Format: Hardcover, 384 pages
Release Date: June 15, 2021
Publisher: Page Street Kids
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
The sequel to the hotly-anticipated Forest of Souls, an immersive fantasy, blending western-style tropes with Hmong cultural influences. Perfect for fans of Susan Dennard and Sarah J. Maas.
The Soulless is free from his centuries-long imprisonment. Now, he lurks in the Dead Wood recovering his strength, while Sirscha and her allies journey east to the shaman empire of Nuvalyn. Everyone believes she is a soulguide—a savior—but Sirscha knows the truth. She’s a monster, a soulrender like the Soulless, and if anyone discovers the truth, she'll be executed.
But there’s nothing Sirscha won’t risk to stop the shaman responsible for the rot that’s killing her best friend. While the Soulless is formidable, like all shamans, his magic must be channeled through a familiar. If Sirscha can discover what—or who—that is, she might be able to cut him off from his power.
With Queen Meilyr bent on destroying the magical kingdoms, Sirscha finds herself caught between a war brewing in the east and the Soulless waiting in the west. She should be trying to unite what peoples she can to face their common enemies, but instead, her hunt for clues about the Soulless leads to a grim discovery, forcing Sirscha to question who her enemies really are.
Broken Web is the second installment in author Lori M. Lee's Shamanborn series. The story picks up right after events happened in Forest of Souls. The world of Thiy is divided into three: humans, shadow wielders, and shamans. The story's main character is Sirscha Ashwyn. She once trained to become the Queen's Shadow under her mentor and betrayer Kendara who still carries a boat load of secrets. A shadow is a Master spy employed by the Queen who delivers secrets and is also an assassin. The only thing that held the peace together was The Spider King.
Sirscha is a Soulrender or one who can rip the soul out of a person's body or who can bring them back from the dead. The first person she brought back to life just happened to be her best friend, Saengo Phang, heir to the House of Phang, who is now Sirscha's familiar. Sirscha has made a boatload of mistakes since the beginning of this series. Now it is time to try to fix some of her mistakes. In order to save her Saengo as well as stopping Queen Meilyr, Sirscha must travel east to the shaman empire of Nuvalyn and seek answers.
To make matters worse, Queen Meilyr, fractured the kingdom when she imprisoned the shamanborn and started a war. She is hell bent on destroying the magical kingdoms. Another one of Sirscha’s supposed allies is Prince Melia Sanco who has had his eyes opened by the actions of his sister the Queen. Theyen Hlau is also another alleged ally of Sirscha's and their banter keeps things interesting. Unless Sirscha can unite the people together, a common enemy called the Soulless may destroy all that Sirscha and her allies hold dear. The Soulless is ever present where ever Sirscha goes taunting her know that she has a very long way to go before she can rest.
There's no in your face romance or love triangles in this story. Sirscha and Saengo's relationship is that of best friends, or close sisters who have been bound by tragic events and a willingness to fight until the last breath. Saengo comes from a noble background, while Sirscha is an orphan who never knew what happened to her mother or father. I do recommend that you try to read these books as close together as possible which seems to be inhumanly possible with all that is happening in this world. However, as I have one said, it may be better to wait for the entire series to be released first, then read them back to back so that you don't forget things that happened in past installments. That may not work out for some since there are spoilers likely to appear across the internet.
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