This sequel has been on my mind since I finished The Final Strife last year. I have been wanting answers for a very long time. That cliffhanger ending haunted me for months. Getting the arc for Battle Drum was a very fortuitous day.

Right off the bat I knew I was going to be in for another bumpy ride. Learning what the spider meant truly destroyed my pea brain sized mind. I was unprepared for the direction we went in but it was done in a way that made sense. The new characters and development made me more intrigued for what is to come.

My one complaint from Final Strife was Hassa wasn’t as prominent as I would’ve liked but this time she was clearly here to stay. Her storyline is incredibly fascinating and easily she’s one of my favorite characters. All the other characters were fantastic as always. There’s a few new characters I am over the moon about. Anoor’s chapters were a bit lacking but I think in the third book things will be different on that end. Also, Hoping we can see more of Jonds ‘child’.

Overall, another really solid fantasy read. I will say the middle part was more of a filler and you don’t understand it’s importance until way later. That did make it hard to be focused on the story when you weren’t sure what the point was. In my opinion it was still good just a bit confusing as to why it felt like the story is dragging. It picks up towards the end and made the middle worth it.

TW/CW: Death, murder, execution, sex, injury

REVIEW: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Del Rey and am voluntarily writing an honest review.

I was very excited to be approved for this book since I really loved the first one. This one was very good too, although it suffered a little from ‘middle book syndrome.’ I’m going to try to write this review without spoilers, since I don’t want to ruin the first book OR this one, but that’s probably going to mean I can’t get very specific on the plot.

The Battle Drum begins where The Final Strife ends, following the journeys of both Anoor and Sylah, both dangerous and deadly in their own ways. Along the way, we learn more about the world introduced to us in The Final Strife, and we see characters taking sides for the battle that is sure to come in the final book.

This book is, without a doubt, interesting and well written. The characters, while not always loveable, are fascinating and you can’t help but care about what happens next. The world and its mythology are unique and feel deep and as if there is a great deal more to explore.

I love the LGBTQIA+ representation in this book, something it embraces fully and I loved reading.

I did think, however, that at 560 pages, this book was a little bit too long. I also thought that – as I said before – ‘middle book syndrome’ was a bit of a problem. There’s no real beginning and no real ending, so while stuff does happen you finish it wanting the ~real~ ending.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book though, and I would definitely recommend to fantasy fans!

Such a great world and story! I thought the world building in book one was amazing and the world was expanded even further with more secrets and places to discover. All the characters have great development and I can’t wait to read the next book! 🥰

The Final Strife was one of the best books I read last year and was absolutely overjoyed when I received an eARC of The Battle Drum.

The Battle Drum is an excellent continuation of the action and insane plot of the first book. With Sylah and Anoor split up, the story divides in two different directions. Sylah and Anoor desperately need each others help they are heartbreakingly alone. Sylah's storyline was horrifying (in a good way) and the world building was even more depressing than in the first book (in a good way). Anoor's storyline was also amazing as the tension and fear of Anoor radiated from the page. My favorite parts of the book were actually Nayeli's chapters. They were frightening and added to the horrifying lore of the world in such an amazing way. And the way all of the storylines wrapped into one -- brilliant. I have no idea how I am going to wait for the third book.

Overall, The Battle Drum in a wonderful continuation of The Ending Fire trilogy. Both The Final Strife and Teh Battle Drum are some of the best fantasy books I've read in years. The plot lines are original, teh characters are well developed, and the plot is perfect.

Oh my goodness, I need the next book as soon as humanly possible! The Battle Drum was amazing! The continued world building, the evolution and growth of characters, and the twists and turns I did not anticipate. Saara El-Arifi has created such a unique world and I absolutely cannot wait to see what will become of Sylah, Anoor, Hassa and all of the other characters I have grown to care for (or not) over the course of this trilogy!

I was nervous to read this since The Final Strife was one of my favorite books from last year, but this book was fantastic. The world is expanded SO much and there are many answers about the history, the blood colors, the magic, and more. It was twisty and exciting!!! There are lots of interesting settings and animals along the way, which are also fun in addition to strong characters and an engaging plot.
If you liked The Final Strife, even if you didn’t LOVE it, I’d recommend reading this one! It has a different feel and the world is fascinating.
I’m so curious how this will continue in the final book of the trilogy.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Final Strife gripped me from cover to cover, and while The Battle Drum's story wasn't quite as page-turning, El-Arifi's skills at character continue to shine. The Battle Drum lets us spend more time with Hassa, and I found myself looking forward to their POV chapters the most. Every character in the Ending Fire series is complex, contradictory, and caught between different desires and goals, but Hassa's identity and mission as a ghosting lead to some of the books more compelling stories and emotional moments. We learn so much more about the world in this book. Some aspects of it were quite interesting and added new layers to ongoing storylines, while other elements fell a bit flat compared to the vivid universe El-Arifi already set up. But overall, The Battle Drum is a compelling sequel that left me excited for more.

The Battle Drum is book two in The Ending Fire Trilogy by Saara El-Arifi.
And y’all this is one of the best books I've read this year.
Saara El-Arifi has created a cast of phenomenal characters and the journey was a great experience along the way.
The world-building is so well crafted, this novel kept me engaged while reading.
I read this impossibly fast because I was so invested.
The writing style is amazing (like everything this author writes) and the atmosphere of the book is stunning.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Random House, Ballantine & Del Rey for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! It keeps me entertained and I didn’t want to stop reading! I can’t wait to see what’s next!

This second book was equal to the first in holding my attention and now I'm left waiting for the next book to bring the story to a climax.
I would recommend this series to all my friends and colleagues. Can't wait to get a physical copy in my hands. I still prefer opening a volume, turning pages, and feeling the weight of a book in my lap over the small screen of a phone.

This was my first 5 star read of 2023. I enjoyed The Final Strife, but felt it was a little slow in pacing. The Battle Drum did not have that issue. The story, plot, and character developments were brilliantly done especially Anoor's and I cannot wait to see how this all plays out in the finale!

Picking up where THE FINAL STRIFE ended, THE BATTLE DRUM carries our characters into new worlds where they learn things beyond their wildest dreams regarding blood, magic, and who pays the price for each.

I liked this one a wee bit less that The Final Strife, but still found it to be a solid adventure. I am pumped to read book 3 (hopefully it will have more Hassa!)

I will say that the beginning to this book was a total slog/info dump. It felt like it took a very long time for this book to get rolling. (I think that's what is keeping this book more like a 3.5 for me instead of an even 4 stars). I get that we're doing some expanded world-building here, but the attempts to bring the reader ip to speed felt very homework-y.

Once things started moving though, I was a happier camper. I dug Sylah and Jond's adventures in a new land (I want to live in a mushroom city!) I dug Anoor's political drama, (I wasn't totally into the murder mystery, but I did like her being undercover.) I dug the creepy "Wife" and the context of how her story layered into the others. (I did not see that twist coming, which makes me happy.)

Sadly, Hassa gets the shaft again in the storytelling. I am hoping the third book centers on her story since she seems to be one of the most complex and fascinating characters. I think that especially since Sylah and Anoor have a relationship, Hassa always feels like a third wheel character there to add context through her spying. At least in this book she got a relationship. Still hoping this ends with her being Queen and the other two going off to be in love somewhere.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5, rounded upto 4.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for providing me with an eARC.

The Final Strife was one of my favourite debuts of 2022 and The Battle Drum was one of my most anticipated reads of this year.

Now that I have read it, I have... mixed feelings, though positive leaning. Some things are done really well and other not so much. What is surprising is some of things done not as well were done well in The Final Strife.

I'll start with what the highlights were for me. A new perspective was introduced in the role of antagonist and how they came to be in that position, which was both tragic and fascinating. I did guess the eventual twist from that a while before it was revealed, but I felt it was done really well. The world building is expanded quite a bit in this book, both in terms of events and nature. I thought this was a low magic setting, but it a rather high magic setting that is quite original and interesting. The new themes introduced about faith, sacrifice, indoctrination, and power were my favourite additions and I am very interested in where the plot is headed in relation to the those themes. I hope it's not just a simple battle. This books is also very readable and goes by rather quickly despite its 500+ pages(though a lot of it is just world building and set up).

Now for the not so good parts.
Firstly, the pacing is all over the place outside of a great last act. It's meandering at times and breakneck at others. The time line is also extremely confusing. The Final Strife was much more structured in this aspect.

It feels like the book spends too much time on things that aren't as necessary or interesting to its detriment. From the blurb, you would expect a focus on the mystery/investigation elements of Anoor and Hassa, but it doesn't. This books spends a lot of time on Jond, which is alright though I am admittedly not the most invested in Jond. Still his character growth is good, but in spending so much time on his journey, the developments at Zwina Academy to set up for the following book feels way too fast and contrived. For them to change their minds and approach so easily, it doesn't quite have the weight it could have. The new romance plotline introduced between Jond and Kara was also completely unnecessary, and giving them a separate alliance making plotline seems rather uninteresting to me.

The biggest fault of this book is however is how little time is spent on Anoor given the direction was character was taken in. I like the direction, but not the execution. While Anoor is mostly in despair and helpless from the start of the book(the blurb had given me a different idea), we don't really get to see said descent. We're told about it, yet we barely get to see how it happened. One thing The Final Strife did rather well were the emotional journeys of Sylah and Anoor. You felt their despair and understood their decisions while reading. However, in The Battle Drum, Anoor's character direction doesn't really fell earned.

Despite my complaints, I am still quite invested in this series because I am quite curious of where the plot is heading with regards to it's thematic elements (and also the fact that the last act was fantastic which helped bring the score up). And I am still invested in the characters, particularly Nayeli and Anoor(I really hope the next book spends more than exploring her psyche).

I fear that this suffered from second book syndrome.
I’m gonna start by saying Anoor and Sylah are the main characters in the first book. They have a little romance so I assumed that would be progressed in the second book. However, they’re separated so all they do is yearn for one another.
SPOILER WARNING: they don’t even see each other throughout the entire book. I kept thinking “no, this book won’t end without them coming into contact again.” God was I wrong. The author had us caring about their feelings for another and the lengths they would go for another but we rarely saw it.
This book went into the history of of why there is a tidewind and explained the different blood colors. We ventured all new lands where we met people of these different blood colors. We experienced their terrain and native animals and the ways in which they look different. We learned so much history into a certain groups religion. We found out about other regions experiencing horrid weather as destructive as the tidewind. I really liked the monster in the sea.
However with all this background and world building, it completely overshadowed the narrative. Nothing was really accomplished in the second book. So much information was introduced that it was hard to keep track of what I should remember. The characters didn’t go through an arc as much as they should have. Honestly we only really saw Jond, Gorn, Kwame, and Hassa developing. The side characters become more prevalent in this book and I’m happy about that but it sucks that it wasn’t that way for Anoor and Sylah. They were bland. They felt the same things and remained stagnant. If this was paced better with more main character development (and Anoor and Sylah) less world background then it would have been much better.

Can I just say that I have been left amazed after reading book 1 as well as this second book in the series. I don’t think I’ve ever read a series where the sequel wowed me as much as the original but this is it. I love the twists and turns in this tale and was often caught off guard when details would come out about the history of the land and the people. I don’t want to give any details away but I will say that this author is a wonder writer and this is becoming one of my favorite series of all time.

Total Rating: 4.5/5
Characters: 4/5
Plot: 4.5/5
World Building: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall Feelings: 5/5

This was a million times better than the first book. I was on the edge of my seat basically the entire time. The ending?! Dear god. Jond’s character arc is so good and I can’t wait to see what happens next with him. Anoor.. we’re not gonna talk about Anoor. Sylah is Sylah but I love her and I love her journey with sobriety. And Hassa?! She is the baddest of b*tches. We get more Ghostings and we get so much incredible world building and lore and I just.. cannot express how much I f*cking loved this book.

My only gripe is that there seems to be this thing with authors where they feel like romance HAS to be in their book or no one will buy it and I just.. I understand that perhaps the romance aspect of it gives Sylah motivation. But it just feels unnecessary and it doesn’t really feel organic. I don’t feel like it added anything to the plot.

However, the good far and away out weighs the “bad”. The world that El-Arifi has built is so well thought out and the inclusivity is astounding. There’s bi rep, trans rep, the normalization of polyamory, ace/aro rep, disability rep… the list goes on. I am truly blown away by all of it and I will be going absolutely insane waiting for the final installment.

Thank you so much to Penguin Random House and to Saara El-Arifi for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

TW (provided by StoryGraph):
Graphic: Gore, Miscarriage, Murder
Moderate: Slavery, Colonization, War

The Battle Drum is an exciting sequel to The Final Strife - filled with murder, love, deception, prophesy, betrayal.

The story is once again told from multiple viewpoints. There's a lot of simultaneous action interwoven between the points of view. This method continues to work to build the suspense.

If you liked The Final Strife, The Battle Drum is a worthy successor.

I was very excited to be reunited with my favorites from book one. Hassa, Sylah, Jond, Anoor. What a wonderful cast. This is the second book in the series. And from page one we are met with a looming prophecy, a song, a telling of the future, fate written by god himself.

This book was darker than I expected, it was DARK. I'm throwing content warnings everywhere for this one. Without saying too much I'm bowing really low in praise for that religious cult element. The spiritual questions, religious inflictions were so well done, I was terrified. I was not prepared, I was not mentally, spiritually prepared for the things that have ensued in this book. Now that is how you write morally gray characters, that's how you write a villain!
The tone is very different from how book one ended. Sylah and Jond go on a journey together elsewhere, Anoor is left to make a difference in the empire, surrounded by her friends, her enemies, known and unknown.

There is a merging of genres that happens in this one. The author introduces quite a bit of sci-fi elements in this world, you start to realize how expansive and diverse the world in this book is. Different cultures, religions, customs, blood systems, climates and infrastructures. I cannot say too much without revealing what goes down but know this. Your mind will be blown with the myriad of plot twists and reveals.

There are some things that didn't work for me, especially when it came to Anoor's character arc. I don't feel like she has developed much as a person. She was very powerless throughout the entire book, and left with not much room to defend herself. In the beginning it was fine but when the 3rd act came around and she was still stuck in that same state of uncertainty, wandering and stillness i got frustrated. I wanted her to have more agency.

The pacing had some issues too. A lot of flashbacks from a new character's perspective, which was necessary but there was so much of it, at times I felt lost, and confused with the different timelines. I also felt like some parts were too slow, as if the author was killing time until the truth can be revealed, throwing random subplots in to fill in the gaps. I didn't like that.

But rest assured, the author had me on the edge of my seat. I was in for a loop. I didn't know what was going on, where we were going but I trusted the journey, I held on to the information being provided until I was at a point where I could connect the dots , and man was it worth it. That anticipation was enthralling. The details and textures of the technologies being weilded by these characters was no small feat, we also get to learn more about the magic. Overall, I applaud this execution but it had its weaknesses.

I'm still going to tune in for book 3 and get a physical copy of book 2. I'm give this a 3.5 stars which I decided to round up to a 4.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing an e-Arc.

This was absolutely a worthy successor to The Final Strife! What was introduced there was expertly built upon here.

I really enjoy the magic system in these books - a really interesting take on runecrafting. I continue to be intrigued by Ghosting society and LOVED the additional look into all the secrets they keep.

And, no spoilers, but the twists and turns? I found myself constantly revisiting my theories... And really, I love that in a story!

Can't wait to see what the final book brings for these characters I've grown to love!