It's been a while since I read the first one, so I was a little disappointed at the lack of recap of what happened in the first book. That may be why I didn't like it, or maybe it really was as boring as I thought. I just couldn't make myself care what happened to anyone, so there was no tension for me. And the characters are so lacking that the tension is really all that holds this book together. The world that de Bodard has built is really fantastic, but the show she has put on inside it is disappointing.

I don't know whether to put this in my adult or YA shelf. On one hand, it's a story about a sixteen-year-old girl who falls in love with her best friend and has to stand up for what's right (which is every YA story ever) but it's also about a society terrified of the religious order that patrols their lands and "protects" them from the threat of demons (very adult). HELP.

But no matter how you shake it, this book is gripping and shocking and thoroughly engrossing. It packs quite a punch for its 206 pages.

http://projectavalon.net/Allamagoosa.pdf

I really wanted to like this. I listened to the audio, thinking it would be fun but informative; something like the Startalk podcast. Unfortunately, while the subject matter is fascinating, Kaku's book itself is very boring. He doesn't delve deeply enough into anything to let you sink your teeth into it and I don't feel like I learned much of anything.