http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2021-04.html ( )

The Black Khan is the sequel to The Bloodprint, which was released last year. It picks up right where the first book left off and starts with absolutely gut-wrenching action scenes. I spent much of my time reading with my fist between my teeth to keep from gasping or crying or yelling. The plot is dark and twisty and you're never sure who to trust.

The major players from The Bloodprint are here, along with a large cast of new characters. The new characters are well-developed, each with his or her own set of complex motivations. They feel real. That is, perhaps, the best compliment I can give - this feels like a living history. You can see, smell, and hear everything that occurs on the page because Khan breathes life into her world. She carefully crafts this world in such detail that it plays like a film in the reader's mind, but without getting so bogged down that it feels like a dry textbook. At the heart of The Black Khan is the magic of language, The Claim. Khan's own use of language in her storytelling is just as magical.

While The Bloodprint introduces us to Khorasan and a world where women are subjugated by the Talisman, The Black Khan is even darker. Here we get an up close look inside the borders of the Authoritan's lands of North Khorasan, his prisons, and systems of torture. We see the machinations of the courtiers in Rukh's lands of West Khorasan, and get an even more detailed look at the inner workings of Hira. It's dark and violent, but we also meet the resistance groups. The ending promises hope, and that is what will keep me reading. I'm sure there is more death, pain, suffering, destruction, and heartbreak to come, but there is also a light that offers hope, a promise of salvation for the people, and I cannot wait to see what comes next. ( )