The Other Lands (Acacia, Book 2) (edição: 2009)

Thankfully, I was primed to dive into this book, unlike book 1, where I had to try 3 times to get into it.

Lots of action, intrigue, politics and magic. Ends with several world changing events on the horizon. ( )

This review originally appeared at RevolutionSF.com:

If you look back at my review of Acacia: The War With the Mein, you'll find that I was reluctant to pick up something I knew was an unfinished trilogy. I ended up enjoying the book immensely, but I knew that book 2, when it came, would come with a built-in problem.

While book one of a trilogy can usually stand on its own, book two is doomed to be incomplete. Certainly characters are deepened and plot points are expanded, but it's all in service to setting up the endgame to come in book three. It's not that this set-up can't be enjoyable, it's just that the reader will be left dangling amongst the various plot-threads, waiting to see how it all comes out, a situation which is particularly frustrating if the story is good.

And make no mistake, The Other Lands is good. Durham builds on all the good points from Acacia: the world-building skill, the finely-drawn characters, the level of detail, and the solid pacing. His world is a lush mix of political intrigue, anthropology, mythology, and sorcery, and it's a pleasure to spend time there, even in the company of some very unpleasant people. There are villains aplenty here, and cultures beyond our understanding, but nothing simplistic. There are no easy answers to be found here, no hero without a touch of darkness, and no villain without reason for his or her actions.

The remaining Akarans, reunited at the end of book one, each struggle to come to terms with a victory that doesn't feel very much like a victory after the of their brother, Aliver. They are each also struggling with finding a balance between their responsibilities to the kingdom with those to their families. Having grown up apart and in such different cultures from one another, they find themselves unsure within their newly-reunited family, struggling to understand the motivations of people now so very different than those they remember. Though they each have the same goal of a kingdom at peace, they differ significantly in how they think that should be achieved.

The various pieces are being moved into place for what looks like a truly epic endgame, with Acacia facing seemingly impossible threats both from without and within. Given the amount of care and thought that has gone onto the story so far, I have no doubt that I will enjoy the trip wherever David Anthony Durham decides to take us.
( )

It gets better the further you go, but the story takes a while. Durham picks up like the names and events might be as familiar as if the reader finished reading the first book the day before, and he gives no quarter to the fact that his readers might need a refresher on the story and characters. That said, the world he's developing is creative, credible, tragic, and enjoyable which of course, ever good plot needs. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2013/07/review-of-other-lands-by-david-anthony.... ( )

This was my second reading. When I read a book the first time, I'm usually busy rushing through to find out what happens. The second time I read a book, I'm able to really appreciate the details of the narrative. One of the marks of a great book is if I still have plot anxiety in a second reading. For example, if I know something bad will happen to a beloved character and I hope with every page that the outcome will be different from what I know it to be, that is a great book. This is a great book. Durham's characters are all unique and well crafted. He does a great job of writing women. I also very much enjoy the multiple POV narrative that I first found in George RR Martin's books.

I only have one issue and one warning.

First, the warning: This is a transition book. It's the second in a trilogy and you really need to read the first - Acacia - before reading this book. Awesome stuff happens in this book, making it a narrative that holds its own. However, The Other Lands builds on Acacia. It does not stand alone. A lot of transition books can be boring - they're a lot of moving the characters from point A to point B so they're in their proper places for the finale. There is some of that in The Other Lands (which I will get to in a second) but as far as middle trilogy books go, this one was amazing.

Second, the issue: The passages that focus on Dariel and his time in the Other Lands felt bogged down - like a truck stuck in snow, spinning its wheels. Between Dariel's and Rialus' chapters, there was a lot of info dumping. The info was fascinating, and Durham is good at weaving the info into the narrative, but not much happens. Certain plot points leave not only readers, but characters within the book clueless (the fate of the Lothan Aklun). While I understand Durham's narrative trajectory with the Lothun Aklun and the Auldek, I was disappointed with not getting know an entire race of people. I think Dariel and Rialus will come into play in force in The Sacred Band - the last book in the trilogy.

That being said, I'm going to go read The Sacred Band now. That is, after my library shift is over. ( )