On Vicious Worlds
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On Vicious Worlds
Buy Now for £12.99
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Narrated by:
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Natalie Naudus
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By:
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Bethany Jacobs
About this listen
One of the most exciting new voices in space opera returns with the thrilling sequel to the Philip K. Dick Award-winning These Burning Stars, the explosive space opera debut that launched the dangerous cat‑and‑mouse quest for revenge that will define a people forever.
The Jeveni have finally found freedom on the distant planet Capamame, delivered from Kindom oppression through their alliance with stoic Cleric Chono, intrepid caster Jun Ironway, and Six, the wildly unpredictable manipulator who has outwitted the Nightfoot family.
But when Six and Chono return to the Treble star systems, the dream of freedom meets a dangerous test. The Secretaries of the Kindom are intent on reclaiming power in the Treble, as well as control over the Jeveni. Meanwhile, Jun Ironway and Jeveni collector Masar Hawks struggle to protect Capamame from a population brimming with resentment, not to mention a faceless saboteur spreading mayhem and murder.
As the two groups struggle to outwit their enemies, divergent battles wend toward a climatic reunion that will spark a revolution. But over it all hangs the cruel legacy of Esek Nightfoot, whose rippling effects may prove impossible to survive.
On Vicious Worlds is a book in which we transition from the end of These Burning Stars, where the protaganists had gotten almost all of what they wanted, to presumably where Jacobs needs the characters to be in the final book of the trilogy, where there is conflict once again. And in order to get there, characters must ignore obvious threats, develop sudden betrayals, or so completely change their motivations as to be functionally new characters.
There are still some moments of real narrative skill, and there are still sections that emphasise the kind of sterling character work that made me love These Burning Stars. I await the third book eagerly, mostly because On Vicious Worlds does a good job of setting up some excellent hooks. It just could have been done in one chapter, not fifteen hours of meander.
I feel guilty giving it 2/5 as it was rarely actively bad, but it just doesn't have much going for it.
I wanted to like this sequel
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