WINTER'S FIRE

In this sequel to 2023’s Children of the Black Glass, a brother and sister must undertake several life-threatening journeys to save their people and one another.

After Wren plunges into the timeless and idyllic land of death to fetch back poisoned big brother Tell, who’s oddly changed by the experience, she struggles harder than ever to control her sorcerous powers. Now, the close-knit siblings are forced to confront multiple murderous foes as they struggle to negotiate narrow mountain ledges to deliver a caravan of supplies to their hard-bitten mountain folk before traveling back down to the hostile town of Halfway on another mission. While the slow-paced plot feels excessively drawn out, the threat of brutal foreign mercenaries, who wear their hair in “ornate braids that [look] like rope,” and the necessity of persuading reluctant villagers to move down the slope before the arrival of a deadly oncoming winter, do raise the stakes. The central characters’ close ties and the distinctively flinty character of the setting and the supporting cast tie this entry to the opener, and a forcible separation at the end that leaves one sibling in the clutches of a mad sorcerer point to future rescues and exploits. Most characters present white.

Rising stakes and some character development keep this tale trundling along.