The Sunforge

By: Sascha Stronach

Narrated by: Janaye Henry

Sascha Stronach’s queer, Maori-inspired Endsong trilogy reopens on a city in flames, where a magic-wielding pirate crew uncovers an age-old fight between the gods that threatens their world.

The steel city of Radovan is consumed by fire between. Stranded in its harbor is the crew of the Kopek, the survivors of a bioterror attack overseas. But they bear scars: their captain, Sibbi, has gone missing; Yat, their newest Weaver, is fighting for control of her own mind; and their Weaving powers are in a badly weakened state.

To disable the technology that prevents the group from escaping, Sen and Kiada must plot their way through the ruins of the foreign capital, which is patrolled by a hostile militia, using wits alone. But to navigate through Radovan, Kiada will have to rely on her own history with the city—one she shares with a band of misfits dubbed Fort Tomorrow and their leader, Ari, a charismatic thief.

Ari may hold the key not only to saving Radovan from complete annihilation, but the history of their world, which will come into play as the gods begin to unleash destruction on humanity and one another.

A worthy sequel that iterates well

I loved The Dawnhounds and The Sunforge is an excellent follow-up, doing a great job of revealing the scope of the conflict and the perspectives of even more of the cast. This is more of an ensemble story than the first novel, following several characters beyond Yat and Sen, who aren't even the most prominent focal characters. I had just assumed Yat was the primary protagonist for the series, but I really appreciated the change and opportunity to learn more about the motives and histories of other characters, both new and old.

Also, the narrative takes place across multiple time frames and perspectives of varying trustworthiness, often interleaved in ways that can make it tricky to tell what exactly is happening when there's a narrative leap. It gets much easier as the book moves along and there's more context. Really, it reminded me of the structure of the second and third Locked Tomb novels, although I think this does a far better job of balancing intentionally letting the reader feel disoriented and being outright obtuse. It does feel rewarding to piece together what's going on, although I wouldn't be surprised if a reread revealed details that only stand out with hindsight.

The final novel in the trilogy hasn't come out yet, but based on this I'm very excited for it.

I am not smart enough for this book

This was the kind of book where the story jumps between multiple times frames (long past, medium past, near past, current, there may have been future because of plot reasons?). For me it was a real burden to understand in audible format. Maybe it would have been better if I just read the text. Maybe you will not have this problem, but for me at least books that are as chaotic as this one only work in text form. Wish I knew it before starting this one.