The Unrelenting Earth

By- Kritika H. Rao

    This book is the sequel to The Surviving Sky that I previously read. I found it right next to it in the library however, the cover is less appealing and title had me even less excited. Nevertheless, I wanted to see how the story ends. 

    The book picks up right where the other one left off. Ahilya and Iravan go their separate ways, leaving each other for there own purposes. There are a lot of unresolved issues and feelings left unsaid about the future of their relationship but the needs of the present are too important to ignore. Ahilya goes back home with the plan to share what she had learned about humanities past and to try and help them rebuild. She is elected to the council, however there is a lot of turmoil caused by her revelations that do not coincide with their culture and previously known history. Ahilya finds herself in a position she has sought after for years but the circumstances around it are much different than she hoped or expected, how can she decide what is the best way for her and her people to proceed. Iravan stays behind in the jungle in the home that they built together. He is trying to learn and understand his new life and abilities since reuniting with his counterpart, the falcon. The falcon is unpredictable and full of rage and fury and Iravan must find a way to control him before he can reunite with his people and free other estactics. Iravan finally decides to go home with a plan to move forward and help more people like him however, things do not go as planned as more people are brought into our world and with it more chaos as the world seems to be falling apart all around them. Will Iravan help his people or destroy them and the world?

    Once again the author does a great job building on the world they already built adding new cities and characters that are unique and complex. We witness the inner struggle of both the main characters, struggles that are easy to relate to even though the world they live in is vastly different from our own. Once again there is a lot going on in this book, the level of detail of the world is almost overwhelming. I will definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed the first. My biggest issue with the second book is there are too many moments that after the character learns new information they have some huge realization that changes everything for themselves and have a plan to save everyone. In each moment the characters are so convinced that they finally figured everything out and you as a reader feel a part of that experience only to find out they were wrong. It was not having this in the plot that bothered me but instead only that it happened more than once. Overall if you read the first you have to finish the story the author does not disappoint.