The exiled nations of Semilla are in danger as never before, as the changelings beyond the Salt Wall test their defences...and possibly now have an ally to help them. Amadea Gintanas and her archivists are once again called to aid the kingdom when the discovery of the bones of a missing saint triggers both internal political intrigue, endangering the realm's stability when it needs it the most, and casts more light on the threat gathering beyond their borders.
Empire of Exiles was a splendid opening novel in the Books of the Usurper series by Erin Evans, the author of the acclaimed (unrelated) Brimstone Angels series. It featured interesting worldbuilding and sympathetic characters, as well as knotty, interesting plot.
This second volume is certainly a worthy follow-up. We follow several of the characters from the first novel, such as Amadea, Yinii, and Richa, although Quill has a less prominent role this time around, with Tunuk instead coming to the fore as a new primary character. However, I'd say it's a less immediately impactful novel than the first one. The first novel opens with a character committing a murder and then suicide in front of dozens of witnesses, which is the definition of opening with a bang. With this one, the inciting incident for the resulting events is the discovery of the bones of long-dead saint, which is equally momentous from the perspective of the cultures of Semilla, but is less immediately obvious to the reader.
The plot does move with some momentum and there's more going on with, with the Empress not coping well with the events of the first book and in danger of breaking down, with her aide (also something of an antagonist to Amadea, despite them being on more or less the same side) having to work hard to prevent that from happening. We have the embers of the last civil war still smouldering, ready to erupt at any moment, and a mixture of people trying to cover up the events of the last book and expose them. We also have a whole subplot taking place beyond the Salt Wall, as we follow a brave-but-possibly-unwise expedition across the changeling-occupied continent to remote lands which may hold the key to Semilla's final destruction.
It's all reasonably compelling stuff, though several weaknesses persist from the first book. Keeping track of the ten different human-adjacent species' physical characteristics can still be a pain, solved in the paperback which has illustrations of the different types but not much help in the tradeback (with much better cover art). The character focus is also a bit up and down. Amadea still gets a ton of development (badass middle-aged librarian POVs rock), and the real winner from the book is Richa, who overcomes his initial hardboiled detective cliches to get a much more interesting backstory. Quill is not a main focus any more (though usually knocking around) and new POV character Tunuk (promoted from a minor figure in the first novel) is interesting here but fades a little in the second half of the book. We also get a new Big Bad who is seriously hyped up through about three-quarters of the book, but when he shows up is seriously underwhelming, though that might be the point.
It also feels like the main story hinges a little on the intricate cultural norms of these factions which haven't entirely been well spelled-out. You certainly get what's going on, but the intricacies and nuances can feel obtuse. Perhaps reading the two books much more closely back-to-back would help with that.
Still, the worldbuilding remains fascinating, the story is pacy and the characters interesting enough, even if the stakes and motivations aren't always the clearest. A series of cliffhanger endings leave things in an interesting place for the forthcoming (but untitled and undated, so far) third volume in the series. Relics of Ruin (***½) is available now.
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