I acquired a overview copy from the writer. This doesn’t have an effect on the contents of my overview and all opinions are my very own.
Mogsy’s Ranking: 2 of 5 stars
Style: Fantasy
Sequence: Ebook 2 of The Nice Silence
Writer: Orbit (March 31, 2026)
Size: 448 pages
Creator Data: Web site
This overview might be going to be filled with unpopular opinions, however the factor is, I don’t get it both. Lately, I’ve grow to be an enormous fan of Richard Swan, I additionally completely beloved the primary ebook of this sequence, and but, Metal Gods ended up being an enormous disappointment. Whereas I devoured Grave Empire effortlessly, I spent most of this second novel struggling to remain and questioning when it was lastly going to click on, forcing myself to maintain going as a result of I genuinely believed it will finally get higher. Simply keep it up, I instructed myself, and whenever you’re achieved, you’ll be glad you’ll be able to roll straight into ebook three. However heck, by the tip, I truthfully wasn’t even positive I needed to proceed the sequence in any respect.
Choosing up after the occasions of the earlier novel, the world of The Nice Silence continues devolving into extra chaos because the boundaries between the mortal realm and the afterlife start to interrupt down. The massive baddies, the Vorr, that are horrifying interdimensional beings that consumed souls, have breached the land of the useless and invaded the world of the residing. Their affect spreads by the empire like a plague, inflicting thoughts rot upon their victims, turning them into soulless, hollowed-out husks like zombies.
However as a substitute of working collectively to attempt to cease the an infection, these with energy start searching for methods to take advantage of it. Amongst them is Rely Lamprecht von Oldenburg, who makes use of thaumaturgy to show the senseless horde into his personal private military. He’s additionally batshit insane. In the meantime, Ambassador Renata Rainer is continuous her diplomatic mission, touring to the center of enemy territory within the hopes of recruiting new allies. Lieutenant Peter Kleist, then again, has managed to outlive the treacherous wilds, regardless of his youth and lack of expertise being always examined alongside the best way. Now he finds himself again within the haunted wilderness, compelled by the necessity for solutions, at the same time as the burden of all the pieces he has already endured begins to meet up with him. Throughout the broader sequence arc, the story continues to unfold by a number of POVs scattered round a quickly destabilizing world, every attempting to stop it from slipping into whole collapse.
This sequel ought to have been a slam dunk, however what stunned me most was how totally different this ebook felt in comparison with Grave Empire. Similar world, identical continuity, most of the identical characters, and but for me, the vitality was utterly off. For one, the main focus of the primary ebook was a lot tighter, whereas this one felt sprawling in a method that diluted plenty of what initially hooked me. The character views are diverging as soon as extra, introducing extra threads but in addition extra distance. It gave the ebook a disconnected high quality, like everybody was wandering by separate tales as a substitute of taking part in the identical one.
The pacing additionally dragged for me. Oh boy, did it actually drag. Trying again, rather a lot really occurs, however little or no of it feels impactful within the second. Any reveals arrive with surprisingly little weight behind them, or perhaps it was simply my bored way of thinking making main developments appear to be they fizzled slightly than explode. Complete sections really feel slowed down in exposition with out a lot payoff. Chapters would go by the place I noticed I had been studying for fairly a while with out feeling any actual momentum carrying me ahead. Actually, if the primary ebook hadn’t been so good, making me really feel invested on this sequence, I in all probability would have DNFed this earlier than the midway mark.
A part of the difficulty could merely be that this installment feels way more transitional. It spends plenty of time repositioning the characters, which could clarify why they didn’t work practically as properly for me this time round. Right here, plenty of them felt unusually flattened or pushed apart in favor of laying down groundwork for future occasions, resulting in much less steadiness and extra confusion. I’d thought I had a robust grasp of the characters’ motivations, however after this ebook, I don’t really feel as assured anymore. Not as a result of they abruptly modified, however as a result of a lot of the ebook feels emotionally flat and so they don’t actually develop in notably thrilling methods.
To be truthful, Swan nonetheless writes properly on a technical stage. The prose is polished, and the world-building is detailed. Right here and there are flashes of genius just like the political complexity or the grim environment that jogged my memory why I beloved the primary ebook. However finally this sequel simply by no means got here alive for me. No matter momentum Grave Empire had going for it, I merely didn’t really feel it right here.
Ultimately, if I needed to boil all of it down to 1 factor, I’d say that Metal Gods has a reasonably severe case of center ebook syndrome. The sequence started with a a lot stronger sense of pressure and course, so I do know what it’s able to, however this installment by no means actually comes near reaching those self same heights. I’m now on the fence about whether or not I’ll proceed with the sequence, however I suppose time will inform.
Extra on The BiblioSanctum:
Evaluation of Grave Empire (Ebook 1)
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