Oh, the hullabaloo of Book 2! In a shocking turn of events, I read the sequel to a novel in the same year I read the first installment. That’s how powerful the Tarot Sequence is!

Many swords hang above Rune’s head, but the closet one is Max’s upcoming engagement with the Hanged Man. By which I mean, no power on earth will induce Rune to hand over his ward to a serial domestic abuser and murderer. As an excuse to legally sniff around the Hanged Man’s properties, Rune and Brand take on a missing persons case. Instead of racing after Addam and tech bros, our duo race after Layne Dawncreek, a budding necromancer and child of the Sun Throne. The Hanged Man seems to be courting Layne for marriage, and the more we learn, the worse that situation becomes. As promised in the blurb, New Atlantis’ underbelly gets more explored. Also. There are mushrooms.

I could visibly tell how much Edwards has grown as a writer with this book. The Last Sun’s strengths—fun action, quippy queer characters, intriguing world—are fortified in the sequel. As advertised, female characters push through the groundling pit to take center stage. We love an older badass woman and her tiny badass daughter in this house. The novel’s pace is a notch or two slower, which gives the characters room to breathe beautifully. Edwards uses the same techniques to seamlessly blend in additional world-building, which was heartily appreciated.

Edwards is, however, still learning. And/or he really needs more editors. One paragraph is an almost word-for-word copy of a paragraph in the previous book. It’s hilarious that he got away with it, but the repetition feels slightly unprofessional. Race could use a defter hand. It’s revealed that Rune had indigenous heritage, because his ancestors married with the Wampanoag tribe. The stereotype of “magical Native” or “Native American magics” hung ominously in the back of my mind. I’m not indigenous at all, so maybe this factoid is innocuous enough, but I was uncomfortable.

Overall, I was happy burbling along with this book, like a duck paddling through water. The Hanged Man is good gay fun. Long live the Misfit Throne.

My review of The Last Sun: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/c9c9d09c-86b0-441f-8c1f-352a444dbb20