CBR14 Bingo: “Monster” – Tori begins a slippery slope of abusing her mental powers and starts self-describing as a monster.
The first book in the Wells of Sorcery trilogy, Ship of Smoke and Steel, was exclusively from Isoka’s point of view. City of Stone and Silence switches things up by alternating between Isoka and her younger sister Tori.
Having survived the voyage aboard Soliton, Isoka faces new challenges. All aboard the ship have been forced off of it by the angel enforcers onto a mysterious island. The crew find themselves in the midst of a three way standoff between factions that have previously been stranded on the island. Isoka isn’t interested in joining anyone or carving out a space. Instead she is laser focused on getting back aboard Soliton, taking control of the ship, and getting back to Kahnzoka before Tori’s time runs out.
Concern for the welfare of fellow mage-bloods, as well as the plight of the lower classes, has found Tori sneaking out of the safety of her mansion in the upper class second ward of Kahnzoka. She has been helping in a hospital that also works to hide mage-bloods in the depths of the eleventh ward. A ward that is only a small step above slums. But when her birthday has come and gone without a visit from Isoka, Tori becomes deeply worried for her sister’s safety. For several years now Tori has known she has the ability to use Kindre, the sorcery well of the mind. Up until now she has used it to perceive people’s locations and their general mood state. Fear for Isoka has Tori experimenting with the depths of her abilities as she starts heading down a dangerous path. Tori is repulsed by what she is is doing. Frightened by the strength of her abilities, but intoxicated by the results of manipulating people’s minds, Tori begins to self-identify as a monster. However, the lure of directing outcomes to her means has Tori shrugging aside the horror of what she is doing.
I was surprised by the revolution storyline introduced in this book but perhaps I shouldn’t have been based on the description of Kahnzoka and the Empire’s treatment of mage-bloods. It’s interesting how each sister thinks of the other and extrapolates what the sister thinks of them in return. The story got deeper and the world a little bigger in this book. I expect Isoka to get back to Kahnzoka in the third book and am deeply curious about the sisters eventual reunion.
