The Great Rift (The Cycle of Arawn)

I've seen the criticism from other readers. I don't think this one is as good as the first one, but I want to argue about the reasons why this one is hurting. First, there's a plot device related to trust that is continually focused on throughout the entire novel. It could be something that is overdone a bit. One less chapter just to replace the chapter that felt like it was just missing about 2/3 in. The battle on the river, and then the battle in the village follows so fast, with no transition that it jolts a reader a bit to catch on.

The break between Blays and Dante at the end is predictable, but so happy that the victory is made hollow the way the second book in a trilogy should. Perhaps, the fact that I'm reading this now, right after Doctor Strange, and I feel that the break with a trusted ally is overused.

Finally, there's the mystery plot about halfway in. The rush back to Narashtovik might as well be the "Tortuga" battlecry of the PotC fame. Let's go back to N. Let's rush to N. Dude's dead, what are you going to do. The betrayal of the priest was randomly chosen, and his own involvement in the fight in the village makes me cringe a lot. So many other better options.

All of this, and i still love the conversations. Still love the idioms and phrases of modern day civilization anachronistically applied in a fantasy world. Still love the fights for the modern day belief that slavery is a bad thing. There are so many other things that we could target, but we continue to hit slavery. I just remember the eighties and this being the fantasy mainstream. So a century and a score after the US finally abolished slavery, we finally moved it into the realm of fantasy. But we do not get into the after effects of slavery. Seems like we have an abundance of that to inform our writing today. I wish we could get there.