Ashes to Fire: Creatures of Light, Book 2

A great sequel to book 1, this one follows Mona and introduces us to the swamp land of Cyprien and their penchant for fire. I enjoyed the world building and the Cypriens we meet along the way. This novel doesn’t have the same kinds of plot twists as the first did, but sets up some mysteries to be addressed in the 3rd book.

At the beginning of the book we find Mona and company enjoying Mae's wedding. Soon, though, they are thrust into a diplomatic stand-off with an Alcoran messenger. The result is Mona and Mae find themselves on a diplomatic mission to Cyprien, a country "annexed" by Alcoro over fifty ago. During an attempted meeting with King Celeno and Queen Gemma to negotiate trade, they are attacked. Mona and Gemma are taken hostage by two brothers - the Roubidouxs, Rou and Lyle - who are on a mission from the Assembly of Six, Cyprien's old governing body the world thought long dead when the Alcorans took over. They want help from Mona to take back their country just as she did hers. During the trip through the waterways of Cyprien, Mona learns how Cyprien has been quietly undermining their occupier at every turn - including holding their elections right under the Alcoran's noses. She also goes toe to toe with Queen Gemma about the Light and Prophecy of the Prism. Everything comes to a head when Mona stands off against King Celeno.Where to begin... First of all, the prologue introduces you to Rou. *swoon* I saw him first ladies! Rou is a charismatic messenger for the Assembly of Six. He and his twin brother Lyle - a quiet, moody, scientist-type - work for the Assembly passing messages along the waterways and now, apparently, kidnapping monarchs. From the first meeting with Rou and a fish in the face to the final showdown with Celeno, Rou's character has quite a few surprises under his sleeves.What I love about this book is not just the characters, but how religion is seen by each character. Being Unitarian Universaltist, I rooted for Mona's questioning stance on the Light and the Prophecy but also found comfort in how Rou sees the Light in the individual. Though I like the character of Gemma, and not just because she studies insects - go Entomologists! - I found it hard to get behind her fervent belief in the Prophecy considering how many lives have been lost because of it.And can we talk about Gemma for a minute - there is so much I want to know. She has a lot she's hiding. Some of her secrets are revealed but it doesn't help me unravel her character. TELL ME YOUR SECRETS!In the end, Ashes to Fire is just as exciting a read as Woodwalker but for me there is more depth to it. While Mae was on a mission, Mona is thrust into a situation she has little control over. Mona was raised to be a queen, to be a country, and much of what she was taught is tested in this book. But as the saying goes, "Hotter fire, stronger steel."

I read this book first even though it was the second book. This is because I looked at this book first and, as always, I read the first chapter before deciding to buy. The first chapter captured me and I decided to go forward and finish reading the second book.Queen Mona was at the wedding of her friend Mae, who was marrying the king of neighboring kingdom close to the country of Queen Mona. In the first book, King Celeno had invaded into Queen Mona's country, killed a hundred of her citizens including the wife of Mona!s younger brother. Somehow Mona had escaped, returned to her home, reestablished her reign, and was celebrating Mae's wedding. That night, Mona receives word of three warships approaching her country.The author knows how to tell a story, capture the reader, and not let go until the end of the book. She also knows how to keep her cards close to the vest and not show them until the last moment. The plot as well planned and surprising, novel and insightful. It is a real worthwhile read, not for insights into love but also governmental organization and philosophy, as well as chemistry and weapon technology. I have become and fan and will likely read all her books.

I wanted to like this story. I REALLY liked the first book--great characters, great plot, great twist at the end--it took you places, and every encounter was deliberate and interesting. This book...not so much. By the end of the story, nothing has changed except that we are now more familiar with the land of Cypri (and I had to wonder if the author knew the etymology of the word "Cyprian"--I had the giggles until I got so bogged down [swamp pun] in the story that it was no longer funny) and Mona found herself a man. Literally nothing else happens. They journey to land of the bayou, meet a succession of caricatures (not characters--it's one thing to draw inspiration from real life, and another to pluck it up its entirety and dump it into your story with no modifications), and end up exactly where they started--on the banks of Lumen Lake, with nothing resolved, and a host of questions asked and unanswered.Apart from the lack of plot-moving events, I was also annoyed by a few other things--these are more personal, and feel free to disagree. But I felt like women were empowered to the point of disempowering the men. Apart from side characters who don't add much to the story (*cough*Lyle*cough*), most of the men don't have much of a voice--or if they do, nothing they say really matters to the plot. The Alcoran king is shown to be weak and possibly mad, and his wife is tight-lipped to the point where I just wanted to shake her until she spoke. Quit telling us that Mona's actions will destroy everything, and EXPLAIN yourself, darn it! And why do we care that her period started and she ruined a set of sheets? It added nothing to the plot, and felt like a push on the part of the author to say, "See? I'm talking about menstruation. Nothing wrong with that! SEE?!" but still came across as awkward and forced. Bodily functions are perfectly normal, but unless your character's diarrhea is violent and life-threatening, there's no point to mentioning it in the story. Last irritation: Mona's mother the uber-queen apparently spent most of Mona's childhood drilling her on queening, but apparently diplomacy was not one of the things she covered. Her meeting with the king was, frankly, embarrassing, because it showed what a poor queen she was. I'm not sure how old Mona was supposed to be (mid-twenties?), but she read as a naive 16-yr-old. I had a hard time believing she was the same character we met in book one.Overall, I ended up skimming to finish the book quickly, and was disappointed in the lack of forward motion in the plot. I'm still undecided about reading book 3, and since it won't be out for a while, by the time it does arrive I probably will have forgotten about it. I will keep and treasure book one as delightful adventure, but this one's going into the archive.