Beneath A Thousand Skies

Summary:

‘You will be the path we walk. You will be the last scale on a wing, the piece of the puzzle that makes everything complete.’

Deep beneath the Black Palace in Lieus, Suriin pays the price for trusting Natke. Cut off from her magic and unable to rescue herself, she waits on aid from Darin and the Howlers. The cost of her rescue? The future she’d always dreamed of.

Thanks to Darin and Chase, the Howlers’ access to magic is no longer restricted, but as they prepare to hunt down the xotryl and its new companion, they receive disturbing news from Dal. Natke is hunting. She will stop at nothing to get home to Tebein.

Far away, on Tebein, Elissa’s only hope to rescue her people is to travel to the moon of Mythos and find a way to re-open the Aulirean Gate on Lieus.

Be still my dragon loving heart.

Dragonriders of Pern was my gateway to SFF and imprinted itself on my six- or seven-year-old self, and Gates from the beginning hailed back to that series, at least in my mind – with Dragons and space – although this series leans away from the sci-fi elements of the former and is very much fantasy that dances along the bridge with sci-fantasy without venturing deeper. But, reading Gates – and especially reading Gates of Sorrow is like being wrapped up in a blanket of nostalgia for me particularly Elissa’s last scene in this book and the addition and development of the wonderful Charver (which is very may have supplanted Moonhounds as my favourite critters in this series as a result), while being absolutely and refreshingly its own thing.

Gates of Hope had given us a wonderfully strong foundation for this series, but for me Gates of Sorrow has made the trilogy sing. There is no middle-book syndrome (and I am often finding that the middle book is my favourite, because we know the world and the characters, and now we get to luxuriate in the world and the story without finding our feet) and Gates of Sorrow is like the current of a river flowing out to sea, unrelenting aside from small lulls in the current to let us and the characters breathe, and picking up pace and tension as we approach where the story will open out like a river to sea, with the various character paths coming together – peacefully or not in the final book. This is a book that knows where it is going and what it is working towards, even if the characters themselves are still searching for the answers alongside us the readers.     

‘But you’ll make a better bridge between all sides. You will be the path we walk, the route we take to save the awldrin and your people. You will be the last scale on a wing, the piece of the puzzle that makes everything complete.’

We return to our three principal characters of Darin, Suriin and Elissa – as well as a wonderful assemble of secondary characters; and while that quote above refers to one in particular, what is striking, even moreso in this second book is that really it could apply to any of the main characters. They are all walking different paths, even when those have intertwined or will, but each is a cornerstone to the story. They each have a key role to play, a part in the larger puzzle – and what is particularly hard-hitting is that none of these characters are the larger-than-life heroes of traditional epic fantasy. These are people who are trying to live their lives, to survive or follow their dreams, in a society where cooperation and ‘good’ are the default – there are secrets, and layers to the society, and those who want to exist independently – but fundamentally these are not societies mired in moral ambiguity or grimdark flavours. Even on Tebein where life has been a lot harsher for humans, that feel of community and ‘good’ breaks through with how people reach out to help each other from the Captain rescuing people from the enclaves to those within the enclaves protecting their own despite the risk.

Hannaford’s characterisation is always spot on, and here we get to see it through the growth of our main character. Of all of them, I think Suriin had the rockiest growth which is fitting with her age, and the fact that Hannaford has beautifully realised what it is to be a teenager stepping out of the sanctuary of the family home, where any misstep or mistake could be caught by safe arms, while being ablaze with the flame of adventure tempered with recklessness of being able to fly free of those same safe arms. In GoS we see the impact of her actions, both on those around her, but also on herself, and we get to bear witness both to the realisation of her own actions and their costs. But we also get to see her stepping up, sometimes with pushes from those around her, but still managing to choose her own path this time more aware of the risks, and the facture lines that can spread out from her actions.

Darin is almost a steadying hand on the wheel, and while very much central to events – it’s not in the larger-than-life hero we might expect, but more as a lynchpin – tying the old and the new together and bringing the hidden world of the Howlers into the present. Undoubtedly, we see him maturing here, but whereas Suriin’s development in that vein is front of centre, Darin’s is there in the moments of leadership, of pressing on against his fears, but also being able and willing to see when he needs to step back and let others take the limelight, and when they need support from behind. In some ways I feel that Darin and the Captain on Trebein are somewhat mirrored in that aspect.

Elissa remains my favourite. In many ways the mantle of ‘heroine’ lies most obviously on her shoulders, in the sense that so much is resting not only on her actions but on their success, and that she is moving the furthest from her starting point (and I’m not just talking about travelling through gates…). Like the others she is fighting to protect her community, and her world, but she alone of the three main characters is aware of the true scale of what that entails…and what could be lost; and it lends a weight to her character arc, that isn’t necessarily missing from the others, but is less muffled here. The changes she undergoes are both more physical than the others – which is one of my favourite elements of what has been done in this book, but I don’t want to delve too deeply into it for fear of spoiling it for others; but more acutely emotional. Emotions are a core component of the magic, and therefore each character’s story – but through Elissa they take on a completely different form and intensity, and Hannaford has done a fantastic job with that element and hasn’t let it completely overrule who Elissa was at her core or the fact that she is scarred and shaped by a different world and history than the others.

The secondary characters have continued to shine throughout GoS. The Howlers absolutely steal the show for me – both old and new; and it feels fitting that we’re getting to see more of them (both in numbers and in terms of plot), as the layers are being peeled away, and across this story, regardless of world the history of what came before is becoming the key to how they can save the present and future. I also love what Hannaford has done with her Dragons. There have been so many depictions of dragons, but this one is refreshing and unique, and Hannaford has breathed life and history into them and their interactions (Rapture is my favourite) – and what I really adore is that the dragons being brought back into contact with humans is not a solution to the problems, that they have as many questions as they do answers, and are humanly inhuman in the best way.

‘I knew I’d felt him leave. Where are my mate’s bones? Where do they lie? At his gate where he ever slept? The mistress I could never compete with?’

I would be remiss of course if I did not talk about the best boys and girls in this world – the Moonhounds. They remain a favourite, and we got to see the number of hounds increasing in this second book, and I love them all, and I think Swift may have well and truly stolen my heart. I also have to shout out a new Howler – that I don’t want to spoil but has added another dimension to this group and was wonderfully written.

Gates of Hope did a lot of the legwork with regards to establishing the multi-layered worldbuilding of this series, but in GoS we get to see that continuing to expand. Hannaford’s love and knowledge of this world shines through, both through the fauna and flora, each tailored to which planet we are – and I absolutely adored the descriptions for Mythos and the otherworldly sense that was conjured. But, also in all the little details that are filtering through, whether through the epigraphs, the illustrations and maps, but also through the unfolding plot, as GoS saw the characters and therefore us as the reader getting to dig deeper into the information and histories that had been hidden, and how it had shaped the present… and how it could change the future. It very gives the feeling that while the world is constantly expanding with the characters and the plot, there is still so much more to be discovered, and that is such a lovely feeling to be left with.

Also, I could happily spend a lifetime on Mythos and not just because it has Dragons!

I also have to talk about Hannaford handles the ‘threat’ in this book. For the majority of the book, the threat is imminent like a storm on the horizon. Our window to Natke and her actions is through Suriin, and more glimpses and impressions; while Elissa is reliant on news being relayed and dream conversations to find out what is happening beyond Hope. Firstly, this disconnect is very reflective of the worldbuilding, these are scattered communities, where communications can take time even in a period of crisis; and it adds weight to each character’s actions and choices because they are having to make those decisions with the information at hand, even while aware something more might be happening or have happened. It also, adds a tension – because there is that delay, and we know they might be too late; or that it might not be enough. I felt like I was holding my breath, as the tension tightened and tightened, with little releases here and there with the confrontations we did see, and the steps forward that were achieve, but still building and building until the storm arrived at the end of GoS.

In Gates of Sorrow Hannaford is firmly establishing her own flavour of epic fantasy. This is a series that embraces the scale and overarching threat of epic fantasy, but through a much more personal lens and with a strong underlying note of hope, bordering on almost cozy – just with violence and threat, and world-shattering stakes. However, for me what sets this series apart is that it is an emotional odyssey, whether through the magic, the dragons, or just the character’s experience. Le Guin said ‘Art frees us; and the art of words can take us beyond anything we can say in words’ and that I think is the power of this series, and most especially Gates of Sorrow.  This is a book as much woven with the colours and flavours of emotion as it is with words, but it is Hannaford’s writing and fantastic character work that bring the story to life and allow each reader to find what they need in this story. This is a brilliant second instalment in a series that is rapidly becoming a favourite, and if you haven’t already picked up Aulirean Gates what are you waiting for?