The Hanging Mountains

Book 3 of the 'Books of the Cataclysm' requires familiarity with the prior novels to prove fully satisfying, but any reader following the saga will find THE HANGING MOUNTAINS an indispensable read. Here the Divide is flooded, the Homunculus is missing, and Sal and company are searching for the legendary Hanging Mountains to avert a crisis. Dangerous truths come to light in this active story of a desperate journey. A top pick for collections that have author Sean Williams' other books. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch

The Books of the Cataclysm continues. The Sky Wardens journey to the Hanging Mountains in search of the source of the flood and find two races perpetuating a generations-old war. While eluding his own old enemy, the Homunculus feels an ancient evil awakening in the mountains. Moreso than The Blood Debt, The Hanging Mountains brings the story back to the beginnings. I found that I enjoyed this one much more than the previous book although not quite as much as The Crooked Letter. If you've been reading the series, this is not to be missed.

Thousands of years after the Cataclysm eradicated civilization, Sky Warden Marmion reluctantly detours from his prime mission to uncover the source of the flood that apparently rose out of the Divide that splits the Earth. Instead frustratingly, he and his traveling compatriots are stuck in a forest trying to prevent war between the Milang human foresters and the Panic beasts. Meanwhile the twins Hadrian and Seth continue to occupy the same body that of a Homunculus. They, tracker Habryn Kail and others flee the rising waters that inundate the land near the Divide hoping to find some safety in the legendary balloon cities of the Hanging Mountains. Sal and his companions on a ship of bones pursue them even as the siblings and Habryn begin to realize there is an unknown force at work trying to deliberately bring forth a second Cataclysm; evidence mounts that the original apocalyptic pandemic was caused by Homunculus so that Hadrian, Seth and Habryn wonder if they are the source again. The third tale in the second saga is a well written entry that in one exciting (in of itself) subplot moves the overall chronicle glacially sideways (Marmion's tale) while the other prime adventure (the twins' tale) moves closer to the final confrontation though it also contains an entertaining unneeded "debate". Still fans of the series will enjoy this volume (newcomers need to pursue at least the previous two novels if not the first series too) as Sean Williams sets in motion the final confrontation in the upcoming book four. Harriet Klausner

The Books of the Cataclysm continues. He has tricked me though, looking at the end of this, it would appear to be at least a quadrilogy. Still very good again, as the band surrounding Sal and Shilly continues to grow, they literally encounter aliens in a Floating City, locked in a struggle with a forest people. The mysterious Angel is uncovered, Seth and Hadrian's homunculus form starts to become more grounded. Relations also continue to improve between change workers, and non, and authority figures and otherwise. Definitely a group of characters that you could have a drink with, talking stone heads notwithstanding.