So it has been a while since I reviewed a book. It has been a while since I have read a book. So, here I am with a very short book review.
Silver Mirrors is A. A. Aguirre’s sequel to Bronze Gods. It is described as a steampunk noir by the author. While I don’t get the noir part, it is clearly steampunk set in a magical world.
The land of Hy Breasil is a series of Islands; including the Summer and Winter Isles. There are allusions to some distant land, the original source of Humans in Hy Breasil. The original peoples were the Ferishers who had magical abilities. With mention of the Iron War and a great barrier separating the islands from elsewhere, it seems to me these books are set in a parallel world; the mysterious Fey land often mentioned in British mythology.
Janus Mikani and Celeste Ritsuko are two members of the Criminal Investigation Division of the Dorstaad police. In Bronze Gods they stop a conspiracy to tear down the veil separating the islands from elsewhere. Silver Mirrors follows directly after those events and looks at some of the consequences.
Book cover – image from the internet.
I liked the way the book did not spend one chapter summarizing the first book in the series. It doled out the information in bits and pieces throughout the novel and provided just enough mention of Bronze Gods to remind me of the key points (even though I had forgotten most of the plot).
My biggest complaint with the story was the lack of investigation. It seemed a bit of a stretch to send two CID from the capital city of Dorstaad to the distant Winter Islands to figure out why weird things are happening (weird things including: screaming mirrors and wailing trains). That aside, the two leads are moved from one location to the next in sequence. Things happen. Information is fed to them, but there is no real sense of mystery or investigation. It never felt they were in charge of their actions. It very much felt like they when from one place to the next because that was what had to happen for the plot to progress.
Over all, the book was fine. It will not make my top ten list (still working on that one), but it is not terrible either. I will happily read the next in the series – something I am guessing will happen.