Review: Trinity Rising (The Wild Hunt #2) by Elspeth Cooper
**Please note that this review may contain spoilers. If you’ve not yet read the first book, you can find my review of it here**
Title: Trinity Rising (The Wild Hunt #2)
Author: Elspeth Cooper
Publication Date: 2012
Genre: Fantasy
Overview: Teia is a clans girl in the plains. When the clan leader starts to plan an attack against the Empire like Glwyth of old, Teia finds herself filled with horrible visions–the Hunt will destroy the Empire, the Veil, and the world. Teia flees, despite being six months pregnant and the new chief’s concubine, in order to warn the Empire after her clan fails to heed her warnings. Meanwhile, Gair is sent to the desert in an attempt to find a way to weaken Savir.
For Fans Of: Elspeth Cooper, George RR Martin
World-Building: This book benefits from some of the set up in the first novel, but it holds its own weight. We see the clans persons for the first time and Tanith’s homeland. The worlds are distinct and its made very clear how they interact with the outside world. I was pleasantly surprised at how much more integrated the world building was in this book than it its predecessor. The interaction between the clans people and the Song is complex and very well done. It’s not clear whether they are aware that other races have access to it or why the Song is found exclusively in their women, but that may be something that is answered in the following books. I also strongly suspect that Teia’s child will challenge this.
Character Development: I thought Teia was extremely well done; I liked her story far more than Gair’s, but this may have to do with the narrative following Teia through her hardships where with Gair it followed him after them. I also liked watching Tanith’s journey back to her home and seeing how she no longer fit there. I liked her more for it and for the strength it takes her to resist the pressures of her society in order to do what is right.
Gair’s development in this book was, at times, limited, but I felt it ended with him on a high enough note that he was really going somewhere other than into a spiraling depression over Aysha (Admittedly I thought his reaction to her death was not quite fitting to his personality, but it made some sense).
Plot: This second book moves much more quickly than the first and it held my interest much better. That may have to do with knowing the backstory, but I also suspect that Teia’s storyline was simply more compelling (at least to me). I also felt that Gair’s presence, though lessened was more poignant when it was there.
Rating: 4.0
Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Trinity-Rising-The-Wild-Hunt/dp/0765331667
Book Depository Link: http://www.bookdepository.com/Trinity-Rising-Elspeth-Cooper/9780575096196
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