Only when I got here did I realize I was walking the same path as all those who’d come before me, a cycle of destruction maintained by nothing but the certainty that in every era there will be individuals who can never be satisfied by the power they have. It is so simple. So unreasonable. Yet generation after generation the cycle continues.

I understand what this story is trying to achieve, I really do but I don’t think it does it very well, or at least not as well as I expected it would. It is much different from the first installment, more nuanced in its core, with complicated characters and storyline that ultimately doesn’t follow the traditional “good vs evil” discourse.

Compared to book one, the story felt flat and predictable, especially with the unnecessary foreshadowing that only enhanced this sentiment. I personally don’t like when authors directly tell me what to think, who to trust or what’s about to happen in the next chapter and this is exactly how I felt reading it. We have no true evil here, both sides of the conflict are flawed but as readers we are forced to believe whatever the main character believes in which leads to frustration and a disappointing conclusion to the entire story.

Although I often advocate for shorter books (or shorter series in general) this one could actually benefit from being a full sized novel instead of a novella given what it’s trying to achieve and how much happens within it.

The Truth of the Aleke (Forever Desert, #2)

Moses Ose Utomi