BIRD KING RISING, second in Letters from Maynara series by Samantha Bansil

BIRD KING RISING (Letters from Maynara #2)
SAMANTHA BANSIL
Bindery Books | Violetear (non-affiliate Bookshop.org link)
$3.99 ebook, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: A new queen reigns. A rebellion stirs. Will she risk it all to rule?

Newly crowned queen Laya Gatdula is determined to prove her worth to her subjects, her family, her rivals—and herself. When whispers of rebellion and rumored sightings of a giant raptor in the mountainous Skylands reach the capital, Laya must face the terrifying realization that her ex-lover and rival, Luntok, might still be alive and coming for the throne. Though she already wields power over wind and rain, to quell the threat from the north, Laya seeks the ultimate weapon: lightning.

Torn between the counsel of two men—her beloved confidant and her ruthless uncle—Laya must trust herself to cement her legacy and hold the throne. Is it better to earn her nation’s loyalty through benevolent rule, or risk everything to become an all-powerful god? And with Luntok rapidly gathering his army, will she live long enough to make the choice?

From Samantha Bansil, a brilliant, fresh voice in AAPI fiction, Bird King Rising returns to the world of Black Salt Queen with the gripping conclusion to an epic story of duty and strength, passion and betrayal, and the devastating cost of war.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: If you have not read Black Salt Queen, which you certainly should, this story will lose a lot of impact though you will get a flavor of the world. The conflicts will I suspect, not need a lot of background, though the motives and the intensity brought to bear might surprise you absent that earlier tale's details. I'll quote myself from my earlier review for clarity: "It's rooted in precolonial Philippine culture, adding fantasy elements; this is a part of world history I'll bet big money most of my fellow old white people have less knowledge of this cultural milieu than they do of Middle Earth...very few of y'all need any context to know who Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf, Legolas are or represent."

I'll say of this resolution to the earlier story's arc, I was all ready for it to be about what it is that separates the handover of power due to rebellion from a revolution. Was Laya merely leading a rebellion? I'd wondered in the first book; now she's in power, wielding her magic is...influenced...by the always-present web of interpersonal obligations, favors owed and ones desired to be accrued. It's a very fertile field to work, deep story-soil to till and many's the crop of plots it will sustain. I found the depth of this story's digging a tiny bit disappointing, like Author Bansil chose story resolution in a timely way over the longer, more complicated exploration I'd anticipated. That's why this book is a quarter-star lower than the first one in my personal rating; and, of course, the second-book phenomenon of post-joyous-discovery familiarity where there had been novelty.

What is foregrounded instead is the deeper look into individuals' ethical natures. I am here for women's wrings as much as rights. I like women in power making terribly difficult decisions and getting them ambiguously right but somewhat wrong. Being in power very very seldom offers a leader the delight of choosung an unambiguously good course. But maybe, in addition to these reasons they'll make hard choices, could we also see justifications, rationalizations, pressures responded to that evoke right-becomes-wrong perspective shifts?

I sound more carping and negative than I feel. I think this series could easily go on a good while before the setting yields its last bumper harvest; the setting is one that bids fair, in Author Bansil's capable hands, to support many excellent tales to come. I am here for them all as they come.

Soon please, Violetear Books.