I was fortunate that I got the opportunity to read this one in quick succession to the first book, but I have to say that I appreciated the short recap at the beginning of the book. This is certainly a practice that I would like to become more widespread, and it is a quick, easy way to step back into the flow of the setting. It also has to be said that the cover for The Weeping Sigil is beautiful, and there’s a map, which immediately means that this book has my attention (I just love maps).
The Weeping Sigil – in fact, that entire series – has some truly fascinating worldbuilding that takes the limits and blasts right through them, and I love the blending of fantasy and science-fiction to create something new, different and utterly engaging. We’ve already seen some of the breadth and depth of this world, but it’s taken to a whole other level in this book, and I was swept away by it all from start to finish and left wanting more at the end. This is where epic, dark fantasy and space opera meet, and this is evident in the scale and variety of the settings, and Jordan Loyal Short breathes life into the world through his descriptions, until it feels as though you are there, surrounded by the sights, sounds and smells, whether in city streets or onboard a spacecraft.
I also really want to see a voidlurk.
This one takes a little longer to get going than the first book, but once it does, it is just as relentless and consuming as the first book was. Split into multiple storylines, the author does an excellent job of balancing the story between the three main characters who are all following different paths and facing different situations and challenges. It was fantastic to return to characters we knew and to meet new ones, and the characterisation was complex and on point, and it really felt as though we were experiencing the characters’ growth right alongside them throughout the course of the story. I was torn between Brohr and Henrick as my favourites in the first book, and in The Weeping Sigil, I feel that Henrick has just crept slightly ahead because I loved the intrigue of his storyline, the twists and turns that added another dimension to the story. However, Lyssa and Brohr were just as engaging as characters to follow, and they all had their own moments to shine throughout the book.
This was another great instalment in the Dreadbound Ode series, and it took everything that I had loved from The Skald’s Black Verse and lifted it to a whole other level, and I for one can’t wait to see what Jordan Loyal Short will do next. This is a fantastic book, great for anyone who enjoys a delectable mix of fantasy and science fiction, with a good dash of grimdark.