Mirrored Heavens

Book 3 in the Between Earth & Sky trilogy

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A masterpiece. This book delivers on so many fronts. It has genuinely scary bad people, a beautiful mermaid queen, women warriors, giant beasts, complex family relationships, magic of different types, friendships that refuse to die, blood (lots and lots of blood), a love that conquers all, and even the kraken!

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“He transformed into a flock of crows.” He knew no other way to explain it. He had expected doubt, an expression of disbelief, but instead she threw her head back and laughed. It was a wonderful sound. Full-throated and free, as if a man becoming birds was not only to be expected but a particular delight.

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“Of course he did!” she exclaimed, echoes of laughter lingering in her voice. “He was always as much bird as he was man, and what is this human form but a loosely held idea?”

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She swept a hand across her own body, and Okoa sensed there was a deeper meaning to her pronouncement that he didn’t understand.

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The author did an exceptional job of balancing the various factions, alliances, forces, and possibilities. The story never falls into corniness or the unbelievable, and it was exciting all the way through.

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Exhilaration pumped through Okoa’s veins as they raced down the canal, their sled gliding along behind the giant insect. He would never have thought being pulled behind a bug the size of a house would be quite so invigorating, but with the spray of water misting his face and the wind blowing his hair back, he could not deny the thrill of it.

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He had known little about water striders before, but Enuka had proudly informed him of their speed, strength, and stamina, and he had been impressed. His first ride on a sled cutting across the wetlands had dazzled him. It was not the freedom of flying, the world small and far below you, but it had its own joys, and he felt privileged to experience them.

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I like how authors these days are coming up with unique swears their characters use that are specific to the worlds they’ve created. In the Broken Earth trilogy by N. K Jemisin, it was “rusting...” or “evil Earth!”. In this trilogy, the expletives are “seven hells!” and “skies!”. I love that.

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The thought of Teanni dampened some of her wonder. If only her friend could see her now, breathing water through delicate gills at her neck, cutting through the waves with a flick of her powerful, black-scaled tail, her hair trailing behind her like a bed of rich kelp.

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Ms. Roanhorse did an excellent job with the ending as well. It could have easily fallen into “and they lived happily ever after” territory, but it doesn’t (because it didn't), even though we (mostly) get what we want.

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