Reviewed by Quirky Cat on
I received a copy of Fallen Arrow through BookishFirst in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Fallen Arrow is the sequel to Lost Arrow. It’s part of a three part series, though I’m seeing the set come in bundled form as well, so you may not have to worry about tracking all three down. I’m actually pretty happy that they’re coming out in bundled formats, as I’ve found the first two to be relatively quick reads (and I’ve been anxious to just move on to the next one and see what happens).
The series has been interesting so far, in that while it’s centered on the subject (and search) for religion, it isn’t trying to push any one particular religion on the reader. I find that a refreshing change.
Fallen Arrow wasn’t quite as strong as its first part, but then again, the intrigue has fallen away thanks to the big reveal, so that was to be expected. Still, it was interesting, and I really enjoyed some of the views and points that were made during the course of the novel.
This novel had more perspectives than the first book. It jumped around a lot between religious leaders, political leaders, characters from the ship Kalelah, and named characters we’ve already met. It’s clear that we were being shown a broader perspective of the reaction to the news that humanity had been seeded be an alien race.
Some of the perspectives were interesting, like the religious leaders debating on what sort of proof the elders were seeking, and of course arguing about which religion was the true religion (I think it only occurred to one or two of them that the ‘true’ religion was the one the elders believed in, and not one that this round of humans had come up with).
I wanted to enjoy the political perspectives, and while I appreciated their devious nature and the threat they posed…it all just felt too heavy handed to me. I don’t think we needed full chapters from any of those characters, a couple of summed up lines from different characters would have sufficed.
In the last book three characters from the Kalelah ship had gone to the surface to try and help save humanity. One of them didn’t make it through that book. The other two split up, with one staying up above to talk to the leaders of the world and try to convince them, while the other went back to start working on their mysterious backup plan. Part of that plan involved bringing a human, Sarah with him.
I think we can all guess what happened to the guy that stayed above. I’m not sure if I’m happy with how predictable that is, or disappointed. I do get a bit tired of the whole ‘humans are horrible creatures’ plot, though I can’t argue with its accuracy at times (sadly).
Trin and Sarah’s plot was probably my favorite of the stories being told. I also suspect it’ll become the lynchpin for saving humanity. Or not. I’ll have to read the third book to be sure of that!
Next in line for me is Jagged Arrow, the third and I believe last book in the series. So I should be seeing everything wrapping up shortly. I’m looking forward to seeing how Marshall plans to resolve the plot he’s created.
For more reviews, check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 20 October, 2018: Finished reading
- 20 October, 2018: Reviewed