“’Our armies, with their shining armour and singing swords are rusty and dusty bones. We are like.. an echo of something that came before.’”

The Bitter Twins by Jen Williams is the second book in The Winnowing Flame trilogy and although it took me a long time to finally read this instalment, it was easy to once again become immersed, as this is an astonishingly fascinating adventure where there is always more to uncover.

The world of Sarn is at war. The Ninth Rain has begun and the Jure’lia have been unleashed. Whilst the Jure’lia queen sets her Burrowers to destroy the lands and people, the remaining inhabitants of Ebora ready themselves and their newly hatched war-beats for battle. However, with Ebora in a weakened state, with scarcely any warriors left, and with the war-beasts a shadow of their former glory having no memory or link to their past, it falls upon the inexperienced Tor, Fell-Noon, Bern, Aldasair and Vintage to lead the resistance. Vintage believes the key to unlocking the war-beast’s memories lies on a mythical island called Origin. Fell-Noon with her dragon-beast Vostok and Tor with his cat-beast Kirune fly in search of this island and the answers it may hold. Whilst Vintage is vexed to be left behind, she goes about the task of finding as many allies as possible, whilst sending Bern and Aldasair with their war-beasts to Finneral to investigate an awakening Behemoth. Meanwhile, Hestillion is on board the Corpse Moon, the Jure’lia Queen’s very own Behemoth, and whilst at first she is kept as a prisoner, she soon creates an alliance with the Queen. Hestillion knows the people of Sarn are doomed, for the queen is creating monsters the likes of which have never been seen before. 

Much akin the first book, The Ninth Rain, the narrative of The Bitter Twins holds strong Indiana Jones vibes, a franchise which I happen to love. Several of our characters each go on quests to find long forgotten or mythical artefacts, however the stakes of finding these items are much higher. More than anything these artefacts are connections to Eboran history, a key to unlocking how the victories of past Rains were accomplished and that knowledge alone is vital. The concept of memories and history is a key theme as William shows how they connect us and how significant the past is to understanding the present and shaping the future. The war-beasts need to remember their former glory to be able to conquer the Jure’lia, whilst the Jure’lia work as a hive mind and need to share their memories in order to function as one. In the same way that people also share memories which connect them in various ways. The Eborans also need to understand their own history and search for Ygersil’s origins as this may hold the answers to saving their race. 

“‘Each memory crystal reminds us who we were and who we are, going back through every new world and every new body. Memories go deeper than your bones.’”

Though Williams doesn’t make the characters’ quests easy, not by any means, as they face many challenges along the way and when they do finally stumble upon what they were seeking it is not at all what they expected. The island holds more horrifying answers than either Tor or Noon could ever have imagined. Vintage, along with a young Eboran orphaned child, Eri, face betrayals and Bern and Aldasair face being captured. To make matters worse, the Jure’lia do not idly wait for their enemies to make their move. As they gain knowledge of their downfalls and their successes, they learn and they experiment with creating more advanced warriors. When I tell you this book is stressful, I damn well mean it! 

“Vostok’s blood surged hot beneath her pearly scales and ivory feathers. Noon grinned to herself. She was chilled to the bone, they were hopelessly outnumbered and everyone was in grave danger, but she was flying a fucking dragon.”

This is a book filled with an eclectic cast of characters, ones which I deeply cared and rooted for, so you can imagine my horror every time they faced danger. Williams’ characters are written so distinctly they are easily recognisable. Tor is still highly concerned with his appearance and doesn’t like to exert himself too much, Noon still has her explosive temper and Vintage is still scholarly, becoming lost in uncovering mysteries and puzzle solving. Then there is my beloved Eri, who was a new character who I absolutely adored. Quiet and thoughtful, filled with sorrow and uncertainty and incredibly lonely. Williams also creates her fantastical characters with just as much care and attention. They each are presented with differing personalities and traits; Vostok being majestic and dominant and Kirune being sulky, snappish and petulant. Sharrik our griffin-beast was fierce and aggressive whilst our wolf-beast, Jessen, was more astute. Yet these characters show growth along the way, they put aside their individual goals and qualms and learn to work together to save Sarn, if they can. They slowly put trust in each other and form endearing bonds. Can you tell how much I love them all?

“Just between you and me, I’ve never crawled up a monster’s arse before. It’s quite exciting.”

Having such loveable characters comes with a price though, especially when they are in the hands of an author who constantly puts them through hell. As stressful as this sequel is, it is equally packed full of emotional damage. That’s not to say that the characters lack humour, they made me laugh on multiple occasions, particularly Vintage with her unique mix of eloquent and sweary dialogue, but there was also much melancholy. Some of the most sorrowful scenes come when we discover the impact of the Jure’lia’s destruction and the lives they have taken. For me, I felt the deepest sorrow when Williams showed us how the crimson flux destroyed Eboran lives, how they suffered and starved. We starkly see this through Eri’s character, who had spent his young life isolated with only the bones of his parents for company, after they too died of the flux.

The Bitter Twins is an epic adventure wrapped in humour, heart racing action, a mesmerising world and the most loveable heroes. Williams delivers the ultimate escapist read. My expectations for the final book in the trilogy, The Poison Song, are high but I also know I’ll be left utterly heartbroken.