Book Review: Legacy of Ghosts (The Coraidic Sagas, #2) by Alicia Wanstall-Burke
ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Legacy of Ghosts by Alicia Wanstall-Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Series: The Coraidic Sagas (Book #2 of 3)
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 672 pages (Kindle edition)
Published: 30th November 2019 by Alicia Wanstall-Burke
Legacy of Ghosts is, without a doubt, a worthy successor to Blood of Heirs.
First of all, I’m going to repeat a bit of what I’ve said in my Blood of Heirs review. I’ve mentioned before that my ARC and review requests were out of control that I had to reject so many of them; this situation hasn’t changed, it only got worse. But considering the fact that Blood of Heirs was one of the biggest indie surprises I’ve read last year, I knew I had to accept the ARC request of this book and give it a go as soon as I can; I’m happy that Legacy of Ghosts ended up being another great read.
“Life isn’t about getting what you want, Lidan. It never has been. I thought you would have learned that by now. We get what we’re given, and it’s up to us to navigate the river or let it drown us.”
Legacy of Ghosts is the second book in The Coraidic Sagas trilogy by Alicia Wanstall-Burke. With this sequel, Wanstall-Burke has successfully proven that her debut wasn’t a fluke; Legacy of Ghosts used everything established in the first book as a blueprint to expand on the characterizations, the stakes of threats, and the scope of the world. The story in Legacy of Ghosts takes place four years after the end of Blood of Heirs. Wanstall-Burke utilized the time-gap to mature the characters and storyline further; once again, there are only two main characters’ POVs to follow here: Lidan and Ranoth. Rest assured that despite the time-gap, the story still continues seamlessly from where things have left off in the previous book. Although it took me a bit of time to remember (I’ve read more than 110 books since I finished Blood of Heirs a year ago) the side characters, I honestly believe that Wanstall-Burke did a good job in reminding her readers about the main event of her previous book efficiently. I won’t be talking about the details of the plot at all because doing so would, in a way, spoiled the final sections of the first book, and I don’t want that to happen. I would, however, say that Legacy of Ghosts retains all the great qualities from Blood of Heirs; the most noticeable being the impressive characterizations, well-written action scenes, and world-building expansion.
“Thing is, that’s not how the world works. You can’t fix things with a word and a smile. You can’t take back an insult or repair a broken heart. Not really. Those cuts remain—they scar you and the people you inflict them on. We tell children to say sorry, and when they grow up, they’ll believe that’s how wrongs are undone, that things can be set right again. But it’s not, is it? If saying sorry meant a damned thing, do you think we’d be in this war?”
Clean prose and wonderful characterizations have always been Wanstall-Burke’s main strength as an author; the characterizations for Lidan and Ran were terrifically done that all of their feelings and actions are conveyed clearly to the reader. I’ve mentioned in my Blood of Heirs review that the expansion to the world-building, magic, and history of the world would appear in its sequel, and Wanstall-Burke didn’t disappoint on all fronts. Seriously, Legacy of Ghosts is much more action-packed compared to its predecessor, but notwithstanding the well-written action sequences that can be found in many sections throughout the book, Wanstall-Burke really raised the intensity and quality of the series within the last quarter. Unveiled rage, thrilling clan politics, factions trying to exact revenge, a convergence of storylines, and realistically stunning revelations were all there. A huge part of why all of these were achievable was due to how well fleshed out the characters were; Wanstall-Burke’s clean prose also continues to be delightful to read.
“Danger often did that to people. Perhaps that was how he and Iridia had ended up as they were—bound together by invisible chains that had not broken no matter how hard he’d tried to sever their hold.”
There are still many great moments and events that I purposely left out from this review because I strongly believe that it will be highly beneficial for readers to read them without any prior knowledge. However, before I close my review, I would like to once again establish the notion that this series is seriously worth a go if you’re into character-driven fantasy. It’s true that scope of the story has gotten bigger in scope now, but at its core, The Coradicic Sagas main strength remain firmly lodged in its intimacy narration; it has always been about the characters more than anything else. Legacy of Ghosts is vividly written; it’s a thunderous sequel that offers an engaging narrative, action-packed plotline, and revelations that make me excited for the third and last book of the trilogy. Judging from the direction of the story, it seems very hopeful that the third book will deliver the best that the series has yet to offer. Highly recommended!
“There will be a reckoning for what they did to us. There will be a bloody toll to pay for what was taken. And when it comes, that dawn will break hot and red, and they will curse the day they turned their ire on our people.”
You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US
The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.