The Blood of the Hoopoe - Naomi Foyle

The Blood of the Hoopoe is the third volume in Naomi Foyle's Gaian Chronicles. The series combines Gaia theory, Middle Eastern culture, and a post-apocalyptic future in unexpected ways. I got the first book in a giveaway a couple of years ago and decided to stick with the series. Although these books might not be everybody's cup of tea,  I enjoyed reading the previous two volumes a lot. This third volume picks up right after the end of Rook Song. While this third volume is an enjoyable read, I did feel that it lacked a strong story arc of its own. If this series was a trilogy I'd say it suffered from middle book syndrome.

Astra is striking out on her own again. Together with Muzi she is heading into the desert in search of her father. She is still uncomfortable with the role of prophesied unifier that has been cast upon her. This journey may help her find a direction. She leaves behind the Is-Land/Non-Land border in turmoil. The violence has claimed many lives and the situation is rapidly deteriorating towards all out war. With the Sec Gens, Is-Land is well defended, but their defences may well be stretched if more Non-Landers join the opposition. What's more, the leadership of the Sec Gens is beginning to show a worrying disregard of human lives. The rot within is perhaps an even bigger threat than the external enemy.

We get to see quite a bit more of the world than Is-Land and its borders in this novel. Astra takes us further into the polluted wasteland that lies beyond the paradise she grew up in. It is a place littered with the remains of crimes against Gaia and the evidence of the foolish wars fought in the region. It gives Astra new insights into the world and its history, some of which the Gaian elders did not think needed to be included in her education. The place she travels through is a fascinating mix of truly ancient references and more modern history and mythology. It ranges from references to ancient Sumer and Akkadia to early Arabic writing and then on to a lengthy passage containing an account of the ongoing civil war in Syria (including a very unflattering depiction of Bashar al-Assad) turned into something that is part history, part legend. I'm pretty sure I missed half of it.

Part of experiencing life beyond Is-Land is Astra's collision with patriarchal societies. Her upbringing included a level of sexual freedom and gender equality that is unprecedented in the world beyond Is-Land. When she falls in love with Muzi, a complicated relationship fraught with cultural clashes, miscommunication and arguments evolves. They are almost completely on opposite sides of the issue. To Astra sex and marriage are not linked, while Muzi feels he must marry her and gets frustrated when she doesn't agree to a permanent arrangement. Quite a few of the characters in the novel have more pragmatic opinions on the issue but Astra and Muzi are young and sure of how the world is supposed to work. There is something endearing about the whole affair but sometimes you just want to tell them to stop being idiots too.

The novel follows events closer to Is-Land as well. Partly through the eyes of Peat, the Is-Land Sec Gen and Astra's brother. He spirals deeper in the corrupt mess that is Is-Land's border guard. His leader is a man with a distinct sadistic personality and a complete disregard for human life. His ideas on what is acceptable if he can (genetically or psychologically) manipulate the subject into consent is sickening and some of it is quite explicitly described. Through Peat's eyes we see the image of an ecologically sound but morally corrupt state. Astra will have her work cut out for her trying to fix that mess.

Foyle also shows us the conflict from the site of Youth Action Collective, the main organization fighting with the Sec Gens. Their internal conflicts and the impact the huge loss of life has on their community is described in some detail. Military they are clearly inferior so they look for other ways to gain the upper hand. It's a good view into the mind of people desperate enough to fight impossible odds. While such a fight is not exactly rare in genre fiction, the way Foyle links this struggle with cultural expression and identity is very interesting. The movement goes well beyond resistance. It is a political part, art collective, provides community service and so forth. It reminded me a bit of how the Palestinian Hamas movement is organized, sans the religious extremism.

Each of these three strands of the story is pushed forward but with the exception of some of the more personal aspects of Astra's journey, none of them reach any kind of conclusion. While Astra's trip has shown us many interesting things, it is clear that the real resolution of the control conflict in the novel is to be found in Is-Land. Which is where I suspect we'll be going in the fourth volume of the series. In terms of structure it is probably not the strongest book in the series. It does continue the parallels with the current conflicts in the Middle East, as well as the region's history and culture. The Gaia theory inspired politics are slightly less prominent in the book but still very noticeable. It's a combination that continues to attract me. It will be interesting to see how Astra will juggle the competing demands on her time and attention in the next novel.

Book Details
Title: The Blood of the Hoopoe
Author: Naomi Foyle
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Pages: 320
Year: 2016
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-78206-922-5
First published: 2016

Rook Song - Naomi Foyle

In my review of the first novel in Naomi Foyle's post-apocalyptic Gaia Chronicles, Astra (2014), I said I would keep an eye out for the sequel. I did but it ended up on the mighty to read stack so I'm a little late reviewing this. The novel appeared in February.  I thought the first novel had some pacing issues but that it was conceptually very interesting. In this second volume Foyle continues to develop these concepts, showing us the other side of the conflict outlined in Astra. Rook Song is in many ways quite different from the previous novel but certainly no less interesting.

Seventeen-year-old Astra has been evicted from Is-Land after receiving a devastating neuro-therapy aimed to remove certain potentially dangerous bits of knowledge from her mind. She is taken in by CONC, the organisation that provides humanitarian aid to the people living in the Southern Belt, a toxic wasteland on the doorstep of Is-Land. Astra finds herself alone in a community torn by conflict, surrounded by people with unknown agendas. Not knowing what else to do, she starts the search for her biological father, who was evicted from Is-Land so long ago that she doesn't remember him. With very little to go on and few people she can trust, the search turns out to be even more dangerous than Astra expected.

This books is probably a Sad Puppy's worst nightmare. In the previous novel we already encountered a society based on ecological principles, where family structures are very different from the traditional family and where the gay/straight dichotomy is practically meaningless. In this book, Foyle elaborates on the conflict between Is-Land and the outside world, which shows distinct parallels with the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is not particularly positive about the Israeli analogue either. The book is also full of dark skinned people, depicts disabled people and people whose gender identity is not clearly male or female. It is, in other words, an unapologetically and thoroughly progressive novel.

Foyle introduced a lot of very specific vocabulary to describe Is-Land society. Words like code-father, shelter-mother, Gaia garden and many more. In this new setting the mix becomes even richer. Astra is exposed to a multicultural society, where a variety of languages are spoken and where one of the political movements prefers to express itself in free-style rap. Foyle plays  with the intricacies of translations, the difficulties of communicating with someone in a language neither of the parties speaks fluently, and with the use of personal and possessive pronouns to refer to a character whose gender is ambiguous. All of that makes for a very interesting mix. The language in this novel is one aspect of it I very much enjoyed.

Almost the entire novel is set in the southern belt which appears to be modeled on the Gaza strip. As a result of the conflict that ended the world as we know it, the area is toxic, unsuitable for agriculture and chronically short of drinkable water. Chronic disease and genetic defects are common, and proper medical care scarce. Although the place is absolutely uninhabitable, many of the people living there are staying in the hopes of regaining the property they lost in the creation of Is-land. To keep them out, Is-land has raised some formidable defenses and is ready to upgrade them once more.

Internally the Belt is divided too. The N-LA feels it is the political representative of the people and has in recent years kept a fragile armistice alive with IMBOD (Is-Land border guard). In recent years a more radical faction has arisen however. Fed up  by the status quo and inspired by religion, they lash out at the three parties and soon the belt is on the edge of war. It is all there really, the impossibility of creating a state out of the strips of land left to the Palestinians by Israel, the lack of an economic and ecological basis for such a state, Israel's controversial security wall, the conflict between Fatah/PLO and Hamas and the UN's marginally effective programs in the region. Foyle raises the stakes a bit by adding genetic manipulation and severe environmental degradation to the mix but the inspiration for this conflict is unmistakable.

Astra, who has had her doubts about the indoctrination she received in Is-Land, is still not prepared for the political currents she has to navigate. She spends most of the novel figuring out how the world outside Is-Land works and functions as our guide in the process. Rook Song is a departure from the single point of view narrative we encountered in Astra. Foyle uses quite a few in this novel, showing us what goes on in the different layers of society in the Belt as well as how the Second Generation border guards Astra was supposed to be part of are fairing. As a result, it is less introspective and a bit faster paced. Although the majority of the chapters are still focused on Astra, the shifts to other points of view help build the tension in the story. Peat's point of view in particular is very disturbing.

The gap between Astra and the Sec Gens (as they are called in Is-Land) is widening. Where Astra remains human, and gradually gains a deeper understanding of the world, Peat is dragged down ever deeper into the indoctrination of IMBOD. The booster shot that Astra avoided makes them more susceptible to this type of control but also enhances them physically. Peat is slowly changing from a boy into a super soldier and then descending into animalistic behaviour that would shock even the Is-Land population if they knew about it. The spiral of radicalisation on both sides is frighteningly realistic even with the speculative elements Foyle adds to this part of the story. If I were to venture a guess I would say retrieving Peat's humanity will be one of the topics for the third volume.

Despite being almost a hundred pages longer, Rook Song felt like a much faster read than Astra. Where the first book aimed for a rising sense of unease with the flawed utopia that is Is-Land, in this novel we meet the problems of the world head on. It makes for a faster paced novel that nevertheless finds space for a whole range of social issues. Astra has to learn fast to keep up with the changes in her life. It is mostly a matter of taste, Foyle aims for very different effects with these novels, but I think the second book is stronger than the first one. By the end of the second novel Astra is taking her life into her own hands leaving plenty of possibilities for an even stronger third volume. I have not seen a title or publication date yet but it is already on my to read list.

Book Details
Title: Rook Song
Author: Naomi Foyle
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Pages: 474
Year: 2015
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-78206-919-5
First published: 2015

Redemption in Indigo - Karen Lord

I picked up Karen Lord' second novel The Best of All Possible Worlds (2013)  last year as part of a reading challenge. It was one of the more interesting books I've read for the challenged so Lord ended up on the list of authors I want to read more of. Earlier this year I decided to get a copy of her debut novel Redemption in Indigo. It's one of those books that have gotten quite a bit of attention recently but I hadn't gotten around to reading. Redemption in Indigo was first published in 2010 by Small Beer Press. I have a newer UK edition however, published by Jo Fletcher Books in 2012. Redemption in Indigo won a number of awards, including the Mythopoeic award in 2011. It's quite different from The Best of All Possible Worlds, these two novels show a versatility that that many writers would be jealous of.

The novel tells the story of Paama, a woman who, fed up with her husband's gluttony, has fled back to her family and refuses to return to him. Her husband is not about to let that happen however. He sets out after her and succeeds in making a complete fool of himself. Paama is obviously not going to change her mind but then something happens that will make her see the world in a different light. The undying  ones, or djombi, present her with a gift. A dangerous gift as Paama soon finds out.

I understand that Redemption in Indigo is partly based on a folk tale from Senegal known as Ansige Karamba the Glutton. I had of course never heard of it so I did a few searches to see if there happened to be an English version online. Such stories tend to exist in many variations but it would have been interesting to find one. I came up with nothing however. Maybe I would have had better luck finding a French. Unfortunately I can only count to ten and order coffee in French so it would have been as useless to me as one in say Wolof or Pular. It's quite possibly that there simply is no version out there. It sounds like the kind of story that needs to be listened to rather than read. If anybody does knows where I could find a version please let me know.

Like Asingne's story, Redemption in Indigo is presented as a tale that needs to be listened to. The reader gets told the story by a skilled storyteller, one is not afraid to move back and forth on the time line and cast doubt on the truthfulness of what he is telling the audience. In fact, he struck me as being quite opinionated. He means to entertain. There are all sorts of hints of other tales in the story that he then abandons in favour of Paama's tale. They serve to raise curiosity in his audience. It must have been pretty hard to keep this style going for the entire novel but in some chapters you really feel as if you're around some fire with a group of people completely immersed in the storyteller's tale. The narrator's voice is not that strongly present in the entire novel, some sections read more like a regular third person perspective.

In the early stages of the novel, it is something of a comedy. Asingne's antics are hilarious at times and even the trouble he puts Paama in, is not enough to make me stop grinning. Despite leaving him, she does try to protect him from too much embarrassment. There's more than a bit of tragedy here as well. Her husband seems to think he is entitled to the attention Paama pays to him and the lengths she goes to to provide him with the comforts he desires. His ways will eventually get him what he deserves in a way but Paama's attention is also more than he deserves.

Later on in the novel the tone gets much more serious. Paama is drawn into a conflict between djombi and their power is such, that their games are very dangerous to mere mortals. One of the djombi wants Paama to hand over her gift to him, a gift he feels was his power to begin with. In his attempt to get Paama to hand it over he shows her things about the world that change her outlook on life. But she is not without her influence either. His view of humanity is, which he held in very low regard until meeting Paama, changes profoundly. As Asingne should already have figured out, she is quite a special woman.

Redemption in Indigo is an unusual book in many respects. There is the way the story is told, with a very present narrator and a myriad of side plots that seem to go nowhere but are somehow essential to the novel. There is the elusive strong female main character that the fantasy genre is trying so hard to find. There is African inspired setting and mythological influences that you only rarely find in English language literature. All of this and more Lord manages to put into a relatively short novel. The book is so many things that don't usually come up when people think fantasy that is should really open the reader's eyes about what is possible in fantastical literature. It is quite simply a great read. For anybody who wants more out of the genre than your typical Tolkienesque epic fantasy, this novel is a must read.

Book Details
Title: Redemption in Indigo
Author: Karen Lord
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Pages: 280
Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-78087-308-4
First published: 2010

Astra - Naomi Foyle

A couple of weeks ago I won a copy of this novel over at Worlds Without End. The nice things about book giveaways is that you tend to take a chance more easily on books that you wouldn't have purchased or the release of which you most likely wouldn't have noticed. This is one such book. Although the premise appealed to me I probably would have missed it without the giveaway. Foyle is a relatively new name in genre fiction. As far as I have been able to determine, this is her second published novel after Seoul Survivors (2013). Astra is the first novel in the Gaia Chronicles and it doesn't appear to be related to Seoul Survivors. It set in a post apocalyptic world, with a generous helping of genetic engineering and social experiments mixed in. The premise and style of the novel are very interesting but I must admit that at times, the book tried my patience.

Growing up in Is-Land, seven year old Astra's greatest wish is to do service in IMBOD, the agency that defends Is-Land's borders against intruders an terrorists. To do that she needs her Security Shot, a serum that will  make her more receptive to the training she will have to follow, more resistant to doubt and closer to the children she grows up with. One of her shelter mothers, Dr. Hokma Blesser, disagrees with Is-Land's policies in this regards and fears that it will take away something of Astra's intelligence and curiosity. The excel in science, she needs these qualities in tact. She offers Astra a choice to conspire to refuse the mandatory shot. Reluctantly Astra accepts.

The entire story is told from Astra's perspective and revolves around the unfair choice she has been offered. The novel is divided into three parts. The first is set when Astra is seven years old, the second part shows us a twelve year old Astra and in the final part she is a girl of sixteen. Astra's upbringing is very sheltered in a way, she lives in a small and somewhat isolated community, allowing Foyle to slowly introduce elements of the nation of Is-Land and the wider world. On the surface, the community Astra grows up in appears idyllic but it is obvious from the start that all is not well in Is-Land. The feeling that things are being hidden from the children is present from the very first pages of the book and finding out what, is what keeps the tension up in this novel. There are things that will make the reader feel unease throughout the book.

Their religion, or perhaps I should say philosophy, revolves around respect for the planet. Killing an animal, no matter how insignificant is an almost impossible act in Astra's seven year old mind. It's a crime, something that hurts Gaia. At the same time, radically altering crops, animals and even humans is everyday practice in the community. Many weaknesses in the human genetic code have been fixed and radically altered versions of animals that went extinct before the crises humanity barely survived are being introduced. On top of all that, the Gaians are now raising a new generation of humans with the aid of the serum. An experiment they believe will safeguard their nation for generations to come. There is something fundamentally contradictory in those two approaches. There is a kind of respect for the natural world, life is sacred, but at the same time it is manipulated to an unprecedented extent to suit human needs.

Foyle cleverly used a number of unreliable sources to lay out the history of her world. From what little we get to see about what befell the planet, a large conflict, partially caused by oil and food shortages, ended the world as we know it. Gaian communities were already in existence then, combining a reverence for the planet with advanced knowledge of genetics, they tried to forge a new way of living independent of fossil fuels. According to official Gaian history, their communities suffered terribly during the conflict but in a post apocalyptic world, their genetic resources prove invaluable. So much so, that they've been able to found their own nation, protected by a treaty with the outside world. This sanitized version of history hides a lot of ugliness and power politics. Their knowledge gives the Gaians and edge they exploit to enable to build a community based on their principles. It is not until the twelve year old Astra meets a dissident that she starts to seriously doubt the stories she's been fed all her life.

It's doubt that plagues Astra throughout the novel. Where the serum makes her playmates more susceptible to the stories they are told, more ready to conform and accept, Astra questions. As Hokma feared, the serum changes children in ways that may lead to the creation of good border guards, they loose something in the process as well. Astra is constantly forced to try an suppress her natural curiosity. As she grows up, the gap between her and the other children widens but interesting enough it's her relationship with the adults that suffers. The strain that hiding her secret puts on Astra intensifies as the demands being made on her grow. Gaian education is thorough and all-encompassing, it has little patience with those who question the tenets of Gaian society. The conflict between her curiosity and her desire to fit in  is central to Astra's development and it makes her a fascinating character.

Foyle puts a lot in this novel but it is still not a book for impatient readers. I think the book dragged, especially in the middle section. The section dealing with the twelve year old Astra deals for a large part with the structure of Gaian society on all levels. Their family structure is complex and beyond anything that existed before the conflict that ended our way of life. Sexuality plays a large part in that. Although something that could be considered a marriage exists and some taboos remain, individuals enjoy a much larger sexual freedom from puberty onwards, than would be considered acceptable in just about any culture in our world. With Astra's own sexual maturity approaching, quite a lot of her time and energy is devoted to the subject. There is an elaborate rite of passage being described that appears to be only loosely connected to the central conflict in the novel. Foyle's description of the Gaian look on sexuality, bonding and family is interesting but I couldn't help but feel she overexpanded that bit of worldbuiling.

What I felt Astra has going for it, is the way Foyle handles what to reveal to the reader and how. The limited perception of the young Astra and the numerous unreliable tales spread throughout the novel make the reader feel uneasy about the true nature of Gaian society but also prevented me from jumping to conclusions. I don't think the pacing of the novel is perfect, Foyle does tend to elaborate on some aspects of the community Astra lives in, but the tension present in the mail character is very well built up. The climax of the novel left me curious about which challenges Astra would be facing next. I probably would have missed the release of this book without the giveaway but I'm going to be keeping an eye out for volume two.

Book Details
Title: Astra
Author: Naomi Foyle
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Pages: 379
Year: 2014
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-78087-634-4
First published: 2014

Gemsigns - Stephanie Saulter

I was lucky enough to win a copy of Gemsigns by Jamaican born author Stephanie Saulter in a recent giveaway over at Worlds Without End. I'd never hear of the author before, which in hindsight is not that surprising as Gemsigns is a debut novel. It is the first novel in the ®Evolution series, the second book in the series, Binary, is expected sometime in 2014. I understand Saulter has a book deal for three volumes but I'm not sure if she intends to take it beyond that.  Since I'm still a few books short for the Women of Genre Fiction reading challenge I decided to read this novel right after I got it. I found it to be a book with a lot of potential but I'm not sure Saulter has made the most of that.

Humanity has survived a crisis that nearly lead to the extinction of the species. The Syndrome, as it is being referred to by the survivors, wiped out a whole generation of young people, drastically reducing the world's population. In order to survive, extensive research has been done in genetic engineering. Several companies have created a host of genetically modified humans with a vast range of capabilities beyond what was possible before the crisis. These Gems have been the property of the companies that created them until recently. After a series of scandals that exposed the atrocious conditions the Gems were being kept in, the world has come to realize it must come to terms with its creation. A conference has been organized to decide on what the future relationship between Gems and Norms will be and Eli Walker is the man unfortunate enough to provide a scientific underpinning for the decision to be reached.

Saulter describes the events in the week leading up to the conference, when several parties try to influence the outcome. They don't shy away from any means to prevent an outcome that would give Gems more rights that they already have in the legal limbo they find themselves in. The short time span in which the characters chase their goals make it a very fast paced novel. The characters rarely have time to reflect on things as reality often turns out to be a step ahead of even the most well laid plan. Unfortunately the speed with which the plot moves goes at the expense of the depth of the story in some places.

There is a lot of potential for conflict in this novel. I guess you could say Saulter focuses on two main sources. The first has to do with corporate greed. The Gems are created to do dangerous and specialized work. They are designed with a specific task in mind and what their modification does to their health or well-being is considered completely irrelevant as long as the remain functional. This attitude has lead to a great number of abuses, failed experiments and tragically crippled creatures the companies would rather have the world forget. There is an obvious parallel her to slavery here, a legacy someone form Jamaica must be very aware of. A less obvious connection with current affairs in the world the the recent ruling of the US supreme court in the matter of patenting genetic material. An idea so scary in its implications that it is beyond me how any reasonably educated human being could support it.

Although the corporations would like to see control of Gems handed back to them, such a to slavery seems out of the question. There is a political current active that tries to minimize the damage to corporations and advocates a kind of special status for the Gems. They would be allowed to live their lives and find employment where they wish as long as they are registered and can be closely monitored. Fear of their unique abilities makes this solution attractive to some. To the reader it is probably akin to to sewing a yellow badge on your coat. In fact, the corporations have already gone so far as to build a gemsign into their models. Once again a historical parallel is clear. Even the reproductive rights of Gems are a matter of debate, it is quite obvious where this path would lead.

The second focal point for conflict is religious. It's not entirely clear to me how the church developed during the years of the crisis and beyond but it appears to be an organization that still adheres to some of the core values of Christianity. There certainly are plenty of Christian symbols present in the novel. Most of the church rally to the cause of the Gems, providing assistance to many of them. A minority seems them as abominations, creations of wicked men rather than God. They are a disgrace that must be wiped of the planet in the name of the Lord, of at the very least locked away. This kind of fanaticism predictability leads to violent confrontations, which in turn are encouraged by those who would see the Gems locked away. The Gems are walking on eggshells. On the one hand vulnerable, yet aching to strike out. The mood in the part of London where many of them have found a home is tense. It is one of the better aspects of the novel.

Public relations are a very important part of the struggle. All factions involved they to appear reasonable, while on the other hand trying to make their opponents look bad. The fighting in the media is almost as fierce as what goes on on the streets of London. The way the media are used in this battle by all parties involved is fascinating to read. The standard of reporting doesn't seem to have improved much in the years since the crisis. Reporting is rarely nuanced and often extremely biased. It nevertheless remains a great tool to direct public opinion.

What I think this novel lacks is a measure of subtlety. Once the history of the Syndrome and the events that followed are laid out to the reader in the rather infodumpish fifth chapter, the eventual conclusion Walker arrives at is inescapable. There are so many obvious paths to disaster, illustrated by some of the blackest pages in human history that the only way out is forward.  Those who oppose equal rights for Gems are trying to put the genie back into the bottle. They may be able to do a lot of damage on the way out but their fight is doomed from the start. Just from an ethical point of view, Eli's conclusions are clear from early on in the novel. Despite Saulter's attempt to build suspense.

What doesn't help is that the lack of subtlety isn't limited the core concepts of the novel. Most of the main characters suffer from it too. The corporate evil genius Zavcka Klist for instance, as seen through the eyes of Eli, is manipulative, considers lying and illegally withholding information perfectly acceptable and doesn't give a damn about the lives of Gems or her opponents. She gives you the creeps from the very moment we meet her. At that point it isn't clear what she is up to, but she clearly is the the bad guy in the novel. Her main enemy is Gem community leader Aryel Morningstar, whom Eli is clearly enamored with. She is bright, willing to do whatever it takes to keep her community from harm and displays a kind of openness that borders on the unbelievable for someone who is essentially a politician. Not that she doesn't have a few secrets but I assume that is material for the next books. Caught between these two opposites, which way do you think our honest to his science Eli would move?

Gemsings is a novel of few surprises. I would have liked to seem some more grey in the characters and find out what they would do if the right choice was not quite so obvious. There are plenty of opportunities to do just that in the second novel, which will no doubt deal with the fall out of the conference and the events leading up to it. That being said, the novel is a entertaining. It has that kind of readability that keeps you up later than you should to read one more chapter. It's a book you can immerse yourself in completely. In short, I have mixed feelings about it. I see room for improvement but that is not the worst thing you can say of a debut novel. I also see potential. I'm considering reading the second book.

Book Details
Title: Gemsigns
Author: Stephanie Saulter
Publisher: Jo Fletcher Books
Pages: 389
Year: 2013
Language: English
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-78087-865-2
First published: 2013