I have read Blaise’s first book, The Last Lumenian, and felt that there were many changes in the styles, pacing, prose, and world-building of this book compared to the first.
1) Pacing and Plot Structure:
The first book has a more defined and planned plot that seems to me like a hybrid between a 3-arc structure and a Fichtean curve. In this current book, the author has moved almost entirely to a Fichtean curve. For those who do not know what this is, it is a kind of plot structure used by fast-paced action-driven novels. It uses incrementally more climatic crises leading to more partial resolutions, and so on until the ultimate climax is reached and resolved.
To appreciate Blaise’s second book, read it like a thriller, similar to how one would appreciate J.J Abrams’ Star Trek and Mission Impossible movies. Novel-wise, similar books include The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel and The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins.
The novel brings you to the edge, keeps you in suspense, through many battles, action scenes, dramas, and social interactions that continuously renew themselves and bring one forth to an even more climatic crisis until the last battle at the end.
One should note that Blaise’s second book is more tailored towards a certain group of readers: plot-driven, high intensity, focused, action-oriented, and world-building fanatics who love to be at this constant edge of mystery and ominous suspense.
One thing to note is that, as said in my previous review of her first book, I suspect that Blaise intends to use a complex story arc like The Hunger Games, where each book has its resolutions, with a broader over-arching one. After reading this second book, I think hers is a blend between a complex story arc and a serialized one—each book is a continuation of the previous ones, but from the content, it seems Blaise may write, perhaps 5 or 6 books or more, a bit like Ian Fleming’s James Bond series. This means the series will continue for a while more, but it is just my hunch.
2) Content:
While the first book focuses more on the main character’s ambivalence towards taking up her role as the Last Lumenian, this one cements it and brings it forth to the next stage, whereby Lilla attempts to win the favor of Laoise, the Teryn Goddess. This leads to disastrous consequences for Lilla and her companions to overcome.
Overall, the conflict and tension move from the inception of romance and strong interpersonal tensions between many characters and the rebellion to greater solidarity between the main characters. However, a sense of tension and disagreement continuously occurs between them, which propels the story forward in unpredictable ways.
While the first book covers more themes, such as the conflict between individual and society, and the dilemmas of romance, certain subtle gender discourses, and Lilla’s main role as a Sibyl, the current one shifts the locale more towards the adventure itself, which includes the many villains in the process. Therefore, there is a shift from an inward focus to an outward one. Put it simply, the first book has a slightly more character-centric slant, but the second book is far more externally driven on the choices that were made towards the deliberate accomplishment of a goal rather than the relative reactivity of the first up till the latter’s climax (which seems intended for both).
The second book also delivers in terms of the interesting world-building which rivals the first book’s. The metamorphic battle forms, the luminous true spiritual natures of some characters, and certain disembodied forms of life struck me as rather unique.
I also enjoyed the addition of new pictures which were clearly professionally illustrated and adds life to the novel.
3) Prose
This is most probably a deliberate choice by the author.
I noticed that in the first book, the prose was far more florid and sensate, whereas there is a shift in the second book towards a somewhat more functionalist writing style that parallels Ernest Hemingway’s writing. It focuses more on simplicity and clarity.
This works perfectly for her audiences, I suppose, and blends well with her thriller-like plot-driven writing.
However, for me, I always preferred the first book’s florid style, as it was more evocative and shows more deliberate planning put into it. However, the second book’s new stylistic preference is most probably based on choice rather than degrees of merit, which I respect.
4) Other Comments
I believe the deliberate employment of a stream-of-consciousness style of writing by Blaise. This is the method that Stephen King seems to write with. I sensed this because of the shift in the prose to one of spontaneity.
The plot, being more “on the flow” gave me the impression that the author prefers a “seeding” style of writing, as opposed to being a “planner,” like my works. I literally plan everything. Both have their perks: the former demanding fluidity while the other requiring order and reason.
It is always interesting to see how other authors employ different methods to write.
Regardless, these two methods blend well with Blaise’s focus on elevating this work to a thriller of interesting proportions.
The only flaw which I felt could be improved, which I spotted a lot, was the over-use of “I” pronouns in many sentences, where some strings of paragraphs all started with “I”s. I am not sure if this is an effect of her suspected stream-of-consciousness writing style or something else, but it is a minor issue that can be most easily fixed.
Conclusion:
Book 2 has moved towards a more accepting embrace of a thriller-like writing style that still contains many of the complexities of the first book.
Overall, it was a splendid book to add to my collection!
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Enjoyed it!
I was so excited to jump back into the The Last Lumenian series. I read the first book a while back and I enjoyed it. True Teryn takes place right after the events of book one. I enjoyed the dynamic between Callum and Lilla, it only strengthened as time went by, although there’s not a lot of romance between them. One of the elements that caught my attention in the book was the new found family trope. Lilla is not a Teryn and therefore she’s sometimes misjudged or even isolated by certain individuals, which made it so enjoyable to see how she finds her place in this world and gains people on her side. The book has elements of mythology which is definitely one of my fav things about literature. It was great to see how it connected with the story. I absolutely loved the inclusion of a glossary, it’s so important to me to have these when I’m diving into a new series and at times we don’t understand even after reading the book. I am excited to see where this story will go. I was pleased on how this book wrapped up! Huge thanks to the author for gifting me a copy. All opinions are my own.
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- Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2022
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Top reviews from other countries
- H.TaylorReviewed in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2024
Captivating fast paced read
- AdityaReviewed in India on April 7, 2022
This review won't contain any spoilers so read with a free mind.
