Fantasy Review: Son In Sorrow by MeiLin Miranda

Son In Sorrow by Meilin Miranda (An Intimate History of The Greater Kingdom #2)

bought

Synopsis from Goodreads
Prince Temmin incurred his father's wrath when he took Supplicancy in the Lovers' Temple; his devotion to the Gods outweighed his father's rage. Now he faces a greater challenge: his forbidden love for Allis, the human host of the goddess Neya. If he doesn't conquer his emotions, he may bring the Lovers' deadly fury down on them both--but pride and desire stand in his way. When a murder rips his greatest support from him, Temmin turns to the magic book of his ancestors to find answers to his need both for revenge and for a woman he must not love.

All the while, enemies inside and outside the kingdom are plotting against the monarchy, and the gods prove once again they are no one's friends.

Set in a Victorianesque world of magic, sexuality, political intrigue and military conquest, Son in Sorrow is the second book in the epic fantasy series An Intimate History of the Greater Kingdom, which began with Lovers and Beloveds.

 Amazon  US/UK | Amazon kindle US($4.95)/UK(£3.21) | Smashwords

9/10

* * *

I remember how much I loved the first book in this series, Lovers & Beloveds. With its sexual heat and vast world-building it strongly reminded me of Jacqueline Carey. However,  Son in Sorrow is a much darker book, more in tune with realistic fantasy by George Martin.

I've talked about the project that turned into this series. Meilin writes serialised fiction, so both book #1 and book #2 were crowd-funded, everything was done professionally from art to proofreading and editing. You really can see that the end result is excellent.

Son in Sorrow is long and pretty slow plot wise. Temmin still travels through The Book reliving the life of his ancestors and he still continues his education in Nerr and Neya's temple. However, darker times are coming. Or shall I say "Winter is coming"?

There is a rebellion brewing from the sidelines of Greater Kingdom, his mother becomes an unwitting victim of a religious conspiracy and Temmin himself turns into more and more obvious chess figure in the Game of Gods. There is a purpose to  what they are doing to him, there are layers of intrigue, but I still can't see where it's all going...

The set of characters in this series is huge, they all play their own important role which you don't really get until some sort of interaction between them starts a chain reaction. It's pretty fascinating really. 

Overall, Son in Sorrow has a hypnotic, charming quality of storytelling and I really want to see where Meilin Miranda will be going with this series. Recommended.

* * * 

Как обычно, вышло у Мейлин Миранды всё очень замечТательно. Медленное, тщательное развитие сюжета и характеров, новые интриги, игры Нерра и Нейи - богов, которые присматривают за наследником престола - Теммином.

Мейлин пишет довольно своеобразное фэнтэзи - и вроде бы в нём есть сильные реалистические нотки Джорджа Мартина и в то же время магия и сексульность Жакелин Кэри.

События развиваются как и в настоящем, повествуя о жизни Теммина, так и в прошлом через книгу Учителя, которая позволяет ему переживать эмоции и трагедии своих предшественников.

Огромное количество характеров, которые постепенно пересекаются друг с другом, и каждый из них играет важную роль в цепи событий. Меня никак не оставляет мысль, что Теммину предназначена специфическая роль пешки в шахматной игре богов. Уж слишком многое происходит с ним по воле Нерра и Нейи, но этого он пока не понимает.

Книга завораживает своим гипнотическим ритмом, она достаточно длинная, что мне пришлось потратить на неё несколько дней. Такого потрясения как от первых книг Кэри нет, но читать дальше хочется, и это самое главное.