I didn't realise this was the second book in the series and hadn't read the first one, so I bought that, and then got stuck in. I'm glad I did.

This isn't my usual kind of fantasy. However, the world-building is really intriguing and quite intricate, with a variety of different hominids, political history, and religious history, asking with scientific explanations for the religious elements.

The characters are nuanced, each one facing their own inner demons, including mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I am most drawn to Kayip and Sylvaine. Although, Sylvaine can be a bit overdone sometimes. Likewise, Marcel with his existential crises can be kind of annoying, as he needs to grow up. However, it fits these characters well.

The pace is good with lots of action.

I look forward to the next one.

The Lioness and The Rat Queen by Noah Lemelson follows on from The Sightless City (review here) and the second book in The Slickdust Trilogy is a fascinating blend of sci-fi and fantasy.
I received a copy of the book for a free and unbiased opinion.
The book continues the story of a former PI Marcel, Kaydip, a former monk and the feral engineer Slyvaine to find the former slave trader Lazarus Roache and joined by Belano, a disgraced and hardcore general. This isn’t a book you can jump into without having read The Sightless City.
The Lioness and The Rat Queen expands on the world-building from The Sightless City. The landscape is fittingly wild and unexpected for the road trip Marcel and his friend undertake. We find out a little more about the sociopolitical landscape as well as the religious Brotherhood.
The pace picks up towards the middle of the book, taking a little time before I figured out the plot but I loved when the book takes a bit of a magical turn. The final aberration was truly impressive.
The book benefits being told from a few points of view, but Slyvaine still remains a complex and original character.

Rating: 1.8/5

Review: This was a tough read. The central story line, while riveting, was constantly mired with a loping and continuous back story that bogged down the movement. The central characters are built on a foundation of gore yet seem constantly conflicted with choices made and the outcomes therein. Pivotal instances become rants of actions anchored in the past and this halted the crews development.

The world building was visceral and prompted engagement in so much that I looked forward to any immediate quest. And then the agony of character reminiscences would invade to erase hard won movement across a bitter landscape. A big huggy monk whom weeps about some unknowable transgression does not a character make. Add in a whiney beta male and the only place to turn is a blonde valkeryie on a shiny horse that only lasts a few pages.

The crafting of a steam punkian genre married to fantasy was very well done and might have been better served if it was prominently featured instead of a deeply layered and confusing application of aether lines, flayed princes, slickdust and red goo. The bounty hunters come too late in the process to make much of a difference yet should have been central to the theme as they were presented in almost super human fashion. The pages and pages of the mewling intricacies of Raider politics was more boring than a bag of hammers and you end up not caring what becomes of the disparate factions.

This was a long novel, made longer by pages of whining and righteous retribution. And lucky us, it ends without resolution. This could have been a hit but missed the mark by placing emphasis in areas that lacked vigor.