The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Thousand Eyes by A. k. Larkwood

The latter book in The Serpent Gates duology, The Thousand Eyes, starts two years after the first ended with Csorwe, Shutmili and Tal parting ways with Sethennai. The three are working together as a security for academics who want to study the dead world of the serpent goddes, until they come across a surprise: a living member of the goddess’s honour guard. She leads them to a sacred shrine where things take a twist in the form of the goddess herself—with Csorwe and Shutmili in her very unique service.

Jumping fifteen years, the rule of the serpent goddess has spread over the worlds, and it’s widely feared. It’s up to Tal and the latest sacrifice to the Unspoken One to bring it to end, hopefully without getting Csorwe and Shutmili killed. But in the process, they bring Sethennai back to power. And he isn’t a benevolent ruler anymore. It takes the ingenuity of them all to bring things back to normal.

Second books are difficult and this wasn’t an exception. The first third progressed fast and smoothly, but after that, it seemed the author struggled to find a way out of the bind they’d pushed the characters into. Quite a lot happened, but everything seemed random and it didn’t quite pull me in. Part of it was because I didn’t feel Csorwe’s and Shutmili’s relationship, which was the driving force of most of the plot. Part was the lack of Csorwe’s point of view. Shutmili didn’t have the same pull.

The best thing in the book turned out to be Tal, who carried most of the latter part. He had quite a bit of growing to do, and he did it well. And he had maybe the greatest surprise coming to him. The ending was satisfying, but the story might have been more memorable if it hadn’t been quite so neat. Other kind of endings were possible too. Still, I liked the book well and wouldn’t mind reading more.