The Thousand Eyes is the sequel to one of my favourite books of 2020, The Unspoken Name. I cannot express properly the joy I felt reading this book, I loved being back in the world with these characters. The character banter, the spooky worldbuilding, the magical stakes, the twists and turns, the sense of dysfuntional found family and camraderie is all so good and this sequel more than exceeded my expectations, I might even love it more than book 1!!

At the start of the book Csorwe, Shuthmilli and Tal are working odd jobs to try and make a living for themselves when they suddenly get dragged back into old mysteries with old and new enemies. When they accidentally release an ancient soldier who has been sleeping since the fall of her homeland, they are thrown back into a conflict that has lain dormant for thousands of years, with ancient gods on the rise and the threat of all they hold dear being destroyed.

The stakes are high in this book and there are so many plot twists and turns it will truly keep you on the edge of your seat. About a 1/3rd of the way into the book there is a big shift in the direction of the book and quite a big time jump, which I'm sometimes hesitant about but thought it was done so well here and added a lot of nuance to the story and time for tensions to brew.

Tal was one of my favourite things/people in book one, he is the loveable twat type character but with a lot of complexities and heart so I loved that he got more of a focus in this book. His arc throughout the book is excellent and seeing him grow and learn from his mistakes of the past and start to form geniune bonds with others. I also thought it really highlighted the importance of non romantic relationships and how important these can be. That said Tal is totally not over Belthandros and some of their interactions were so funny and the sexual tension is so palpable even though you really don't ship them lol - but I did like seeing Tal heal from what was clearly an abusive relationship and learn to stand up for himself!!

One trope I am an absolute SUCKER for is the grumpy older mentor and feral orphan mentee and this books absolutely delivers on this. It might even be my favourite depiciton of this trope of seen. Tal takes under his wing Tsereg - the latest unspoken bride who is on a mission to kill the god-empress and is an absolute non-binary icon and their dynamic is perfect!! Tsereg is such a fiery little force of personality whilst also being very vunerable and seeing Tal start to care and take on a parental role was so emotional and I loved it so much!! Also Tsereg teasing Tal about his age was so funny.

Csorwe and Tal are such siblings (while not being technically related - but they were brought up together so it counts lol) and I love their banter so much!! They are some of my favourite siblings in fiction and if you like messy sibling bonds with lots of trash talking and winding each other up whilst still deep down loving the other person I would highly reccomend this series!! Although due to certain events in the book we don't see a lot of them together I loved the moments we got!

I also absolutely adore Csorwe and Shuthmili - they are one of my fave fictional sapphic couples and I loved seeing them in an established relationship and all the domestic fluff. We get Shuthmili's POV in this book rather than Csorwe and we truly see how much she cares about her and the lengths she is willing to go to save Csorwe. It is a bit heartbreaking at times but also the angst and yearning are so satisfying to read.

Belthandros is also such an entertaining charcater - everytime he is on page he steals the show but also you never know whether to love him or hate him T___T

I love the tone of humour the book has, especially in the interactions between characters - I was grinning so many times while reading. It is also really well paced and the author does a great job of maintaining tension throughout and building to an intense climax that will leave you breathless and a very satisfying ending.

In conclusion an unmissable sequel to a great fanatsy series with amazing queer rep, an exciting story with just the right blend of intrigue, drama, romance, action, humour and emotional stakes. I honestly don't have a bad thing to say about it!!!

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<p>Review copy provided by the publisher. Also the author is a personal friend and shares my agent.</p>
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<p>This is the sequel to <em>The Unspoken Name</em>, and it features many of the same characters--Csorwe, Shuthmili, Tal, their friends, families, enemies, gods, worlds--and also some extremely fun new ones.</p>
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<p>I loved it, and I am finding it <em>incredibly</em> hard to review.</p>
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<p>Here's the thing: <em>The Thousand Eyes</em> is structurally interesting.</p>
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<p>Very few books are particularly structurally interesting in terms of their plots. You can answer questions like, "Who is/are the main character(s)?" without going, "Well, uh, see, there's...an interesting thing about that." And it's not that I think this won't still be interesting if spoiled. It absolutely will be; I look forward to reading it again. It's just that...there are so few books where I honestly do not see the plot coming to this degree...that I want to give people the chance to experience that too. As much as possible.</p>
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<p>So. There are death gods and snake gods and multiple worlds and passionately dedicated romances and really complicated friendships. There are sky whales and betrayals and things that might actually not be betrayals depending on who you ask. But also still might be. There are people who are not who they thought they were, and there are people who are <em>exactly</em> who they knew they were all along. There may, if I think about it, be the canonical list from <em>The Princess Bride</em> of "fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, true love...."</p>
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<p>Would I start here, no, I absolutely would start with <em>The Unspoken Name</em>, because this is the best kind of sequel, it is a sequel full of consequences. But good news, <em>The Unspoken Name</em> is very much in print, you can buy it even as we speak and make yourself ready for <em>The Thousand Eyes</em> and its new characters, some of whom very much wish they were still snakes but are not, some of whom could use just a tiny bit less confidence...and some of whom are just going to carry right on with exactly as much confidence as they have and wait for the universe to catch up. Yes? Good. Highly enjoyable. Hurrah.</p>
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