(3.00)380 pages. Includes author mini-bio and acknowledgments.
This is the rare case where I read the book because I liked the cover so much – against a plum-colored background with wisps of smoke, a mysterious glass decanter filled with a pink liquid, accompanied by three golden scorpions.
But first, I had to track down and read the previous novel, Gravemaidens – see my review here.
Following their escape at the end of the first novel, Kammani and her friends have taken refuge in the city-state of Manzazu. When the elite scorpion warrior maidens become ill, Kammani heals them, and the queen honors her by giving the warriors the duty to protect her.
But then an assassin enters the city and kills the healer – but the wrong healer. Recognizing that Uruku of Alu is behind this (the bad guy from the first novel), the queen proclaims war against Alu. Kammani protests, worried about killing and looting in her home city, but the queen is adamant.
Kammani comes up with a plan: She and her friends will return to Alu, where she will use her healing abilities to poison Uruku before the war begins, thus preventing widespread suffering.
I recommend reading the previous novel first, or you will not know the primary characters.
While the book is inspired by ancient Mesopotamian settings, the city and its "scorpion warrior maidens" are fictional. There is no magic as such, but some supernatural elements that the author leaves ambiguous (are they dreams?).
The citystate of Alu is shown to be impoverished under the autocratic and murderous rule of Uruku. Much of the book involves Kammani and her allies seeking means and opportunity to poison Uruku. Iltani, Kammani's amusing sidekick from the first novel, is now an addict and unreliable.
The book has at least three themes: peace versus war, unity versus disunion, and freedom versus patriarchy. Kammani, who seems to think like a 21st Century woman in the Bronze Age, is even more agonized this time over male dominance of women, forced marriages, and lack of job opportunities for women (healers).
Kammani is also tormented by visions from The Boatman, the terrifying entity who conveys the dead across the river of death, and is also the patron of healers. What does he want?
The plot has a number of twists and turns before reaching the ultimate conclusion of this series.
I was disappointed by this one. Now, I'll admit I'm not the target audience, which is apparently young female teens. The subject matter is rather grim, I lost track of who all the characters were, Kammani's introspection about women's rights was annoying and out of place, the author was far too heavy handed with the moral lessons, and it's disappointing when the main characters have to be rescued at the end.
Can you wargame it? The elite scorpion warriors engage in two battles: an attack on the palace of Azu, and the battle at the arena. Both are one-sided fights, and the author provides little military information besides sickleswords and chariots.
There is no bad language, romance but no sex, but there is some gore related to fighting and healing.
This isn't a novel I would recommend reading. I kept putting it aside, and finally had to force myself to finish it.
Reviewed by 
Editor in Chief Bill 
.