Format: Hardcover, 400 pages
Release Date: September 3, 2019
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Science Fiction
Ia Cocha never thought she’d be working for the Olympus Commonwealth. But that was before she found out her trusted brother Einn was trying to tear apart the universe. Now, Ia, the Blood Wolf of the Skies, has agreed to help the Royal Star Force on one condition: when she finds him, she gets to kill Einn herself.
Brinn Tarver has just come to terms with her Tawny identity when the public lashes out against her people, crushing her family. At her breaking point, she starts to question everything she believes in—including Ia.
After the death of his mentor, Knives Adams is doing his best to live up to a role he didn’t ask for as Aphelion’s new headmaster. Still, with each new step deeper into war, he feels torn between his duties and the pull of Ia’s radical—sometimes criminal—ideas.
As they fight to keep darkness from eclipsing the skies, their unpredictable choices launch this breathtaking sequel to explosive new heights.
Eclipse the Skies, by author Maura Milian, is the second installment in the authors Ignite the Stars series. The story actually revolves around (3) main characters: Ia Cocha, once the universe's most feared criminal, is now working for the Olympus Commonwealth to hunt down her brother, Einn. Knives Adams has been appointed as Aphelion's newest and youngest ever Headmaster after the events of the previous installment. Brinn Tarver, a Half-Tawny Cadet at Aphelion Academy, fears for the lives of her family and the termination of the sanctuary act.
So much happens to Ia, the so called Sovereign of Dead Space, Wolfe of the Skies, and traitor to her people in this story. After failing to stop Einn in a face to face fight, Ia, who has a reputation as a badass, falls off the radar for awhile. She begins to question her own actions, and her ability to actually take down her brother who taught her everything she knows. While Einn is going full speed ahead with attacks on the Olympus Commonwealth, and his determination to tear the universe apart with a weapon that Brinn has knowledge of, Ia is searching for answers and trying to reconnect with her old crew she left behind.
Brinn not only embraces her heritage just as the world wants to demolish that same heritage and makes a choice after Einn, who she believes was talking down to her, defeats Ia. A choice that pits her directly against Ia and Knives. She joins with Einn to build weapons that kill thousands of people. How does she resolve her morality issue? The Commonwealth takes what they want, and leaves behind what is broken. She basically thinks that her people are being treated so badly by the Commonwealth, they need to be taken down and destroyed.
Knives new role still has him comparing himself to his deceased sister, Marnie, as well as his mentor, the former Headmaster Weathers. Knives needs to stop worrying about whether he fits into a category that is sister Marnie left behind, as well as one that his own father demands from him. He makes some silly mistakes in this book, and spends a whole lot of time doing absolutely nothing.
Two interesting characters are added to the series. Goner is Ia's chameleon like adversary who really is a pretty good overall character. Kami is an unexpectedly powerful being who not only helps Ia, but may also be the answer to what happens in the future when and if Einn and his allies are defeated. I have read reviewers make claim that this is only a duology. The way this book ends, makes it absolutely necessary that another story is written so that what happens in the end of the book, is better explained and expanded upon. Eclipse the Skies tone is darker and more serious. There isn't as much action as there was in the first installment. Overall, a good read.
