy. The leaders of the Crow clan are keen to control him, or destroy him if he can’t be controlled. Naranpa, meanwhile, has gone into hiding while she looks for allies.

The main innovation of this volume is the introduction of the Coyote Clan, formed from the criminal underworld of the city of Tova. These are the people to whom Naranpa goes to for help. We also get an intriguing visit to the Cuecola (modeled on Chichen Itza) where we meet a very different society. Both of these groups are a long way from the traditional Europe-based fantasy societies.

There is not a lot more I can say about the book. Roanhorse is busy doing plot and character development, which is important in the second part of the trilogy. I am, however, keen to move on the book 3 to find out how all the various strands of plot get resolved. More next issue, I hope.

Title: Fevered Star
By: Rebecca Roanhorse
Publisher: Solaris
Purchase links:
Amazon UK
Amazon US
Bookshop.org UK
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