The Weavers’ grip on Saramyr’s rulers has grown ever more powerful, and all the while, the blight they have brought grows harsher. The land is slipping into civil war. In the mounting chaos, Kaiku and the orphaned heir-Empress must fight for their destiny and their survival, as Saramyr succumbs to the twisting of the Weave and the unknowable ambitions of the secretive Weavers.

Second book in the trilogy. I read the first book about 5 years ago and enjoyed it enough to keep an eye out for the other two books in the series (I generally avoid multi-book stories).

This is *almost* standalone, in that it's enjoyable to read having forgotten much of what happened in the previous book. It is however, not completely standalone, with relationships and groups established in the first book, that dont get explained again in this second book.

e.g. Who are The Red Order again and why are they trying to keep so hidden? That's not necessarily a fault of the book, more of the reader and the gap between books.

Meanwhile, different groups of rebels are split across the country (sorry, but a map is no good, when half the places mentioned in the story are not on it), making new friends and gathering intelligence against the Weavers. People driven to madness, Weavers are already mad and shown to be more than perverse, people are attracted to the Weave and try not to succumb. Overall an enjoyable book, and I must not wait so long to read the final book

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