As someone who truly enjoyed book one: Soleri, book two: Silence of the Soleri, also by Michael Johnston, has been quite the disappointment, especially after a three-and-a-half-year wait (which feels astronomical nowadays in the publishing world). To be completely honest, in book one, I had fallen in love with the characters and their interconnected characterizations and stellar personalities that all seemed to be focused on finding revenge; however, book two’s follow-up was completely underwhelming and the subsequent revealings of previous intrigues and secrets sputtered out into the abyss, at least for me. While I developed a bit of a soft spot for Merit Hark-Wadi, even more so than book one, it still was not enough to make up for all of the other failings. If I could have requested anything from Silence of the Soleri, I would have asked that the duology’s original focus on its main characters and its in-depth worldbuilding be honored throughout book two just as much, or even more, than book one. While that did not come to pass, I will still enjoy book one and pretend that the happenings of book two were left to the reader’s imagination instead.

Unfortunately, the Silence of the Soleri did not live up to it’s prequel and I ended up fighting to finish this one. It felt as though a lot of the impetus had been lost, and the aspects which had worked so well in the first book and had contributed to a cohesive whole, became lost with the choices that were made. The worldbuilding which was so strong in the previous book, also seemed to take a backseat in this second book – and while that would have worked if the plot and characters had filled the gap, but instead it just felt lacking. I also continued to have the same issue of connecting with the characters, and some of the best characters were barely featured in this one, and the main ones that were just didn’t capture me.

Silence of the Soleri is a great follow up to the first book!
The continuation of world-building is slick and very immersive.
Definitely a book to read if you like high fantasy.

While I did like this, it succeeds mostly based on the qualities of the first book and on a well-envisioned fantasy world. Decent writing, utilitarian prose, rather basic characters.

The first book did a great job asking interesting questions: where are the gods? If they’re gone, why? Who? How? And how does and empire based on divine rights grapple with the idea that those gods no longer

Still a fascinating world but the plot feels flimsy and relies on easy solutions/reveals (like those for Barca mid-way through, and for Mered Saad right at the end

While I did like this, it succeeds mostly based on the qualities of the first book and on a well-envisioned fantasy world. Decent writing, utilitarian prose, rather basic characters.

The first book did a great job asking interesting questions: where are the gods? If they’re gone, why? Who? How? And how does and empire based on divine rights grapple with the idea that those gods no longer intercede?

Unfortunately, Silence of the Soleri doesn’t do as well providing satisfying answers for these questions. Johnston falls back on obvious and simple tropes; any opportunity for real unique history is left unexplored. It’s a disappointed after the potential raised.

Still a fascinating world but the plot feels flimsy and relies on easy solutions/reveals (like those for Barca mid-way through, and for Mered Saad right at the end, etc). ★★½

Great sequel in a not talk about series. The world I great, the characters are fascinating and there is a solid quest to hold it all up together. If you love fantasy this is an author and a series to discover!!

2.5/5 stars

I have been patiently waiting for the sequel to Soleri since I read it back in 2018. On top of that, Silence of the Soleri is one of my most anticipated sequels of the year. To say my expectations were high is an understatement. Unfortunately, when I have high expectations (especially with sequels) I am typically let down. Silence of the Soleri didn't work for me for a few reasons. The main reason is that most of the things that I loved so much about Soleri were not present in this book. Kepi, my favorite character, didn't have one single chapter until 150 pages into the novel. Ren, my least favorite character, had 50% or more time of page time. The mystery surrounding the Soleri? Practically vanished! I think a lot of my qualms would have been fixed if we had less of Ren being the ultimate Gary Sue. He literally had everything handed to him even though he has ZERO experience being a leader much less a king. We needed more POVs from others such as Ott and Noll as they were unraveling the secrets of the Soleri. At the end of the day, this story isn't about the Soleri. Unfortunately, I thought it was and because of that my expectations of this sequel were completely different and it went in entirely a different direction.

I gave a 2 ½-star rating for Michael Johnston’s Soleri, and was hoping to see some improvement in the sequel, Silence of the Soleri. Unfortunately, the book tipped in the other direction, so much so that I gave up at the halfway point. As usual with DNF reviews, this will be brief.

The problems here were pretty much the same as I noted in my review of book one. Characterization was thin, prose was only adequate, plotting felt scattershot and unbalanced. Several scenes I wasn’t sure of the point. And worse here than in book one was the logistics — multiple times I had no idea how settings related to one another, how many people were involved in scenes, how people were escaping notice, etc., making for an incredibly frustrating read. I started considering giving up about a quarter of the way through, but pushed forward in hopes things would improve, that maybe problems with logistics were singular or that characters would be more fully revealed, but by the halfway point, when things had not gotten any better, I decided that was a fair enough amount to make a judgment. Not recommended.

A long awaited sequel to one of my most surprising read of 2018... I think. Outstanding level of epic adventure. A book, an author, a series, not talk about on the online community. If you love epic fantasy, read Michael Johnston you won't regret it. Start with the first i the series obviously or you will be more than lost, but it will be worth it I promise!