All the Wandering Light (Even the Darkest Stars, #2)

by Heather Fawcett

The second in a sweeping and action-packed fantasy duology loosely inspired by the early climbers of Mount Everest—perfect for fans of Tamora Pierce and Kristin Cashore.

After the terrifying events on Mount Raksha, the witches have returned, and River has betrayed Kamzin to regain his dark powers. The witches’ next step: march on the Three Cities and take over the Empire—led by River’s brother, Esha.

If Kamzin is to save Azmiri and prevent the destruction of the Empire, she must find a star that fell in the Ash Mountains to the north. Fallen stars have immense power, and if Kamzin and Lusha can find the star, they can use its magic to protect their homeland. To get there, Kamzin has allied with Azar-at, the dangerous and deceptive fire demon, who can grant her great power—in exchange for pieces of her soul. But River wants the star too, and as their paths collide in dangerous and unexpected ways, Kamzin must wrestle with both her guilt and her conflicted feelings for the person who betrayed her.

Facing dark magic, a perilous journey, and a standoff against the witches, can Kamzin, Lusha, and Tem find the star and save their Empire?

• ISBN10: 0062463411
• ISBN13: 9780062463418
• Publish Date: 24 January 2019 (first published 4 December 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 22 August 2023
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc
• Imprint: Balzer and Bray
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 448
• Language: English

Reviews

[sa090]

I worried that the sequel will not live up to its prequel and this is one of the very few times where I’m saddened that I was 100% right.

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It’s not a bad book, there were so many things going on that it made it engaging, but there are also certain things in this book that made it close to impossible for me to read a few chapters in the second half without wanting to through my tablet across the room in anger. We pick up immediately where we left off last time and once again, I really enjoyed the dangerous aspects of mountaineering in the book, not as apparent as the first book’s incidents for sure, but still something interesting to keep seeing as we followed Kamzin and the group in their journey. Now the plot itself was one of the highlights of the book, seeing a power struggle is something I always enjoy so knowing that both factions will be going after the same thing made me very happy.

That being said the pacing of the book felt somewhat weird. The slow build up in the first half of the book felt warranted, but how much it took for the book to get to the conclusion and how much was spent on it in comparison made me kind of wish we saw a little bit more about the witches than what was revealed. Although I would have appreciated it if it wasn’t from River’s eyes, since he is somewhat boring to read about with how stereotypical of a character he is. Maybe Esha, would have been nice to see or someone else, I say this because there are different POVs in this book in some of the chapters and while not all of them were entertaining, I did like the ones that showed me the aftermath of this new development. The main issue with this book to me though is Kamzin and her utter stupidity in dealing with almost everything around her.

In the first book, her jealousy induced actions made her annoying, but in this one it’s not just jealousy and the need to prove herself that makes her do stupid things, oh no, something much worse, her lack of thinking when it comes to subjects of the heart. It’s not difficult to think logically, some people just refuse because it’s difficult to say no to your heart’s desires, but the way that Heather Fawcett took Kamzin’s approach to River’s betrayal felt like she’s punching me in the gut every time it was mentioned in the second half of the book. It might honestly be me and my approach to life, but I couldn’t for the love of god understand where these actions was coming from.

Hence why Lusha is such a godsend in this book, she echoed my thoughts so much that I felt a sort of camaraderie being built between us as I read this. Had a slight scare in one instance, but thankfully it didn’t pass. I always wish that in books like these or rather in books aimed at a younger-ish generation, that the main characters, especially if she was female, would think very logically before she acts and more importantly, give her time and be interested in someone who proves themselves that they deserve her, not the first one with a strange air about them who gives her a second glance. This goes both ways, you’re special, don’t lower yourself for anyone.

Other than that I did like the mysteries in the book about the identities of certain entities and while I did draw the outlines for their solutions and discovered one, I did enjoy reading her take on some of them. All in all, I’m a little disappointed with how she portrayed Kamzin’s character in this book, since to me personally, this would have been one of my favourites of the year if somethings were changed even slightly.

Final rating: a weak-ish 3/5

[nightingalereads]

I loved Even the Darkest Stars last year, much more than I ever anticipated, and this sequel was just as beautiful and atmospheric. A lot of plot happened in All the Wandering Light, so much that the story might've felt crammed if Heather Fawcett's writing weren't so clear and engaging. She is an incredibly gifted storyteller and knows how to draw a reader into a scene. My heart already aches knowing I won't be able to read more about Kamzin and River (I guess that's what rereading is for!). Heather Fawcett has become one of my auto-buy authors, because I know I will enjoy anything she writes.