Among Serpents by Marc J. Gregson

TL;DR: Slowed down but still overly packed with action?
Source: NetGalley, so many thanks to the publisher!

Plot: Conrad sets out on a secret mission, and of course it gets messy.
Characters: Sometimes it felt like any growth we got was cut off by wild action sequences, so I’m not sure we got much on this front.
Setting: I do really like this world, I do. I wish we’d gotten some more of it?
Scifi: About the same as the previous book, I don’t know how much expansion we got.

Summary:

It takes guts to rise to the top of Meritocracy. It’ll take sheer ruthlessness to stay there. As militants and monsters lay waste to the Skylands, Uncle’s lawless tyranny threatens to unravel fragile Trade alliances. Conrad, no longer a mere Captain, now commands a squadron of ships at the order of the King. But Conrad’s High status can’t protect him from his own turmoil, and the price of power is steeped in blood.

Tormented by tragedies of war and by betrayal from his own family, Conrad must prove his worth to all of the Skylands. Led by an unhinged Explorer, Conrad embarks on a secret expedition to turn the tides of battle—before another island falls at the jaws of the gigataun. It’s a journey fraught with peril: Deadly monstrosities. Sabotage. Stowaways. And with friendships pushed to the brink and gentle romance stirring, Conrad will have to muster more than courage to weather the raging storms ahead.

Thoughts:

I really loved the first book in this series, Sky’s End, so I was hyped to see it continue. Unfortunately I think this one suffered from some classic Second Book Syndrome. We went super hard in on action, and yet the pacing felt slow in sections we weren’t spinning and shooting harpoons. The most common thing we read was cursing, and while there was room for growth in the characters I can’t say we got a ton.

Conrad in this one continues his drive to prove himself. Unfortunately for him this book was a constant cycle of loss, betrayal, loss, sad, scandal, etc. All punctuated by elaborate action sequences that didn’t always add to this. I think ultimately this is what made this drag. A constant take, take, take will never give the reader a feeling of relief. We just struggled through loss after loss and it was… not that fun.

Ultimately I doubt I’ll continue. I do love this world, but this book really drug me down. It took way to long to trudge through and I really dislike that feeling of non-stop loss. It’s just not for me. Could be for others, so I recommend continuing if you started it. But not for me.