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Less than a year later, we get the second Raksura book, The Serpent Sea, from Martha Wells. Hooray! I adore Wells's books--interesting plots, well-thought-out worlds, and smart characters. I briefly discussed the first book back in February here. Occurring directly after The Cloud Roads, Moon is trying to adjust to life as a consort (the only active one) in a Raksura colony. The colony, Indigo Cloud, has had to move since the Fell attacked their previous home. They decide to go to the previous home, deep within an Amazonian-like forest. Once there, they find the colony-tree is missing...something like its heart...and have to go and search for it. What ensues is a chase across more of the world including several new races, both groundlings and waterlings.

Moon calls it the Three Worlds. I can't remember if Wells explained that in the first book. I'm speculating that it means water, ground, and air creatures/races. There's plenty of scope for more adventures here.

Moon is a 'feral.' His colony was destroyed by the Fell and a female warrior saved him and several arbora children. After they were killed, Moon traveled and tried to find a place to fit in. Found by Stone, line-grandfather of Indigo Cloud, Moon was brought to become a consort for Jade, the young sister-queen of Indigo Cloud. Because Moon doesn't know the etiquette of the colony's court, he often makes bad blunders. Somehow, he muddles through, mostly because powerful people in his own and other colonies recognize that he could become something special.

My quibble in this book is that Moon really ends up the leader in the end. Some of that is explained by his living for years among other races, so he knows how to fit in better, but Stone appears to have also traveled widely, so his seeming deference to Moon feels odd sometimes. Anyway, still enjoyed the heck out of the book. The Serpent Sea does have a solid ending with the current crisis solved.

Martha Wells is currently finishing the third book but it hasn't sold yet. My fingers and toes are crossed!

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