The Ships of Air (The Fall of Ile-Rien, Book 2)

Martha Wells's beautifully written "Ships of the Air," the second in the author's "Fall of Ile-Rien" trilogy (and you really have to read the first novel, "The Wizard Hunters," before you tackle this one) surpasses the first in its utter looneyness. We meet once again the spectacularly neurotic Tremaine Valliarde (who has, thankfully, gotten over her suicidal impulses), as she and the companions she met in the first volume explore the world she now finds herself in as they attempt to learn more about the Gardier, who have been wreaking havoc on Tremaine's world. In order to do so, Tremaine engineers an alliance between one of the tribes of this world, the Syprians, and the Rien, after which they attempt to discover just where the Gardier are coming from. At the end of the volume, after quite a trip, they do. Once again Wells's elegantly flowing prose style smoothes out the rough spots caused by her tendency, as was the case in the first volume, to write herself into a corner, creating problems for herself that don't really matter. (I suspect that, like her heroine, Ms. Wells makes things up on the fly--perhaps working from only the loosest of outlines. And that's not a complaint.) Whatever. The completely dysfunctional quest is bizarre fun. Tremaine has leadership foisted on her after she gets married mainly on a dare, and although she hasn't a clue, she's certainly plucky and lucky. The tale, which features sorcery and electricity in equal proportions, moves quickly from land to a converted luxury liner and thence to "flying whales," which is what some of the characters call this world's version of hot-air balloons. (They're filled with hydrogen, not helium. Oh. Oh.) And despite the fantasy elements, much of the novel is grounded in reality. Wells describes perfectly what is bound to occur when a group of ill-assorted people are forced to go sallying forth together. They quarrel; they fight for dominance; they all think they're right. It's quirky fun. For readers anyway.

I loved the story, kept me interested throughout. Wells is a good author who has a good idea how to keep the reader turning the pages. I hope there will be more from her as I look foward to experiencing more of what she has to offer. Another book readers of Ships of Air would possibly like is The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. Slightly different from hers, still not too bad.

This is the second book in The Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy. As a result, read by itself the book probably would not make a lot of sense as it relies heavily on the events in book 1. As a follow on from THE WIZARD HUNTERS this is an excellent instalment. Its strange to read a fantasy novel set mostly on a large luxury ocean liner like this one is. We finally get some answers about the Gardier in this book and the series is making steady progess as the books build on one another. I'll be interested to see how this story concludes in Book 3 as I like the characters, especially Tremaine.

The Ships of Air, the second book in this series, builds upon the strengths of the first while also improving several of the first book's flaws. As in The Wizard Hunters, the main character's depth and likeability is a major strength. Tremaine is a complex character, displaying a variety of emotions and pursuing a variety of actions, some of them not so clearly understood by those around her or even herself. Several of the side characters from the Wizard Hunters whose characterization suffered a bit from shallowness deepen into more three-dimensional creations here, enriching the overall flavor of the novel and allowing Wells the luxury of dipping into several enjoyable side-stories. The writing moves along crisply and often humorously, another positive carried over from book one. Where the first book suffered somewhat from repetitive plot, villains painted in too-shallow pictures, and an over-reliance on Tremaine's sphere as a deus ex machina, Ships of Air suffers from none of these. The villains, the Gardier, are explained more fully from inside and out. The storyline finds excitement though expanding existing tensions and adding new points of contention/crisis rather than simply repeating a pattern of capture/escape/capture/escape. And the sphere plays a relatively minor role to the advantage of both character and plot. Some of the foreshadowing from book one is resolved here and, as is expected of a bridge novel in a series, new questions arise to tantalize the reader. If anything, these new questions are more intriguing than the old ones. This, combined with the improvements in plot and character, make this not only a better written book than Wizards, but also a much stronger lure into continuing with the series. A good recommendation.

Using magic, the mysterious off-worlders Gardier has conquered Ile-Rien though the embattled Rienish wizards have learned how to open an inter-world portal. Another defeated foe of the Gardier, the Syprians fear magic due to its misuse by evil wizards Their Chosen One, Giliead, is resistant to most magic.Meanwhile Tremaine Valiarde knows that the soul of the great wizard Arisilde rests inside a magical sphere that is the last hope that the Rienish wizards have to defeat Gardier magic. She and her fellow exiles on Syprian pull a passenger liner through the portal that upsets the locals and bring them to the attention of malevolent wizards who want the sphere. To ease the minds of the anti-magic local populace about her motives, Tremaine marries Gilead's brother Ilias, a freedom fighter who has killed several evil wizards. The intrepid Tremaine leads a raid on the Gardier, but she and others become trapped inside an enemy airship that a wizard transports from this orb to what she assumes is the enemy's homeworld with no exit for her and her allies.The WIZARD HUNTERS, the second Book of the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, is an exciting epic fantasy that contains realistic worlds and genuine races occupying the orbs. The story line is fast-paced and action-packed as the beleaguered Rienish are nearing a last stand with no hope of defeating the conquering Gardier. Tremaine, daughter of the champion of DEATH OF THE NECROMANCER (same world, but outside this series), is a fantastic heroine, as she feels the hopelessness that her race feels. With two great stories already printed, readers will look forward to an all's wells that ends well finale.Harriet Klausner