ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Leigh Bardugo is an American author. She is popular for her young adult and fantasy novels. Bardugo graduated from Yale University with a degree in English. She published the first book of The Grisha Trilogy in 2012 and has received many awards. She has also published an anthology of essays and short stories.
REVIEW
What is infinite? The universe and the greed of men.
Siege and Storm is the second book in The Grisha Trilogy authored by Leigh Bardugo. The book picks up the story of the first book Shadow and Bone and takes the readers deeper into the enchanting world of the Grishaverse. For obvious reasons, it is recommended to read the first book in the series before proceeding to this one.
The story starts with Mal and Alina, who leave their home country Ravka and cross the ocean to reach the western continent of Novyi Zem. Whilst both of them are free for a while, the evil Darkling keeps pursuing them. The evil is more powerful and is entrusted with the magical powers of the Grisha.
Alina must protect herself and Mal from the deadly Darkling. She has to forge new alliances and fight Darkling’s overwhelming power, which draws her deep inside the game of forbidden magic. Alina has to protect her country, her love and her power, or face the risk of losing everything to the deceitful and powerful Darkling. She has to live up to the expectations of her countrymen and do justice to her new role as Sankta Alina, or the Sun Summoner, who can vanquish the evil forces of Darkling.
Anything worth doing always starts as a bad idea.
The book also explores the inner anti-hero of Alina, her thirst for power and her incompatibility with Mal, who is afraid of her powers. It also introduces new characters into the plot like Nikolai, Tolya and Tamar (the twins) and Sturmhond (the privateer), which adds to the intrigue of the narrative. However, readers are made to miss Darkling as most of his appearances are confined to Alina’s dreams.
Curiously enough, the novel is not so much about the characters as about the beautiful world of Ravka, the powerful dark magic of Grisha and the politics of power play among the lead characters. It is fast paced and keeps the readers hooked throughout. Siege and Storm is far better than its predecessor in terms of narrative and character development. Though nothing much has changed in the style of writing, the book is certainly more engrossing than the first installment of the series, thanks to the writing technique used by the author, which is a beautiful blend of the old fairy tale and the modern style.
The book Siege and Storm merits a 3-star rating from Ameya. Readers are bound to fall in love with its intriguing and fast-paced narrative, which makes the book a page turner. The character development of Alina, Darkling, Nikolai and Mal is breathtaking. The author introduces readers to new facets of each of the characters. Each one of them has their own vices and virtues, and each one of them has their own motives and are part of the struggle for power. The high-octane climax takes the novel to an all new level. Readers are ultimately left waiting with bated breath for the third and final book in the series.
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