“His targets were close, and his hunt was almost over. He focused only on following the humans and catching them. It didn’t bother him that the walls began to twitch and slither. The sound of crackling bones didn’t deter his hunt.“
4.75 Stars out of 5
Hello my book reading friends! Have I got a treat for you all. I got the privilege to take part in the book tour for T.A. Bruno’s newest book, On the Winds of Quasars which happens to be book 2 in The Song of Kamaria. I read book one In the Orbit of Sirens last month and fell head over heels for the world that Bruno created, so it was a thrill to be picked to take part in this tour, its also a great way to commemorate my first book tour post! So with out further ado, lets get going, and so you know my review will be located under all of the book information, I ‘ll make sure to give it a fancy header!
Also don’t forget to stop by the other tour spots too, you can find the schedule HERE
Make your way to the end of this post and find out information regarding a Giveaway
The thrilling sequel to In the Orbit of Sirens
THE WORLD OF KAMARIA WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.
In the aftermath of the brutal slaying of a sacred auk’nai deity, Cade and Nella Castus are taken from their home and brought deep into the wilderness. They must make their way back to civilization, traversing dangerous landscapes as they are pursued relentlessly by their captor—a winged abomination.
As Denton and Eliana search for their missing children, they uncover something that will change all life on Kamaria forever.
Review Time
A story full of heartbreak, fear, unknown secrets and world that is brimming full of fascinating and enchanting life. On the Wings of Quasars is fast paced, action packed and will leave you stunned and dying for the next book.
Bruno has done it yet again. While On the Wings of Quasars is shorter than In the Orbit of Sirens, Bruno does not falter in keeping one entertained and completely engrossed in his story. First I’d like to mention that Bruno included a “story so far” opening, which I have to admit is super awesome (not that I needed it since I read book 1 last month but it will definitely come in handy for those with longer breaks between reading series).
The story starts out with a bang, diving into one of last events of the first book from a new character’s perspective. After that our story jumps 26 years into the future where Denton and Eliana are now parents of 2 adult children. Just like last time, the story is split into 4 parts and involves multiple time lines, and again Bruno pulls this off magnificently. We also get to see and discover so much more of Kamaria, and hot damn if I could live on this planet I would. It’s still as beautiful and mesmerizing as before, only this time we got to travel the world with Cade and Nella, even if their reasons for traveling across the planet wasn’t the best, at least they got to enjoy some beautiful scenery and met a new friend before Bruno ripped my heart out and left me a crying mess at the end of Part 2. You know what you did sir.
I will admit part 1 was the slowest for me but it does introduce Cade and Nella, Denton and Eliana’s kids as well as Zephyr, Cade’s friend, and of course L’Arn another Auk’nai (yes I still love them). We are reunited with some old friends and we get the opportunity to see what life is like after the events of Nhymn. Auk’nai and humans are now cohabiting, and i found it really fascinating that Bruno made the choice to have human society fall right back into what one would call “normal”. There is a wealth divide and Bruno shows this when he dives deeper into the results of the cure for Lung-Lock. Its also shown more when learning about Zephyr and the part of town she is from, and the Auk’nai are even being effected by the way human society functions. As we know I love the Auk’nai so seeing how the merging of the two societies was unraveling and effecting them was rough for me. Once all of that is established Bruno ends it on a high note that just sucks you in and the next thing you know your in for the ride of your life.
‘The monster pushed Cade inside the pod with a rough shove, then turned its attention on Nella. The three yellow eyes burned into her eye sockets. She tried to scream.
There was a flash of white light followed by darkness.‘
Parts 2,3,and 4, are so unbelievably action packed and thrilling. They are also absolutely heartbreaking and left me in tears so many times. The action again is well planned out and easy to follow and envision in your mind. There is also a ton of action, and while its not on as large a scale as the first book the action in this is deeper and at times more frightening due to the characters situation. There is also turmoil on Denton and Eliana’s part as they struggle to find their children and Bruno did amazing showing how the situation effected them both personally and together. The end has some really great moments with Denton in high action situations involving his kids and how he responds to the overall moment. As the story is unfolding you slowly start to see what is happening, and at times I was like “omg its__” and then a few chapters later found out I was right. l was blown away by how Bruno was connecting all the mysteries together, its actively engaging and makes you want to figure out what is going on.
Cade and Nella stole the show in this book, I absolutely love these two and seeing them work together through their frightening and rough ordeal was enthralling. Aside from L’Arn, who is my favorite and who I will talk about later, Nella, oh my god, I love this girl. Now Nella is deaf, and before you start the book Bruno leaves a note stating that he worked very closely with members of the Deaf Community to ensure she was properly portrayed. Now I am not deaf, so I do not speak for the community but from my perspective I feel Bruno achieved this beautifully. You can see the work and effort that he put in when writing her character, he doesn’t give her a magical futuristic cure, he shows how different her life is while also showing how she views the world, what scares her most, what frustrates her, but he doesn’t forget to show us the happier side of her, as well as the smart side. She is a ball of warm beautiful energy and I adored her so very much. What he also included was how others interacted with her, her family learns Sol-Sign, but she also has devices that help her to interact with others who do not know Sol-Sign. I loved the realism with Cade when he was in a moment of frantic frenzy and yells for her, while simultaneously reminding himself that won’t work, it was a true portrayal of someone is a dire situation not thinking right and just acting and it really shows the level of depth Bruno went into when creating these two and how they interact with one another. Cade was the protector and power house but also had his moments where he showed his softer side and his love for his sister is beautiful. My favorite moment with them was when he helped Nella communicate with Hrun’dah and not once did he complain, you could tell it was something he enjoyed doing.
“I am from the North, a place of ice and snow. The Auk’nai and auk’gnell who live there can sense the heartbeat of a ruemowse from a plain away. We are people of deep listeners. The Song of Kamaria loves to play for us.” Hrun’dah took in a deep breath, and her eyes closed as she cooed.
Aside from allowing us to explore more parts of Kamaria, we also learn more about the Auk’gnell, another type of Auk’nai that are more wild and are connected to Kamaria on a much deeper level. Bruno establishes small ways that helps one distinguish an Auk’nai from an Auk’gnell, the easiest and quickest difference is their speech pattern. Hrun’dah is an Auk’gnell we get to met and she is brilliant and baddass but also so sweet and gentle. We learn more about the Song of Kamaria itself and how its viewed differently to the Auk’gnell, we learn about the Auk’nai gods. We get the opportunity to learn more about the Undriel and how the war started but we also learn that the humans still don’t know much either. Also please keep giving me more ways Auk’nai and Auk’gnell babies are born we learned how the babies in the North are born and once again I loved it.
Bruno also has a way with writing his villains and bad guys, I love how he creates a villain who isn’t actually bad, while also giving you a villain who is actually terrible and needs to be stopped. He gives you this bad guy who over the course of the story you realize isn’t actually bad, they are being used, manipulated, tricked, and forced to do these horrible crimes. You end up feeling for them and it crushes you, because you want them to overcome it, but Bruno doesn’t pull back, and he goes full force with them and you don’t know what the outcome will be and when it finally happens your left shocked, hurt, angry and sad all rolled into one, and then you direct your anger at the true villain.
Also and I can’t say this enough DO NOT GET ATTACHED TO ANYONE! Bruno gives you these absolutely stunning and amazing characters, he makes you fall in love with them and then he rips them from you. One particular death left me very distraught because it was one of those moments where I knew it was going to happen, I saw it happening, I felt it coming, and I realized, I couldn’t stop it, it was going to happen and it was going to be bloody and horrible and absolutely agonizing to take in. I had to put the book down, I cry easily but not many make me put a book down to really take in what happens. I loved this character she was beautiful and her song was amazing and her relationship with Nella was so touching, I wish we got to have her longer.
Once again Bruno has given us an amazing cast of new characters who each have their own voice and standout from one another. I will say though that Zephyr was a character that didn’t work for me, her importance to the plot is really only tied to Cade which ends up making her feel less developed in comparison to the other characters, her moments always felt convenient for the plot and then she was not seen again until another similar moment was needed. For a while I figured she wouldn’t have any other connection to the story outside of part 1 because she was gone for so long, Hopefully she will have more parts in the next book to help flesh her out and make her, her own character. L’Arn, just like Roelin from the first book, was an instant favorite I just knew I was going to love this character the minute I met him. His entire story arc grabbed me and held on. I had to know what would happen next I wanted more of his chapters. Each revelation that happened I fell deeper for him and as I connected the pieces, I realized it was Roelin all over again, agonizing, yet so enthralling.
‘The Song of Kamaria played the tune of new life, and the Song of the Dead hummed along with it‘
The conclusion this time around is a complete and utter huge cliffhanger that has me in all sorts of emotions, Its bittersweet, tragic and shocking. Like I need answers now. I will be (im)patiently waiting the next installment.
Once again you’re probably sitting there going “why the 4.75” well this time it’s not because of the romance, which yes there is and again I am not the target audience for quick paced romance. I will say I do give credit to Bruno for giving the two characters some history, it just wasn’t enough for me to really be all for it, I have to admit I actually enjoyed Denton and Eliana’s romance more. But as I said it was not the romance this time. It was actually all the constant recaps of events, people, and locations from book one. If this is read as a standalone these reminders work, but since I’m reading this as a series it started to really frustrate me. I loved when the recaps where used to explain how the land around a previous event changed, but sometimes we got these overly long reminders of the events from book one that really didn’t feel like they served a purpose, and it started to weigh down on the excitement that was going on, because you were constantly being pulled into these recaps. They aren’t a terrible thing but I do wish there had been less of them, it was the only thing that bothered me from start to finish in this installment.
One the Winds of Quasars is beautiful and heartbreaking while also being action packed and riveting, you wont want to put this down.
One last bit the illustrations by Jason Michael Hall are once again absolutely fantastic.
T. A. Bruno grew up in a suburb south of Chicago and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the film industry. Since then, he has brought stories to life for over a decade as a previsualization artist. At home, he is the proud father of two boys and a husband to a wonderful wife. He released his debut novel, In the Orbit of Sirens, amid a global pandemic in 2020, and it has won multiple awards.
Last but not least there is also a Giveaway!
Prize: A paperback copy of On the Winds of Quasars by T. A. Bruno – US Only
Starts: September 19th, 2021 at 12:00am EST
Ends: September 26th, 2021 at 11:59pm EST
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