The Makers of Light by Lynna Merrill

Synopsis:

Spring is coming to Mierenthia, yet coldness is still keeping a tight grip upon the world. 

Reinstalled as a mentor but considering himself to be the attempted murderer of his father-figure Maxim, Dominick preaches the Master's wisdom but his heart is no longer in it. One morning he loses control and does what he thinks will condemn him forever. Instead, he is awarded with a task much harder, and much more important, than that of any other mentor. 

Merley is now walking on the path of artificery, that of working with metal through magic. Yet, at certain moments she abhors metal and the tools and fire that mold it in ways that no Ber should. 

Linden and Rianor continue to search for the secrets of science and Ber magic. They are almost convinced that the two are one and the same, when suddenly fire and magic fail even in Qynnsent. This forces them to doubt their choices. They must now decide what life truly is, as well as which lives are worth saving and which ones can, or should, be sacrificed.

Review:

So this is book two in the series, I reviewed the first book in the series The Seekers of Fire a few months back, and enjoyed it. To be honest first and foremost, if you are going to read The Makers of Light then you they you really should read The Seekers of Fire before hand, because this book really doesn't stand on it's own to well. I think you would appreciate it a lot more with at least a working knowledge of the people and the world the series takes place in. 

As with the first book the writer does a good job with creating a world and characters that you can enjoy and get wrapped up in. I think on of the things that made me like the book was that I recognized the people within it and everyone I already liked or enjoyed was there with me and along for the ride. 

Also another thing that went along with the first book was that the author was really good at bringing social issues into the book. She takes a look at a lot of different issues, but I really do enjoy her use of science throughout the book, and how it almost becomes like a religion to the people. 

I think there are a lot of things I could talk about that go on in this book, but I really think it would end up being like a huge spoiler for the first book. If I could on'y say one thing about this book is that the writer does a really fantastic job of continuing the series on. One of the most annoying things when I start reading a series is when the tone of the next book changes or I feel like the characters I fell in love with suddenly change, so this book being so on par with the last book makes this book all the more better. 

Overall, I think this book deserves the same good rating as the previous one got. Again I think anyone who like epic fantasy would enjoy this book. I also think if you read the first one the you really have to read the second one. I really do enjoy her writing style, and I always love when a woman writes epic fantasy.