The focus of this book is Brother Gemma. Although it's hard to call her "brother" at the beginning of the book because she feels abandoned by her god and is hardly worshiping him. In fact, everyone thinks that she's drinking like her cousin. However, when someone (not Beatrix!) starts attacking religious sects (starting by slaughtering almost all of the peace monks), Gemma is not especially excited about helping but she saddles up along with her squire Samuel, her sister Ainsley who Gemma and Keeley seem to always forget, and two of the Amichai Laila and Quinn. Quinn is a thorn in Gemma's side though he is definitely a good fighter.
First, they travel to Gemma's past to visit the place where she trained and the other War Monks. There, we learn a bit about why Gemma is the way she is as well as more about the politics of the War Monks. We also get to meet Ragna, another War Monk; one who is even more dedicated to the cause than Gemma. She is the one who ultimately gives Gemma a list of sects to pick up including temple virgins, witches, divine assassins, war priests, a truce monk, and a nun (the Abbess Butcher). Oh, she also gets back her horse Kriegszorn. The one she lost in battle and had to raise (battle monks tend to win battles by bringing the dead back to life.) So what if he's only half normal horse and half rotting corpse? It's her horse!
We do get to see Queen Keeley (who gained such love from me in the first book that I had trouble switching over any to Gemma) and how she's building her kingdom. There are glimpses of Beatrix and what her evil plan is ultimately going to be. And then, a brief glimpse at some special guests who are going to be in the next book.
Definitely start with the first book in this series. This is an Aiken book through and through with characters that go so far beyond zany that you have to love them because they are so well-definied in their own brands of crazy. The beginning was actually a little slower than some Aiken books but it picked up nicely.
Scarred Earth Saga #2
Four stars
This book comes out November 24, 2020
ARC kindly provided by Kensington Books and NetGalley
Opinions are my own
Reread as ebook from Libby February 2024
Ragnar has also been in previous books. He's a little full of himself and thinks very little of Keita. Well, he thinks about her a lot but doesn't actually think she's good for anything. Even so, he is really good at apologizing when he makes a mistake. Like, none of that, "I'm sorry your feelings were hurt" BS.
