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| The Battle Drum by Saara El-Arifi |
Book title:
The Battle Drum
Author:
Saara El-Arifi
Genre:
Fantasy
Published: May
23, 2023
560 pages
Anoor is the first blue-blooded ruler of the Warden’s Empire, but before her reign has even started she is falsely accused of a murder, and she must solve the crime without the help of her lover, Sylah. Sylah has left the Empire in search of a solution to the hurricane that threatens her land. The new truths she learns change everything she knows, and soon she must prepare for an oncoming battle. Meanwhile, Hassa, the Ghosting spy, uncovers more atrocities of the Empire’s past and present.
The Battle Drum is the second book in Saara El-Arifi’s fantasy trilogy The Ending Fire. I read the first book, The Final Strife, last year and gave it four stars. The Battle Drum is a solid sequel to the first book, but unfortunately it suffers from a middle book syndrome.
First, the good: I loved learning more about the world outside the Warden’s Empire. The world felt real and immersive with unique details. Bonus points for the handy recap of the events of the first book in the beginning – it made the book so much easier to follow, as I had forgotten a lot of the details. The Battle Drum also had lots of twists and turns, which made it an entertaining read.
However, since we’re following five point-of-view characters (the three main female characters as well as Sylah’s ex-lover/frenemy Jond and a new female character Nayeli) with their own plot lines and different settings, the other plot lines were basically put on hold for several chapters to follow one character. It made the book seem a little choppy and disjointed.
It didn’t help that for the majority of her story line, Sylah was injured and unconscious. And instead of trying to execute changes in the government, Anoor’s storyline was taken over by a false murder accusation which she had to solve. I also didn’t like how Anoor jumped into (clearly wrong) conclusions about who the murderer was – and not only once but several times. We didn’t see any character development from them, and a lot of their scenes ended up feeling like a filler.
However, I loved Hassa’s storyline, and I was intrigued by Nayeli’s character, although in the end it was rather easy to guess who she really was. I still didn’t care much for Jond, but my estimation of him grew after he rescued the little sand kitten (I guess the Save the Cat! writing advice is right!).
The second book in a trilogy is always a tricky one, and I often end up not liking it as much as the first or the third one. That was the case this time as well. Nevertheless, this book sets up the last book nicely, and I’m eager to continue with the series. I’m giving this book three and a half stars, but if you loved The Final Strife, it’s definitely worth the read.
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