Learn more about Rahcel Aaron by visiting her website.
Read more about The Spirit Thief on the Orbit website.
As I said the first time, I normally don’t review books. But, having reviewed the first book in this series, The Spirit Thief, I figured why not review the second? So, here’s my review of The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron. And, to pack even more goodness in, I’ll use it as an example of good series structure.
There may be minor spoilers for the first book, but hopefully none for the second.
Book Two of the Legend of Eli Monpress starts out Miranda Lyonette returning to the Spiritualist Court to face charges of improper acquisition of a spirit and conspiracy with our anti-hero Eli. Eli is of course looking for a way to replace Nico’s dampening coat to hide her presence from the spirits.
Both of these opening conflicts have fairly high levels of tension and are built strongly on the foundations laid in the first book. While the main plotline of Spirit Thief was clearly resolved, it has lead to some very good opening subplots for Spirit Rebellion. And while these subplots are based on the first book and follow cleanly from the events surrounding that book’s climax, they do not undo what has occurred, nor make it irrelevant. Thus, the previous book could have served equally well as a standalone novel, and so can the second.
Now, I like long interconnected epic fantasy as much as anyone, but a good fantasy series does not require video-game style stakes elevation, and I personally prefer when it doesn’t. if you don’t agree, the rest of the post will still be interesting and relevant, but ymmv.
So, we’ve established that each book has its own personal conflicts but that the second book builds on the first. I’ll also note that the main plot of the second book is very similar to the first. It is first and foremost a caper, in which Eli runs around stealing fantastic things from their less than fantastic owners.
That said, the series is not episodic, as many urban fantasy series tend to be. The two main plots still rely on one another. In fact, the main event of the first novel is key to solving the conflict of the second. While avoiding the common fantasy trope of “plot coupons”, where the character runs around exchanging one valuable artifact for another, Aaron manages to incorporate previous material into the solution of the present conflict. And all this is accomplished while widening the readers understanding of setting and character.
We’ll start with the first. In Spirit Rebellion, we learn a lot more of the functioning of the spirit world and the Spirit Court. Both have their important figures and inconvenient politics. The politics of the Court are an obstacle to Miranda, while the politics of the spirit realm serve to frustrate Eli’s attempts to steal the thing which will absolve him of a rather large debt to a rather dangerous person.
What really makes these believable conflicts is that they cannot be easily solved with the skills and powers that got the characters through the last story. Eli finds out that all the charisma in the world won’t help when no one will talk to you. And of course, Miranda’s strong belief in the difference between right and wrong gets her in a great deal of trouble. There’s no black and white in politics.
We also learn a great deal more about Nico’s part of the story. There are several hints and clues as to the nature of demonseeds and how they grant their hosts their powers, as well as some revelations into their true nature and their relationship to the spirit realm. Fascinating stuff, but I won’t be going into it here. You’ll just have to read the book.
As for Josef, I learned that even publishers get confused by names, unless there’s an identical twin named “Joseph” somewhere that we have yet to meet. Anyway, while we get basically zilch in terms of character backstory, there some lovely character-building scenes and a lecture from my newest favorite talking sword that do a good job of making him more than just Nico’s bodyguard.
Finally, there are relatively few minor characters cluttering up the pages, but those that are there are well-portrayed within their limits and move the plot along without being obvious plot-bots.
Okay, now for the bad part. I’ve seen this mentioned in other reviews, most notably the one of the Spirit Thief over at booksmugglers, so I know it’s not just me. While the books are fun and the plots competently constructed, the main characters tend to be a bit flat. They’re fairly archetypal, I suppose you could say. Eli is the charming rogue, Miranda the feisty female mage, Josef the stolid swordsman, and the Nico the quiet girl with a mysterious past and incredible powrs. I like to compare Eli to David Eddings’ Althalus, and Miranda reminds me of Jordan’s Morianne, or possibly Siuan Sanche. I could make many more comparisons, but this is fantasy, so I’m sure everyone has some character they find a bit similar to every other. The point is, while there are three books left in the series, a little bit more info wouldn’t have hurt.
And now for the MCs. Miranda is not so bad. Things tend to go in her favor, but she’s a fantasy heroine, so it’s neither surprising nor especially damaging to the plot. But, Eli is another story. While he’s certainly powerful on his own, he would never have gotten so far without the backing of a powerful patron. As Mellinor remarks in the climax of the Spirit Thief, how could any spirit be allowed to bring Eli to harm? This backing has many positive and almost no negative effects on Eli. While it’s impressive of him to refuse direct help in tight situations—it’s typical of Marty Stus in that he doesn’t really seem to need it. It’s an empty refusal. He doesn’t lose anything precious that could have been saved, and he gets to keep his pride.
Of course, I appreciate the unique approach to making Eli special. Using a third and difficult method of encouraging the help of the spirits. But he seems to do little enough of it after the first book, preferring to rely upon his inner “light” to do the trick. Unlike the rest of the magic, this part seems little integrated into the story.
Overall, I liked the second book. It’s a good build-up and there has been some writing improvement. It’s not my favorite style of fantasy, being a lighter, more humorous take on the genre, but good writing and a good story make it one of the nicer additions to the new fantasy canon. I am looking forward to the rest of this series.