Ok, alright. I finished Harrow. 

First off, I have to give it to this series: this is the first time in I don’t even know how long I have started - let alone finished - the second book in a series. And, unless things change in whatever time left before Alecto comes out, I am planning to finish the series. Something that hasn’t happened since I was still in the good side of my twenties (I mean, I don’t think Homo Sacer counts as a series, does it?). 

Now. To the review! Haha, just kidding. Probably just yelling and incoherent mumbling. 

Obviously, spoilers. 

The writing: As I already pointed out in some of my posts, this is a more mature novel and it proves that the author wasn’t just throwing in slang because she couldn’t commit to a writing style. This is a fantasy space opera which mocks Greek tragedies, so it had to have a unique style. I have to admit, though, that the leap from book 1 to book 2 is... quite ambitious. The first is a 400 pages book that feels like it’s 200 and this one is a 500 pages book that feels like it’s 900. It’s mostly because it is pretty confusing and it is not a light summer read. There’s great attention to detail in the writing and, therefore, there must be great attention to detail when reading. I should have marked stuff with post-its but I was reading on my Kindle. I probably should’ve bought a hard copy as well, because I really wanted to go back and read some bits, but on the Kindle it is not as easy (for example all of those notes by Wake Harrow kept reading). It was very clever to write in third and second person, both for sentimental reasons and comprehension purposes. It was a bit jarring when we switched to first person in the later chapters, but I got used to it. It is a style that sometimes pulls you out of the story, it is ambitious, sometimes a bit tedious (especially during the fights that drag on), but I don’t mind when authors finally break those rules that make all new novels identical. This is a writing experiment and I enjoyed it. The “Miette” joke, while funny in a fanfiction, may have been a bit too much even for me, though. 

The plot: I was a bit disappointed with the final reveal. The whole book I kept saying “Nah, Gideon’s not the Emperor’s daughter,” because it was a bit cliché. I really was hoping she was the lovechild of two Lyctors, but the “Hi, I’m Not Fucking Dead. I’m Dad.” was worth it. Now can I start referring to Gideon as Hercules? And, no, she’s not Heracles. She’s obviously Disney’s Hercules (except that she has a “mortal” mum). Also, while the last few chapters of Gideon wrapped up all of the mysteries nicely and kept some stuff for the sequels, ending this on three cliffhangers was a bit too much (for me). But second installments in trilogies tend to do that. I’m just afraid I won’t remember half of the things I will need to understand Alecto and I really hope the narrative in that will be a little simpler than in Harrow. The question was never “will I finish it?”, because it is a compelling book, but “how exhausted will I be?” And I kind of was. I got to admit though that, as usual, all of the plot twists felt earned and it feels like a thoroughly planned trilogy. I still can’t understand half the lore, though. I don’t know if it’s because I was a bit tired while reading, but I couldn’t really picture the Resurrection Beasts and the “planet killing” subplot (it didn’t feel like main plot). The Ortus/Gideon Prime trying to kill Harrow every fifteen minutes was a bit silly and, yes, it added tension and drama, but it was a bit too much (not unnecessary, because of the link to the Emperor trying to fix her, but it played a bit cartoonish).

The genre: while Gideon was hardly sci-fi and this one is far from being hard sci-fi, it was nice to see more space elements. The first book had a fantasy, mystery, thriller feelings (up to the main battle at the end, which felt like a boss battle in a fantasy video game). This one was way more science-fictiony but with Greek tragedy elements and it had a lot more horror and gore. 

The characters: I missed Gideon so much. Even in the chapters she was narrating, it didn’t really feel like her, mostly - I believe - because the author wanted to maintain the mystery of who the narrator was. But I feel it was a bit of a disservice to Gideon, because she has such a distinct voice that it didn’t feel like her, until she showed up in Harrow’s body. I loved seeing all of my faves from the first book and I have a feeling we’ll see them again. Especially, Palamedes who’s clueless in his bubble. I’m glad Camilla is alive and Abigail Pent is the MVP. Took me a while to get who Commander Wake was and I still don’t really understand her connection to the Emperor and the Lyctors (and how she got the name? I mean, it’s funny, but you have to explain that). Ianthe was... interesting, but I really don’t want her near Harrow. She may have a crush, but she’s manipulative and doesn’t really know how to act on it. Harrow really became her own character and I’m glad the two protagonists now are fully explored. I liked the Emperor. John Gaius is my dude, I’m sorry. Maybe he’s evil, maybe he’s not but he makes dad jokes and I love him. Mercy, Augustine and Ortus/Gideon were... a bit forgettable honestly. A bit of a caricature, but they reminded me a lot of petty Greek gods. Nobody touch Ortus Nigenad. He’s my baby, too. The Sleeper (in the River bubble) was a very creepy character and it reminded me of Russel T. Davis era Doctor Who antagonists. 

All in all, there were a lot of great moments. It isn’t a book for everyone and I understand that. I still feel like the people criticizing the series are doing it for the wrong reasons and focusing too much on the writing style, while there is something that does not fully convince me, but it’s not the writing. I think people - especially in fantasy - are getting too used to third person limited. Using different points of view is fun and more writers should experiment. There are a lot of compelling books written in first person and terrible books written in third person omniscient. The talent of a writer isn’t in how “by the book” they are, but if they make a well written, compelling story with three dimensional characters. The Locked Tomb, so far, has all three. 

I may have missed something, but the book was very full and I’m not very good at remembering things.