k. eason is so fun. space operas can be hit or miss but the really fun and inventive monsters make the book sing. enjoyed it!

I love that lit-up feeling you get when you're only a few pages into a sequel, but that's all it takes to get super hype about beloved characters. Like, look at them banter! Look at them caring for stray cats! This book did that for me.

Nightwatch Over Windscar has the ambiance and tension of exploring ruins... that you expect are now occupied by mysterious, enemy forces. It has electric fight scenes and action nonstop just like the first in the duology. It's tiring in the sense that I was on constant edge but not in the sense that I wanted to put the book down. Like at all. I'll admit that I missed the detective components from book one, but infiltrating a cult offered plenty of drama to sustain me.

Here's the problem. Spoilers to follow. Proceed at your own risk.

I ship Gaer and Iari forever. My emotional reaction to the end of the book is largely contingent on whether it's the end of the series. Which it is. After all the emotional turbulence, it was an unexpected letdown to reach the end of the action and find no closure to all the unsaid romantic tension of the series -- the main draw for me. At a group level, what with all the teammates Gaer and Iari have sort of adopted, we get pointed in a new direction for what their future might look like, and I enjoyed that. But in terms of Gaer and Iari's bond, whether it's romantic or ultimately just a strong partnership that transcends the others in their lives (fair), we get some nonsense. You don't get to END the book with the main characters being too scared of feelings to have real conversations. That should come earlier! Come on, now! Instead, our protagonists are separated for most of the book (lame), and then they avoid each other, and then they freak out and resolve nothing. Hence why I can't even say for certain the nature of their relationship as they intend it. ~They~ don't even know. And then they ride off into the sunset like bye, you'll never know-- hope the lack of resolution doesn't eat you up from the inside or anything. As you might be able to tell, I am in fact in that "being eaten alive" subset of the population.

Here's the thing, this is a fun book at the end of a unique duology. It's not that I hated it-- it's just that the very thing I loved most about the series was left open-ended. If you can a) handle that or b) show up for other parts of the book beyond the central relationship, you're going to have a grand old time. Thanks to DAW for my copy to read and review!

I was under the impression that this was a standalone book, I had no idea it was a second in series. That led to an awkward start that made me feel like there's too much dumped without being explained. AND THEN I decided to check and saw it was the second book. Went back, read the first book, came back to this one, loved both to bits.

The world built by K. Eason is rich and intriguing, and after discovering it by pure accident, I will say I'm a fan! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free copy of the book.

Stars: 3.5 out of 5.

I liked this one slightly less than the first book. While the story was still engaging, and I was still invested in the characters, I think I grew tired with this author's writing style. Yes, it is nice to be privy to the characters' inner monolog and understand their fears, hopes, and self-doubts. But this book is the case of when too much is too much. This constant inner monolog interferes with the story. 

Let's take the scene in the ruins, for example. There are horrible things happening there. Our characters are literally fighting for their lives against an enemy they had never encountered before, but that particular situation takes up 25% of the book. Why? Because the action is constantly interrupted by Iari's doubting her choices and actions, worrying about Gaer and Corso, swearing, freezing up, working through making a decision in her head before she does it... And then we switch POVs and get the same stuff with Gear or Corso. This kills the momentum of the story. This encounter must have taken less than an hour story time, yet we spent a quarter of the book reading about it.

Because of this constant interruptions, the impact of this battle is lessened, in my opinion. I should be horrified by the One-Eyes and the massacre our team discovers in the ruins. I should be scared for their safety. I should mourn the death of one of the characters. Instead, I experienced a mild irritation that the scenes were dragging with no resolution in sight. 

Unfortunately, this flaw persisted throughout the rest of the book, so it felt like the story was dragging its feet and took forever, even though everything happened in a matter of days. I think the book would have benefited from a good editor who would have advised the author to cut some of the inner monolog out and tighten up the action... and ditch about 200 pages. We would still have gotten the interaction with the characters we grew to love in book 1, but a tighter pace would have created a bigger impact from all the bad and good things that happen in this book. 

That being said, I am still invested in this world and characters. Some of the things revealed at the end of this book raise a lot more questions and make me eager to explore this world further. I will definitely pick up the next book in the series, but I hope the author tightens up their writing a little.

 PS: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Series Info/Source: This is the 2nd book in The Weep series; there are going to be at least 3 books in this series. I got a copy of this as an ebook through Netgalley to review.

Thoughts: Compared to the first book in this series I felt like parts of this were a bit slow and long. I think that was because we switched POV between so many characters and backtracked some when that happened. I still enjoyed the story and characters but parts of the story felt very long.

This story starts with all our characters from the last book sent north to Windscar. Iari has been promoted and her team is sent to a set of ancient ruins near Windscar to explore rumors of dangerous arithmancy and supposed hauntings near these ruins.

I am really loving the characters, world and action in this series. Iari is a wonderful character and I really enjoy both Char and Gaer as well. It's been fascinating to watch these different alien species (and previous enemies) ally together and form steadfast friendships and loyalties to each other. The world building here continues to be fascinating.

This book really focuses on the ancient Kabal culture and a rebellion against the Aedis templars. The storyline about the Aedis nano-biotech being infected, and even possibly gaining sentience, is discussed here as well and that was a fascinating subplot to this book.

There is a lot of action in the story which was well done. I think the only thing that I didn't love about this book was how when we switched POV we were backtracking in the story at points. I also thought there were just too many POV changes. I do like hearing from different characters but this could have been done better, in a way such that the characters' points of view were woven together more smoothly. I am eager to see how this storyline continues though.

The writing is easy to read and engaging. I think what really keeps me involved in this story are the characters and the fascinating subplot about the nano-biotech.

My Summary (4/5): Overall this was slower than the first book in the series but still a fun read. I love the characters and watching how they form friendships despite huge differences. I also really enjoying this fascinating world and some of the concepts being explored here. I plan to continue reading this series and would recommend it to those who enjoy space opera sci-fi.

It's a good sci-fi/fantasy book that I liked. It's well plotted, the world building is well done and the storytelling excellent.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

My full review on my blog (link attached).

Nightwatch Over Windscar is the second installment in a WH40K/D&D-inspired space opera, following nearly instantaneously on the heels of Nightwatch on the Hinterlands. The first book was surprisingly decent - I had fun with it, at least, and thought that it held a lot of potential. Which potential, needless to say, had been almost entirely squandered in book two. It’s not that it’s irredeemably bad, the characters twisted beyond recognition or the plot sailing merrily over the edge of the world - no. It’s just that it’s unbearably boring. The exposition for every scene took pages upon pages, followed by pages upon pages of entirely unnecessary internal monologue. The action was moving forward in fits and starts, stalling for long periods of time in unlikely places. I must confess that around the middle of the book I felt impelled to - oh, the horror! - skim.

I skimmed. On Kindle.

That takes a special kind of effort for me.

Admittedly, I was in a peculiar mindspace while reading this - I wanted something intellectually challenging and engaging throughout, and Asher worked like a miracle to this purpose, as did Naruto and Berserk (don’t ask), whereas Eason simply didn’t. With Nightwatch Over Windscar I felt the acute pain of the passage of time; more than that, I felt that the nature of time was indeed akin to that of money: a finite resource with assigned value. The value of time was very high for me; the value of what I was being given in return - sadly, quite low. Hence the bitterness.

What else is there to say? The characters are still pretty engaging, the overall setting remains interesting. The book has been padded beyond my wildest nightmares, and should have been mercilessly trimmed by a skilled editor (who would have ideally also asked some pointed questions about the necessity of certain solutions). By the mid-point, I wasn’t sure if reading the Yellow Pages wouldn’t have been more absorbing. But it miraculously picked up a little in pace - if not in internal logic, unfortunately - and I was able to finish while retaining some vestiges of moderate interest. The idea behind this series is actually quite interesting, even if the second installment puts a wrench in some of the logic hinted at earlier; I just wish the author had someone to help her shape this idea into a viable story.

All in all, Nightwatch Over Windscar proved to be something of a disappointment after the strong opening of Nightwatch on the Hinterlands. I don’t expect to continue with this series, which makes me feel at once a bit guilty and a bit sad - guilty, because it’s a NetGalley book, and sad, because I’ve grown to enjoy the characters of Gaer and Char, and even Iari (but emphatically NOT their internal monologues!). The cover's still pretty cool, but the contents have lost their freshness and feel at once too laboured and not enough developed.

I have received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks.

#NightwatchoverWindscar #NetGalley Excellent, a must read for any science fiction or fantasy fan! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out!

It was ok. I think for someone who liked book one or wanted to read a fairly military fantasy with plenty of politics would enjoy it better. For me it was okay but not great…
I like the Thorne Chronicles better than I’ve liked the series. I found that one more character driven. This one side and it’s well written enough, but I’m simply not the right reader for this series. I don’t think this book is a good starting point, but I think that someone who likes more military fantasy would enjoy starting with book one of the series.

This was outstanding! Nightwatch Over Windscar is the sequel to Nightwatch on the Hinterlands. I loved that, and I loved this. The book continues the story of Iari, Gaer, and company as they look for and counter threats to the Confederation—and the threat turns out not to be what they expected this time.

I was so excited to read this and return to this world and the fantastic characters who live in it. The friendships, especially between Iari and Gaer, are something special. It’s funny, there’s action, and there were parts when I wanted to cheer.

It gets right into the action, and I stayed up too late reading. I couldn’t put it down. The worldbuilding is detailed and adds to what started in the first book in the series.

I can’t wait to read more in this world! I highly recommend this series, The Weep. Nightwatch Over Windscar comes out tomorrow, November 8. Thank you to DAW Books for my copy.

Iari is a Templar for Aedis, a multispecies religious organization tasked to protect the Confederation and eliminate extradimensional horrors. She had helped stop separatists from taking apart the Confederation, and is now promoted and sent to Windscar. Located there are ancient subterranean ruins which local legends say are haunted. Iari is concerned that separatists are hiding there. She is joined by the new Templar Char, a decommissioned battle mecha, and Gaer, a talented arithmancer she knows well. Together they explore the ruins, finding evidence of battle, mechas that reanimate and attack, and dangerous arithmancy. Separatists aren’t the only dangers in the universe.

This is set in the same universe as the duology How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse and How The Multiverse Got Its Revenge, and is the second book in The Weep series. Arithmancy is a form of magic using mathematics and physics, and can be used to manipulate reality. Alchemy is slightly different, only altering physical matter. Different races make up the Confederate, and some of them have been at war for generations. I missed the first novel in this series, but important parts of it are referenced from the start. It might take a bit to get used to the terms, just let it go and it'll eventually make sense. (I did go back afterward to read the first book, and whoa, having the world building up front does make the first few chapters easier for me to read, ha ha.)

The start feels more like Aliens, in that they're exploring and things randomly come alive to start attacking. It's creepy and horror filled; riev are created from the dead, but there are teams that tried to create half-living constructs to attack the Aedis. The horror and bodies give way to political conspiracies, a cult, and infiltrating said cult. Elements of the horror from the first third of the book remain but are much more muted. The last two-thirds of the book essentially has a thread with half the team going in to find abducted comrades, and another thread back at the base figuring out what happens next. Bouncing between the two halves heightens the tension. I don't want to spoil it, but it's fascinating how the different groups interact, hide information from each other, share information as necessary, and then come up with a plan. I fell into this book deeply despite my initial confusion because the characters are so well-written and I was invested in the outcome. I needed to know if they would be okay, and if the cult and their creations would be caught. I definitely had my curiosity satisfied, and hope to see more in this universe.

Oh, the exposition!
My thanks to Netgalley for the ARC of this book, all opinions are my own.
I thoroughly enjoyed Rory Thorne, so I was quite invested in the Windscar series, to the extent of getting hold of Nightwatch on the Hinterlands and reading it before I started this one.
Sadly, despite a great cover and excellent premise, it failed to live up to expectations. There was just way too much explanation about decisions the various characters made, which completely ruined the pacing and made the style very stilted. All became clear when I read the acknowledgements at the end, because the pages of laying out different outcomes that a character would go through before committing to a course of action was precisely the text from a D & D game book.
Quite frankly, it was agonizing progress at times, and I had to force myself to finish the book at all, so my rating of 3 below is really a 2.5 (good idea, bad execution, plus hours of my rapidly diminishing life that I will never get back again.
NOT for fans of Ann Leckie or any decent space opera authors.

The novel picks up right after the first one, and follows the main character's new position as a field commander over Windscar. I felt like the novel was a great follow up and did not disappoint in that regard. Overall I think that its a great addition to the world and everyone should be excited about it.

*Nightwatch Over Windscar* continues *The Weep* series, with all of the strengths of the first (Nightwatch on the Hinterlands) and not a single bit of mid-series downturn. Iari and Gaer are back, and Gaer's chapters continue to be my favorite (and we also get a bonus Char chapter partway through!) Eason sustains character voices masterfully, and as in *Hinterlands* it's delightful to see Iari and Gaer adapt each other's speech patterns.

The story takes off where we were at the end of *Hinterlands*, and if you've read the first book, you'll realize that's no small task - but *Windscar* totally delivers. It's 400 pages of adventure as Iari gets her first field command and has to figure out what that means for her and how she's going to deal with her newfound (and not entirely wanted) responsibility.

I'm always a fan of politics in any spec fic that I read - that's part of why I loved *Rory* so much - and there's enough politics here to keep me happy, but not too much to distract from the mystery & military scifi plots. Indeed, it's pretty incredible how much Eason was able to pack into this novel, without sacrificing depth of character or worldbuilding.

And if it's been a while since you read *Hinterlands*, don't worry - *Windscar* does a pretty good job of jogging your memory at the start, so you'll get caught up on all the important plot points you need to know.

Overall, *Nightwatch Over Windscar* is an easy 5/5 for me, this was the first book I've ever requested as an ARC and I couldn't have asked for a better one!

An incredibly well-developed sci-fi fantasy story with a solid mystery, plenty of action, and strongly drawn characters. The world-building was extremely original and interesting, with a fresh take on alien species and intergalactic political relations. The mix of magic and science was fascinating; it's a combo that a lot of SFF writers tend to shy away from, but the two were blended together very well in this book.

Overall, a good read. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sci-fi fantasy.