Review: Arm of the Sphinx (Books of Babel #2)

4 stars. Okay, so I'm chipping away at this series despite continuing to deal with pregnancy-related concentration issues and also - as discovered during my many, many (many) failed reading challenges to finish series I've started - I GET BORED, OKAY?! But here we are, halfway through the Books of Babel, and I do have really good things to say. This series really is everything people say it is. Creative, swashbuckling, full of heart - almost sickly sweet! - exciting, fantasy at its finest. 

Thomas Senlin, in book one, ascended the Tower of Babel in search of his wife Marya, from whom he was separated almost immediately upon arrival. He survived the beer-soaked and thief-laden grime of the Basement, the dark treachery and trickery of the Parlor, the seduction and humidity of the Baths, etc. etc. etc. He also made some friends along the way. And those friends are now his pirate crew on a banged-up airship, trying to survive long enough to help their captain rescue his long lost wife. The quest continues.

The crew members take on bigger roles in this book. Their perspectives are very welcome, and well-written. It's less trope-y than you'd expect: of course every character brings his or her own strengths and weaknesses and quirks, but they are refreshing and consequential and play into the narrative really nicely. I'm eager to see each of them handle the inevitable twists to come.

I mentioned that I chipped away at this: for the personal reasons I shared, it did feel like a bit of a laborious effort. When I step back, though, I think there's a pretty safe argument in favor of some editing. It's very long, this book, and I do think there could've been some... shaving. Carving. Narrowing. Focusing. Etc. I also had a very hard time picturing/grasping both the action sequence set pieces, and the more complicated depictions of anything technological. This author has a vivid imagination, and probably pictures each scene with great, incredible detail, but it wasn't translated successfully for me. 

This did not really take away from my reading enjoyment, or my ability to follow the story. I have absolutely zero regrets and I'm so excited to see where things go. 

Arm of the Sphinx on: Amazon | Bookshop.org | Goodreads