Marjorie Liu’s Wingborn (Wingbearer Saga #2)
Description
When all who know what broke the world, are either gone, hidden, or have chosen to forget, learning what happened will be difficult and dangerous.
Zuli was raised in the Haven of the Birds – a tree outside the world where the spirits of birds go to rest and await their rebirth. But when the spirits stopped returning to the tree, Zuli left the haven that raised and protected her, entering into the world to find where the spirits are going and how to save them. But the world is not a haven and Zuli quickly met with wraiths, wickedness, and the Witch Queen.
The Witch Queen who practices mind control, whose very name brings fear, and who is Zuli’s sister.
Zuli rushes to find the missing bird souls before it is too late. Her questions lead to answers that are either vague or lead to more questions, and she begins to realize that something bigger is going on. Something that is shrouded in mystery and hidden with both magic and the passing of time. Something that many involved in had wished to forget.
Something that Zuli is more involved in than she could ever dream.
Disclosure
I borrowed this book for free from our library system, it was provided for my personal use. There was no agreement with the author, publisher, or any third party that I would publish a review. The following review is unsolicited, unbiased, and all opinions are my own.
Review – Spoiler Free
I read Wingbearer, book 1 in the Wingbearer Saga, and enjoyed it (read my review here), so I was interested to see book 2, Wingborn at the library. Liu had created a very interesting world in Wingbearer, one with diverse characters thrown into a story brimming with promise and complexity. While Wingborn didn’t blow me out of the water, it also didn’t disappoint.
Liu continues to introduce new characters, races, and locations that add well to the already complex world, and with it comes added story complexity to match. Liu further fleshes out concepts and dynamics that were beginning in book 1 – Zuli’s family and history, her bird companion’s history, and the Witch Queen’s motives. This deepening story brings some tough concepts to the fore: the morality of being in a position with power, and that people fight for what they think is right whether others agree with them or not.
Wingborn‘s building story plays heavily on Zuli’s past and begins to reveal the bigger picture of how the past has brought things to the point where they are now. Which is all well and good – until you come to one of a storytelling tools I rather dislike: “You’re not ready to know.” So much was vaguely shared with Zuli only to leave more questions than answers, with the repeated excuse being that she doesn’t understand or that she isn’t ready to know. This drives me bonkers and leaves me asking, like Zuli on page 158, “I’m so confused! Please tell me what’s happened.”
Another thing that threw me with Wingborn was the illustrations. Book 1 was illustrated by Tenny Issakhanian, while book 2 is illustrated by Grace Kum with assistance from Issakhanian. First off, Kum did an amazing job keeping the same visual feel and, if I didn’t always intentionally look for the illustrator, I would have just thought Issakhanian did a rush job in a different illustration program.
However, despite the similar feel, all the illustrations in Wingborn have an unfinished look. With the more polished images, it’s the gritty lines; with the less polished images, it’s a lack of detail that can sometimes give an interesting depth of focus (like a shot in a movie) but usually just leaves the image looking more like a sketch than a finished piece. And I’m not sure if it was this unfinished look, or the writing that gave parts of Wingborn a jumpy feel that made some faster paced scenes hard to follow.
Overall, I liked Marjorie Liu’s Wingborn, but I wasn’t thrilled with it. It continues and deepens the story she began in Wingbearer well, but it doesn’t draw me in the way Wingbearer did, and it drove me a little crazy with the “You’re not ready to know” moments. I will read book 3 of the Wingbearer Saga, but boy, I hope it’s only 3 books long. I would recommend Wingborn to those who have read Wingbearer and enjoyed it.
Quote
“Compassion shouldn’t be limited to only the people we like, boy. No matter what’s been done to us.”
Trader Pavric (Wingborn, Marjorie Liu)
Ratings
- Quality of Writing – 2
- Plot – 3
- World Building – 3
- Characters – 3
- Ease of Reading – 2
- Pictures/ Illustrations – 3
- Overall Enjoyment – 2
- Final Rating – 2.5 (Actual: 2.5) – It Was OK / Liked It
Want to learn more about the numbers I use for rating, and the qualities I’m thinking about when writing a book review? Check out my post How I Rate and Review.