Absolutely must read. I just love how Bear twistes the language, her plotting, her descriptions and her weird and strange characters. What is not to love about this book.

The second book in Lotus Kingdoms series; fittingly stronger than the 1st since that was mostly prologue. Still don’t love the characters/not overly invested but interesting dragon mythology and solid worldbuilding keep interest.

I think I unfortunately enjoyed this one a little less than the first book, The Stone in the Skull - which isn't at all to say I didn't enjoy it, because I very much did! I just feel the writing didn't quite flow as well, however it was still a wonderful epic fantasy stuffed full of fascinating characters, all with their own desires and machinations, and utterly fantastic worldbuilding. Also, one of the main characters is a trans woman, and this is treated really well by the author, which is refreshing and just lovely to read.

Unfortunately, I did not get. the chance to read this ARC prior to its release--I'm hoping to work through my backlist now that we're home for the coming weeks!--and we did not end up buying this book for the library collection.

Elizabeth Bear continues the Lotus Kingdom with The Red Stained Wings. The Gage and the Dead Man deliver a riddle message to the queen of Sarathai, a Lotus Kingdom. This is an average fantasy quest with too many plots and characters for easy reading or engagement.

After loving book #1, The Stone in the Skull, I hit a total standstill with this one. I'm not sure if that's my fault or the fault of the novel. Sometimes with a second book in a series, the freshness of the original conceit wears off and I find myself struggling to be as entranced as I once was. This was certainly the case here. It also seemed like the language was less lush and poetic and the story felt stagnant. War/siege stories are rarely interesting to me so I was really plodding through the early going. I had to DNF this book/series at 33% and would probably have given a 2.5 star review had I finished the entire book.

4 of 5 stars
https://lynns-books.com/2019/06/06/the-red-stained-wings-lotus-kingdoms-2-by-elizabeth-bear/
The Red Stained Wings is the second instalment of the Lotus Kingdom series following on virtually immediately after the conclusion of The Stone In the Skull. I loved the first book and so was really looking forward to this one and I’m pleased to say it doesn’t disappoint. The Red-Stained Wings continues to provide a beautifully crafted world full of amazing and inspired beasts and some wonderfully deep, well rounded characters. I would mention at this point that if you haven’t read the first in series this review may contain spoilers. I would also suggest that you read the first in series before reading this one. I think that you could probably jump in and read this on it’s own as there is some backstory – very subtly provided – but I would recommend not skipping The Stone in the Skull.

The Stone in the Skull introduced to us four primary characters. Two travellers on a mission and two ruling queens trying to save their people from disaster. The Red Stained Wings sees them continuing in their endeavours. The two travellers become divided, each with their own obligations. One queen finds herself under siege and the other finds herself taken captive and desperately trying to find a way to recover her son.

I had a conundrum writing this review to be honest, not because of any fault in the story but more what to include and how to go about it. At the end of the day this book is both similar and also dissimilar to the first. The similarities obviously extend to the characters and place which are built on admirably here. The dissimilarities occur because the partnership founded in the first book is broken apart here. It was something of a risk in some respects because I really liked these two characters and the bonds they shared, but, I think it’s a risk that paid off because it allowed so much more to be incorporated and explored.

I’m not going to discuss the plot in this review for two reasons. I want to err on the side of caution firstly and, secondly, I think the plot is not really the focus here – or, more to the point, this is much more a character driven story with some fascinating creatures and events inserted along the way. I guess this does give the book, similar in fact to the first instalment, something of a slower pace. This didn’t give me any issues to be honest because the world building and characters are so well done and this is all about the subtleties of politics. Of course, if that sounds a little bit tame there are also plenty of fantastic critters from familiars, to gigantic floating insectile cities, a powerful, if slightly bemused and recently awakened Goddess, and even an ancient dragon – did I mention that the dragon talks? No?? The dragon talks. *swoons clean away*

So, to the characters. Mrithuri is Rajni of Sarathai-tia. Her City is under siege and you can almost feel the weight of her burden, constantly having to maintain a brave face and boost morale whilst all the time fighting off an ever increasing panic. Mrithuri has something of an addiction. She relies on the poison of her pet snakes to boost her energy and increase her brain function. Sayeh is Rajni of Ansh-Sahal, her city has fallen, her people now refugees, her son has been captured by one cousin and she has been taken prisoner by another, Anuraja – who is currently laying siege to Sarathai-tia in a bid to force Mrithuri into a marriage she doesn’t want. There’s a complicated history involved in this world. The Alchemical Emperor built a throne that not everyone could sit upon and used magic to protect his legacy. The two Rajnis appear to have the will of the Gods on their side enjoying certain gifts such as an affinity with animals. The males of the line don’t seem so well favoured and have tried to take matters into their own hands in order to take control. Anuraja is, well, let’s be honest here, he’s not a very nice fella (to say the very least). I could have joyfully strangled him (I’m not usually a violent person – truly) and the notion of anybody being forced into a marriage with him made me so angry. The other antagonist is Himadra – oddly enough I quite liked him. He’s one of those characters that isn’t fully good or bad, I like the ambiguity that he brings. He has his own issues to deal with – being born with a brittle bone condition that leaves him vulnerable most of the time. He’s also being manipulated by Anuraja and due to his inferior position is unable to do too much about it, but, like I said, I couldn’t find it within me to dislike him in fact I can’t help feeling like he’s going to play a much more significant role somewhere down the line.

Finally, the Dead Man and the Gage. These two characters stole the show for me in the first book and then did the same thing again in this instalment. Well, if I had to choose the Gage would be my overall favourite but the Dead Man also plays a good role – although he doesn’t get to go on an adventure like the Gage. The Gage is in search of an artefact that means traversing across lands poisoned by dragons. He’s the only one capable of making the journey and the interludes along the way make for compelling reading.

In terms of criticisms. I don’t really have any to be honest but I would mention that this isn’t a battle fuelled plot and some people may find it a little slow. I enjoyed the depth of character and the strength of the world building so the pacing wasn’t really an issue but I would say this isn’t a quick read. This is a book that demands your full attention. It needs to be read with patience and respect and definitely isn’t a book that you’ll just pick up and breeze through.

I very much look forward to reading what comes next.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. the above is my own opinion.

I read this, and two other novels, while travelling out of state to set up funeral arrangements for my father in law. I needed a distraction, this did just that. For that I give much thanks to the author, Elizabeth Bear.

This definitely is much faster paced than the first book. My only complaint about the first was that it felt a bit sluggish, but despite that it was also a great read. While this book could be read without reading the first in series, I don't recommend doing so. Certain aspects would be misses.

Bear is great at character building. They are among some of the most memorable I have read about. I much so have loved reading about Gage in this series. He was once a man, now part automaton. His scenes in this book were very engrossing.

There were questions from the first book which were answered in this, but this book also left questions and loose ends. I am impatiently waiting for the third book for those answers. I am curious to see if I am correct about a few things.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for being allowed to read an arc edition of this book.

Second books of a trilogy all too often suffer from BBS (Bridge Book Syndrome), and truth be told, Elizabeth Bear’s The Red-Stained Wings did at times evince several of the symptoms, including a sense of wheel-spinning and the occasional lagging of pace. Luckily, Bear was mostly able to keep the condition in check thanks to the host of remedies she has readily available in her writerly pharmacopeia, including rich characterization, fervent imagination, and vivid, lovely prose. Inevitable spoilers for the first book to follow.

In book one, The Stone in the Skull, the Lotus Kingdom lands that splintered off when the Lotus Empire fell enter a chaotic period of upheaval as the various descendants of the Alchemical Emperor vie for power. More accurately, the allied male descendants (cousins Anuraja and Himadra) try to dominate their female counterparts (Mrithuri and Sayeh) in ways subtle and otherwise, and we pick the story right up in The Red-Stained Wings.

In Sarathai, young Mrithuri is besieged, literally and metaphorically, by her cousin Anuraja, who “requests” her hand in marriage, a proposal he’s made more compelling by surrounding her city with an immense army. To further smooth his path, he’s captured Mrithuri’s cousin Sayeh, the ruler of the nearby kingdom of Ansh-Sahal, and is cruelly pressuring her to accede to be his intermediary and convince Mrithuri to marry him. Besides political and physical intimidation, Anuraja is also using Sayeh’s young son against her. That son, Drupada, was kidnapped by Anuraja’s ally and cousin Himadra, who is trying to make his way back home to his own small kingdom. Himadra has his own plans for Drupada, hoping to declare himself “regent” and thus control Ansh-Sahal’s people (the kingdom itself was mostly destroyed in book one). Adding to the chaos in all this are two powerful sorcerers, Ravani and Ravana, the former advising the Anuraja and the latter Himadra. Finally, while the siege of Sarathai continues and Himadra heads for home, the mechanical man known as The Gage continues on the quest given him in The Stone in the Skull, to seek help amidst the poisonous lands in the city of dragons.

Bear deftly uses a number of POVs to convey the various subplots: Mrithuri, Sayeh, and Mrithuri’s captain and lover, Serhan (referred to mostly by his title The Dead Man), for the siege; Himadra for his return home; and Gage for his journey through the wasteland. Each is wonderfully different from the other. The Dead Man for instance is both a foreigner still sometimes mystified by this new land he finds himself in and, thanks to his military experience, comes to events with both a more confident stance and a more jaded eye. Thanks to her youth, Mrithuri displays (especially in her interior monologues) a more unsure sense of self, and her attempts to hide that lack of certainty from her court as she grows into a more confident ruler is one of the book’s many strengths. Sayeh brings an older woman’s sensibility and wisdom (both often wryly shared), as well as a mother’s perspective. Himadra is in many ways the most interesting in that he could easily have been a simplistic villain, but instead his character in this novel unfolds into a much more rich characterization. All of the main characters, in fact, are richly complex and grow more so as they reveal more of themselves to us via actions, speech, and interior thought. Even better, their relationships as well grow more complicated and compelling. Bear does an excellent job of varying style and tone to individualize the POVs; one could remove all names, pronouns, and setting/plot details and still identify the speaker/thinker thanks to vocabulary, syntax, and the like.

The plotting, as noted earlier, does sometimes lag, especially in the first half (even some characters comment on the waiting), and I’ll be curious once I’ve finished the trilogy if I’ll think bear needed all three books or if a duology would have sufficed. There are several exciting action scenes, such as one of the attacks on the city. And the siege is meant I think to be even more tense thanks to the knowledge that there is a spy amongst Mrithuri’s people, though it was pretty obvious who that was, such that I wondered why nobody was doing more about it. Honestly though, I’m not even sure it was meant to be a secret (though it’s never explicitly revealed until toward the end); it’s quite possible we knew the spy from book one, and I’m just not recalling that. Bear does a nice job of balancing scenes involving action (attacks, ambushes) and suspense (tense face-offs, stealthy shadowing) with more intimate, character-focused scenes and even, in Himadra and the Gage’s storylines, some biting, almost academic exploration of class, economy, government, and worker exploitation.

The world-building remains top notch, as it has throughout all Bear’s work in this universe, and we get to see even more of it here, both in a literal sense (for instance, via the Gage’s travels through the poisonous lands) and a more metaphysical one, as we meet several gods (or pieces of gods) and learn more of the backstory of this world. And the prose is, as always with Bear, vividly detailed, as in this description: “the river so wide and slow and clotted with rafts of roots and lotus that it had become a slowly moving garden as the summer wore on.” It’s not only in her physical description, though, that Bear wields a keen eye, as when Sayeh, after laughing at something Anuraja says, thinks, “He would never know how practiced. Men like that, so full of themselves, never knew how much women must rein themselves in, present themselves as a work of art. A performance, as much as any dance.”

Despite having a bit of the Bridge Book Syndrome feel to it, and some strong sense in the middle of things moving a bit too slowly, The Red-Stained can’t help but draw you in thanks to the richness and complexity of its characters and setting, the substantive depth of many of the themes it explores, and Bear’s always varied and always precise prose. I’m looking forward to book three, especially given new turns and new characters presented in the very end here.

Review copy provided by the publisher. In addition, the author is a dear friend.

I love middle books.

I know that there are people who complain about them, but I love them so much. I know what I’m getting into, there’s still room for new twists and surprises, and my standards for whether the author stuck the landing are different because it’s supposed to be an intermediate ending, not a final one. (When it’s not even an intermediate ending, then I get mad. This has an intermediate ending. This is a good place to pause and think about things before the last book in the trilogy.)

There’s a lot here. Animal familiars and predators, toxic dragons, draught and deserts, plotting and betrayal and trust. (I put them in that order for a reason.) There is a mechanical man, a bear-dog, complicated interactions with dolphins and a river goddess. There is despair and hope. There are so many reasons to continue with this book, and I’m so glad there’s more to come.

Dear Macmillan-Tor/Forge

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review Elizabeth Bear's "Red-Stained Wings." It's one of my first ARCs I've received. You might be disappointed to hear that my 'reach' isn't big. My blog only has 68 followers, which danced between 62 and 63 two or three months ago. My Twitter has recently hit 300 followers. (If it's any merit, some established authors such as Gareth L Powell and Jonathan French are among them.)

My review is pasted below, along with a link where it's posted on my blog.

Once again, thank you for this opportunity.

---

Over other previous reads, where stories were filled with action and adventure, “Red-Stained Wings” featured almost no epic clashes between warring factions. Sure, there’s a few cannon balls here and there, and a few sorceries pulled up from Wizards’ sleeves every now and then. But it’s a definitely a big change of pace and I’m not complaining about it.

It’s the most character-driven book I’ve read in a while, where we explore each of the main cast as they navigate in their own hopeless and complex situations. “Red-Stained Wings” is proof you don’t need a tome with a thousand pages to give you intricate character-driven narratives. Everything is packed in there, self-discovery, purpose and empowerment, ambitions in every angle. Of course you’ll know who to root for, and at the same time, you kind of develop sympathy over supposed antagonists. Reader’s Stockholm syndrome?

All the characters are rich, fleshed out, and well-developed. There were characters I cared for, those I never wanted to leave their POVs, and a character I love to hate so much, which makes the book all the more better.

In such a tight book, the worldbuilding is amazing. It’s vast and weird. The Cauled Sun provides dim light and heat in the night, and the stars brighten the day. There are strange entities in the world and divine schemes gradually unfold.

Perhaps my favorite parts involved the Gage, traversing through dangerous land. The worldbuilding here explodes, a blast of epic proximity, making it known that there are much bigger things happening than the family drama. Or rather, the true reason behind it all. The intrigue here extends farther and makes insidious twists along the way.

Once upon a time, the Alchemical Emperor created an empire among the ruins of former kingdoms. With his own magic he created a palace like no other. Now his posterity fight over the fractured lands inherited by his children. Two ranji queens rule the sister Sarathi palaces, but their two male cousins (each cursed with the inability to procreate their own heirs), attempt to take power for themselves via subterfuge or outright war.

Rajni Mrithuri, the ruler of Sarathai-tia, will never be considered the equal in power to a raja king, and faces an army on her doorstep — she will do all in her power to save her people and city. Rajni Sayah is hostage to her cousin Anuraja, a man on a mission to become the new emperor of the lands of his grandfather by deposing the queens who currently rule it; but being hostage doesn’t mean she can’t plot.

THE RED-STAINED WINGS is book 2 of the The Lotus Kingdoms, after THE STONE IN THE SKULL (EBR review) and Elizabeth Bear is in fine form in this series. It’s full of foreign lands and the strange magic that inhabits it. And while the characters are as unusual and strange as the lands they live in, it’s still easy to understand their hopes and dreams.

In THE STONE The Dead Man was sent by a sorceress to aid the ranjis of Sarathi, and it’s a good thing she did because his council and sword has helped the young woman to keep hold of her throne. In RED-STAINED, he has become the rajni’s bodyguard; but they’ve also become lovers. While he often questions why he’s staying in a city (Sarathai-tia) under siege when he really has no reason to stay, he can’t seem to tear himself away from the lovely Mrithuri.

The Gage’s story is told in only a few chapters, but the things he sees adds an element of the weird, yet also revelatory. We see a bigger picture of the wider world and the past events that have shaped the present. His impervious metal body has protected him during his quest where a regular man would have died. He searches for something to stop the war and save a people he hardly knows.

Himadra and Anuraja are the two male cousins who attempt to take thrones that belong to women. Anuraja is the strong-armed type and it’s his army that threatens Sarathai-tia and has left Ansh-Sahal in rubble. Himadra can’t necessarily use direct means, partly because Anuraja has his brothers at court and because his small kingdom doesn’t have the resources to fund an army like Anuraja’s. But he’s cunning and understands his physical limitations. He has the child who would inherit Ansh-Sahal, if it weren’t flattened by natural and man-made causes; his mother Sayah, despite her imprisonment, has not forgotten him and plans to get him back.

Unbeknownst to all of them, the real reason for the war may not necessarily be because the four cousins can’t live in harmony, but because a creature that feeds off war is perpetuating it.

Elizabeth Bear packs so much into such small books. They are so engaging to read and always keep me on my toes. The magic, the cities and their surroundings, the people all have their part to play in this story and she squeezes every drop she can out of them. There’s no wasted breath. But at the same time her prose is lovely and easy to visualize the people as they move throughout the story. The pacing may be similar to THE STONE, but in RED-STAINED the threat and losses are real, so the tension is higher and more immediate. Who are these two sorcerers that work for Himadra and Anuraja to make the war possible? Will the Gage’s quest succeed? Will Mrithuri be able to thwart the power-hungry Anuraja? So many questions, and so many twists to get there.

I have heard others speak of a legend. A form of reading lost to the mists of time; an elegant hobby for a more civilised age. They say that, in the time before there were Too Many Books that Need to be Read, the Readers were able to spend time between their must-read new titles, enjoying the same book a second... or third... or fifth... or eighteenth time. Yes, that's right, I have heard that once, readers could RE-READ books.

On discovering this knowledge, I retreat into being the charming, untrustworthy sceptic with little time for rediscovering lost arts as long as there's a blaster and a trusty ship (or an ereader and and a city's worth of bookshops) to hand. The Skywalkers can go off on their quests to rediscover the worlds they already immersed themselves in months or years ago, but my ever-growing pile of new books and sequels says I should focus on it and I'm quite happy moving on through these new adventures. Then I start in on The Red-Stained Wings, the second in Elizabeth Bear's Lotus Kingdoms series, and realise I'm right in the middle of an intricate plot which I have not held in my head for the last year, and for some reason books are not kind enough to help me out with a "story so far" summary. Which is to say, the review is due and security locks on the Rathtars just swung loose and oh, hey, how're you going to bluff your way out of this one, Adri?

Luckily, the action of the Red-Stained Wings is not that hard to get back into, even for those coming into it less-than-perfect reviewing circumstances. Despite the focus on the blurb, the focus here is very much on two rajnis in very different circumstance: Mrithuri, the ruler of Sarathai-tia, the city around which most of the action takes place and which is now under siege from a "suitor" who wants to claim political power for himself; and Sayeh, whose own kingdom has been destroyed by natural disaster and who is now prisoner of that same suitor while her son is held captive by yet another rival. Sayeh is also considered "third gender": assigned male at birth, she identifies and is recognised as feminine by all other characters, goes by female pronouns and physically carried and gave birth to her son (with magical assistance). Her gender identity is commented on by other characters as an impediment to maintaining legitimacy in a patriarchal political environment (as is Mrithuri's), but none ever question the identity itself.

The backdrop to all these political manoeuvres is the history of the Lotus Kingdoms, which were once united under a single empire but have now become separate once more - a separation which could be undone, by the right heir. Also in the mix (and on the blurb) are the Gage - an automaton now off on a journey to find aid for Mrithuri's fight - and the Dead Man, a survivor of a deposed regime who now works as a veiled mercenary, and in the previous book started a sweet but politically inadvisable relationship with Mrithuri which continues into this book. And behind that is a rotating cast of political rivals, assassins, advisors, spies, poets, wizards of various (confusing) magical flavours and birds, some of whom span right back to Bear's original trilogy set in this world, Range of Ghosts. This is where not having the detail of at least the previous book made things more difficult, as I struggled to remember who had been hanging out with who and why, but most of the main cast are distinct and easy to get to grips with as the book goes on.

There's a great sense of momentum in The Red-Stained Wings, a feeling even more impressive for the fact that most of the political action in the book is centred around a siege (not generally the most dynamic of military actions). There's a balance between the sense of hopelessness in Mrithuri's camp as they wait for a literal deus ex machina in the form of God-given rains, while also attempting to take control of the situation they have found themselves in. The Gage's quest takes him across the desert to a land of dragonglass, which expands the worldbuilding into satisfying new territory. The "core" worldbuilding of the series continues to be a highlight, and although it feels like we get less of Bear's politicised astronomy (where heavenly bodies literally change according to what land you're in, from dual-sunned places where daylight never ends to country where the stars all correspond to dead leaders), the history and geography of the Lotus Kingdom in the context of the wider world always feels well-considered and real, giving weight in turn to the complex desires, motivations and machinations of the characters who populate it.

It should be noted that the Lotus Kingdoms are based on historic India and this isn't own voices. Elements like Sayeh's third gender identity and the presence of characters of different genders who veil are present in ways which feel matter-of-fact about the diverse potential of human experience, rather than as an exploration of real-world analogues. It's a contrast to something like Tasha Suri's Empire of Sand, which incorporates purdah in its fantasy setting to directly address concepts of power and agency which are applicable to how we view women in the source culture. As a white woman, its not my place to wade into the wider debate about cultural appropriation and the use of culture in fantasy stories outside one's "lane", but I think it's worth pointing out that these texts are aiming to achieve different things, and I think there's space for both which is related but doesn't entirely overlap with the conversation about who gets to tell diverse stories.

I therefore come away from The Red-Stained Wings enthusiastic and entertained despite the lingering sense of confusion from not having the series history at my fingertips. From start to finish, this book delivers action and intrigue in equal measure, backed by a core cast of deeply satisfying protagonists and thinner but equally compelling antagonistic forces. There's an elephant in the room, however: yep, you should probably reread The Stone in the Skull, or at least have it better embedded in your memory, to really get the full effect out of this one - and it might even be worth visiting the previous trilogy for good measure. It's all very well to whisper "everything's fine here, uh, how are you" into your Kindle screen every time another character whose position and alignment you can't quite remember walks on stage, but sometimes we have to accept that there are better ways to do things if we make time for them, and The Red-Stained Wings cements Bear in my mind as an author whose series are worth making time for. You may officially berate me for this when book three comes out and I inevitably end up in the same position once more, but hey, regardless, I'll be there to see how Mrithuri, Sayeh and their mercenary pals end up.

I enjoyed this one so much I was unable to write a decent review when I first read it, so I will try my best to describe why you need to read this book here. The Red-Stained Wings has everything a fantasy book should have: magic, flawed heroes, vicious villains and a complicated world.

This is the sequel to The Stone in the Skull which I read last year and enjoyed immensely. It's a very underrated as I always mention. The cast of characters were engaging and often surprising. This is no white-bread high fantasy, but one with depth, heart, and humor. The warring kingdoms in which it’s set somewhat resemble Moghul-era India in some ways, if that time period had featured real Wizards and giant automata animated by human spirits.

THiS INSTALLMENT SURPRISED THE FORK OUT OF ME.

The stakes were raised. the political intrigue was heightened and more organizations are popping up, and secrets and powers and everything is kind of culminating together and it's really reached a peak of excitement here folks!

There are a lot of good things to talk about with this one. Even beyond an absorbing, intricate storyline that evolves naturally and keeps the surprises coming, and great characters, I'm really impressed with the worldbuilding. Not even just the worldbuilding, but also the skillful delivery of information about the worldbuilding. Bear found that really, really fine balance between trusting the reader to understand what's going on and infodumping. I also felt like this was a step up from the first book in the series, which had odd tone fluctuations to me. I'm definitely locked in and am really looking forward to the next book.

I'd recommend for fans of high fantasy in particular and fans of fantasy in general.

"It seems to me that the difference between a good ruler and a bad ruler is not always what they choose to do. Sometimes it is how - and why - they choose to do it, and whether they justify it to themselves."

The Red-Stained Wings is a delightful follow-up to Elizabeth Bear’s The Stone in the Skull. While my one complaint from the previous book still stands (LET ME SEE THE GAGE FIGHT dangit!), I was enthralled by the new events and plot points introduced in The Red-Stained Wings. Bear’s prose and worldbuilding is stellar as always, and it’s a joy to see characters you’ve been following for 500-odd pages across two books meet up and finally interact.

The scale of political upheaval has also expanded - rather than being grounded in the mundane aspects of human life and death, the mythos and gods of the world are now becoming properly involved. Each god claims a land as its demesne, supplying it with suns, weather, and life. Is there a gentle sun and a bright trail of stars? Perhaps three suns, one harsh, one mild, and one quick? Or do you stare into a godless abyss? A rajni’s role in worshipping her gods suddenly seems much more important.

"There was no Cauled Sun in the sky, no Heavenly River spooling its brightness across the firmament. There was blackness, and the blackness was picked out in little stars that shone with a cold silver light that cast no shadows but made everything seem as flat and foreign as cut paper shapes layered on a canvas.

Nizvashiti let its head fall back on its emaciated neck, staring blindly upward. 'This is a dead sky.'"

While I'm typically not a fan of "villain" POVs in novels, I enjoyed reading Himadra's chapters much more than I would have guessed. It almost made me a bit angry - Himadra is supposed to be the antagonist, yet here I was sympathizing with him and genuinely liking him. Called "The Boneless," Himadra suffers from a debilitating condition that did not allow his bones or muscles to develop properly. Himadra relies on his skills as a politician, negotiator, and leader to move throughout the political landscape. As the novel progresses, however, it becomes increasingly clear that although Himadra has his own motivations, he's also being played as a pawn by much larger forces. 

The Gage is off on his own quest, seeking an ancient artifact in the dead and poisoned city of dragons. Finally, he has the chance to come forward and make judgements independent of other characters - some of them questionable or challenging. While I do desperately want to see the Gage in a war setting, I do have to admit that the character development and depth here was much, much more satisfying even than a good battle. 

While waiting for the third installment of The Lotus Kingdoms, I'm very much looking forward to reading Bear's other series set in this world: The Eternal Sky trilogy.

Oh My Goodness, this book was amazing. The imagination shown by Elizabeth Bear in filling out this world kept me tied to the story even when I wasn't reading. The four principal characters are separated into different aspects of what is happening throughout the Lotus Kingdoms and all four of those circumstances is vital to the whole so I didn't begrudge any time spent away from my favorite character (the Gage), but when the story was concentrated there I felt as if my mouth was hanging open all the time in amazement. Hmm, two uses of forms of the word amaze in one paragraph probably means I need to move on.

I am so glad I decided to read The Stone in the Skull before this second book because it gave me the background I needed to fall immediately back into the rhythm of this story which is full of action and war and creatures, volcanic eruptions and weather and magic to go along with the wonderful cast of characters. Yes, Bear has provided concisely worded passages to move you from the first book to the second, whether you have not read the first or it has been a while and your memory just needs a little bit of refreshing. Those passages flow easily and naturally and there aren't so many of them that they begin to irritate. That was well done, but I would still recommend reading the first book before this one if you can. This second book also continues to feature Mrithuri Rajni of Sarathai-tia and Sayeh Rajni of Ansh-Sahal, two women who rule over their kingdoms with strength and love. Once again it is a refreshing portrayal.

I won't even try to deny that my favorite character is the Gage and when his portion included a dragon, well, I was not going to put that book down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan - Tor/Forge for an e-Galley of this novel.

The Red-Stained Wings by Elizabeth Bear
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The slow burn from the previous novel flared up into a raging fire in this one, proving, at least to me, that these books probably shouldn't have been split up in the first place. And now that I've read this middle book, I'm certain I'll want to read all three in a row.

Good news, everyone! It's all worth re-reading! :) And for all you action freaks wanting to see what is below that precipice you were standing on with the first book? This one is as bloody and chaotic and heartbreaking as the first was a steady careful-character-and-world-building panorama.

I personally loved the Gage's quest among the dragonglass and for all you dragon lovers out there, I really got into the dragon and the implications more than I have for any dragon in a long, long time. :) Read into that however you will. I'm very, very impressed with this fantasy.

Elizabeth Bear promised so much in the first book of the Lotus Kingdom and gave us nothing but awesome in this. The two belong as one. Now if only I had the third in my greedy little hands, I'd be a happy man. :)

No spoilers! Just vague personal reactions! *But damn, how I want to gush about certain scenes* :)

"The Red-Stained Wings" is the second book in the Lotus Kingdoms series by Elizabeth Bear. While I found the first in the series to be a slow going because of the building of the backstory, the second part of the series moves along at a fairly quick pace. While it is obvious that everything can't be solved in this part, the answers to those questions await us in part three. We follow the further travels of the Gage, a wizard made automaton, whom was once a man. The Dead Man has further allied himself to Mrithuri Rajni.. The war is coming to the Rajni's city and it will take every resource available to them to ensure their survival. Mrithuri's male cousins, Anuraja and Himadra, covet the Alchemical Emperor's Peacock Throne but sitting on the throne could result in their death if they are not worthy. Unfortunately for Mrithuri, only male heirs are allowed to ascend to the throne. The Gage is investigating the tragic defeat of Ansh-Sahal, Mrithuri's cousin, Sayeh Rajni, once ruled. What answers will he bring back from his travels to Sarathai-tia? I look forward to discovering the rest of the story in future volumes.