As someone who truly enjoyed book one: Soleri, book two: Silence of the Soleri, also by Michael Johnston, has been quite the disappointment, especially after a three-and-a-half-year wait (which feels astronomical nowadays in the publishing world). To be completely honest, in book one, I had fallen in love with the characters and their interconnected characterizations and stellar personalities that all seemed to be focused on finding revenge; however, book two’s follow-up was completely underwhelming and the subsequent revealings of previous intrigues and secrets sputtered out into the abyss, at least for me. While I developed a bit of a soft spot for Merit Hark-Wadi, even more so than book one, it still was not enough to make up for all of the other failings. If I could have requested anything from Silence of the Soleri, I would have asked that the duology’s original focus on its main characters and its in-depth worldbuilding be honored throughout book two just as much, or even more, than book one. While that did not come to pass, I will still enjoy book one and pretend that the happenings of book two were left to the reader’s imagination instead.

Silence of the Soleri is a great follow up to the first book!
The continuation of world-building is slick and very immersive.
Definitely a book to read if you like high fantasy.

While I did like this, it succeeds mostly based on the qualities of the first book and on a well-envisioned fantasy world. Decent writing, utilitarian prose, rather basic characters.

The first book did a great job asking interesting questions: where are the gods? If they’re gone, why? Who? How? And how does and empire based on divine rights grapple with the idea that those gods no longer

Still a fascinating world but the plot feels flimsy and relies on easy solutions/reveals (like those for Barca mid-way through, and for Mered Saad right at the end

While I did like this, it succeeds mostly based on the qualities of the first book and on a well-envisioned fantasy world. Decent writing, utilitarian prose, rather basic characters.

The first book did a great job asking interesting questions: where are the gods? If they’re gone, why? Who? How? And how does and empire based on divine rights grapple with the idea that those gods no longer intercede?

Unfortunately, Silence of the Soleri doesn’t do as well providing satisfying answers for these questions. Johnston falls back on obvious and simple tropes; any opportunity for real unique history is left unexplored. It’s a disappointed after the potential raised.

Still a fascinating world but the plot feels flimsy and relies on easy solutions/reveals (like those for Barca mid-way through, and for Mered Saad right at the end, etc). ★★½

Great sequel in a not talk about series. The world I great, the characters are fascinating and there is a solid quest to hold it all up together. If you love fantasy this is an author and a series to discover!!

I gave a 2 ½-star rating for Michael Johnston’s Soleri, and was hoping to see some improvement in the sequel, Silence of the Soleri. Unfortunately, the book tipped in the other direction, so much so that I gave up at the halfway point. As usual with DNF reviews, this will be brief.

The problems here were pretty much the same as I noted in my review of book one. Characterization was thin, prose was only adequate, plotting felt scattershot and unbalanced. Several scenes I wasn’t sure of the point. And worse here than in book one was the logistics — multiple times I had no idea how settings related to one another, how many people were involved in scenes, how people were escaping notice, etc., making for an incredibly frustrating read. I started considering giving up about a quarter of the way through, but pushed forward in hopes things would improve, that maybe problems with logistics were singular or that characters would be more fully revealed, but by the halfway point, when things had not gotten any better, I decided that was a fair enough amount to make a judgment. Not recommended.

A long awaited sequel to one of my most surprising read of 2018... I think. Outstanding level of epic adventure. A book, an author, a series, not talk about on the online community. If you love epic fantasy, read Michael Johnston you won't regret it. Start with the first i the series obviously or you will be more than lost, but it will be worth it I promise!