Review: Lovely sequel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 15, 2014
Revenge, a need for understanding, and learning to lean on others as necessary whilst figuring out who to trust appear to be common trends in much of today's fiction. What happens, however, when you throw in a secret society, love, twisted and tangled webs of deception, and a twist that may take your breath away? Eyrie.Overall, I give this book a 4 out of 5, and here is why:The GoodEyris is the beautiful sequel to Owlet, a story about a young lady who is trying to figure out who she is. Not an easy task for any young woman, but it turns out to be something especially difficult for Iris, as she discovers that she is the last of a precious bloodline for a secret society whose members are part human and part bird.And she has asthma.This asthma necessarily limits her physical mobility, despite her being an Owlet, but does not limit her in any other way. Now that she has embraced her Owlet side and is well on her way to fully realizing her abilities and talents, Iris has discovered a remarkable penchant for seeing to the truth of things...and for being able to enter the mind of another through touch.Now, before I give away too much, know that much of what I said about the first book is also true here. Scrolly text would still describe Michaels' writing style very well. It feels scrolly and as though it would look perfect scribed into ancient parchment. The plot clips along at a reasonable pace that perfectly matches what is going on. Readers are not left hanging trying to figure out what happened and why – we are always clued in to others motivations and exactly what is going on. Of course, we see inside Iris' mind a little more than other characters, but that is to be expected.  The plot feels a little flat in places, but not sure how I'd fix it.I must say, for trying to weave a work that blends birds and people, I think Michael did a pretty good job. I'm pretty picky about science fiction, being a real-life science lover as well as lover of anything to do with Star Trek, Stargate, BSG, Buffy, TVD, LOTR, etc (I keep telling my hubby that I really must make it to Comic-con at some point). Now that I sound like a sci-fi snob, let me say this: I really really like how Michael's has integrated human and bird aspects in the individuals within this work. It just works...and made me want to keep reading.Eyrie continued the original story well and is consistent to the original plot (no small feat for sequels) while being interesting in its own right as its own book. Now, this is not a stand-alone book. There is a very clear cliff-hanger that nearly made me pounce out of my seat when I realized that is where the book ended, and it clearly is the continuation of a story. Michael's obviously assumes that anyone reading Eyrie has read Owlet, and this is not a bad thing (the Lord of the Rings books are not stand-alone either). Merely an observation.The Bugly (bad/ugly)I'm happy to report that one of my bugly's from the prequel to Eyrie didn't bug me nearly as much here, perhaps because my brain was a bit more used to the world that Iris inhabits. Regardless, the need for a glossary to keep bloodlines and such straight was somewhat lessened. It feels as though those are actually fairly clearly laid out here, though I did lose track of a few things and had to backtrack a bit.That being said, the characters still sounded exactly like one another. They are not distinct enough for my liking. Yeah yeah, I gripe on this a lot. Yeah, I know how hard it is to keep voices distinct from one another (some day I'll be brave enough to show ya'll some of my fiction writing). But yeah, it distracts me when I feel as though I have to back up and figure out when the last “he said” was so I can figure out who is talking now.Oh, and sentence structure falls apart at least once or twice per chapter. There were a few lines where I thought I was pretty sure what the idea was...but got lost in confused clauses.  Grammar is important, and this bugged me a lot (and frankly is why my score for the work is one point lower than it would be otherwise).  I'm not saying I'm a grammar queen - clearly, if you read this my grammar is off in places as well - but in an edited work it annoyed me.OVERALL - I really liked this book.  It is a good, simple read that goes pretty quickly and is engaging on a level that engages the imagination in a pretty cool way.  It has its flaws...but so does Iris.  Are these flaws disguised strengths as they are for Iris?  You decide!