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Publishers Weekly: Muir tackles a new perspective in this characteristically brilliant successor to Harrow the Ninth, which offers a much more personal and tightly framed focus than the rest of the Locked Tomb series. Nona’s been alive for six months with no memory of who she was before awakening in her new body. She enjoys working as a teacher’s aide, petting dogs, and hanging out with her squad of friends, and she has no desire to reckon with the world beyond her comfortable little life: the zombies, the resettlements, the giant blue sphere that hangs above her planet. But whether she likes it or not, Nona’s true identity is the key that shapes the empire, and with that empire in disarray, every force in the universe has their eyes on her, fixated on who she may have been and who she could become. Muir’s skill is such that readers will be desperate to find out the truth of Nona’s background but will still savor the quiet moments with this heartbreaking character. Nona’s lovely, simple, and occasionally silly voice works especially well in juxtaposition with the dark, dense backdrop of the series so far, creating a riveting contrast. Readers will be on the edges of their seats.

Publishers Weekly: A shamed warrior becomes responsible for the salvation of all Mkalis’s realms when an old enemy returns for revenge in Hall’s exciting sequel to The Border Keeper. The many realms of Mkalis serve as an afterlife for residents of a world called Ahri. Warrior Tyn, of Res Lfae’s realm, has been suspended from her position as Second Spear and struggles to come to terms with the role she played in the battle with the goddess Kan Fanieq and the knowledge she’s gained about her past life. Determined to make amends, Tyn agrees to testify at the Tribunal of Kan Buyak, who will be tried for conspiring with Kan Fanieq to forge illegal God Instruments. Intrigues arise when Res Lfae’s realm is attacked. With the realm’s leader missing, it falls to Tyn; First Spear, Vehn; and Rion, the newest initiate of the Spears, to withstand the invasion. Though some ensuing plot twists feel shakily set up, each of the realms within Mkalis is richly imagined and unique, and Hall describes both the land’s chilling horrors and its lush wetlands in vivid detail as Tyn and her allies search for a weapon powerful enough to protect their home. The innovative worldbuilding is sure to enchant fantasy readers.

Booklist: The second book in Hall’s Mkalis Cycle will not disappoint readers of her standout fantasy The Border Keeper (2019). When readers reenter this rich, complex world of twisting godly politics and rule-based realms, Hall zooms them in on Tyn. She’s still recovering from the last book’s events, hurt and reeling, trying to balance new revelations with her loyalty to Res Lfae, ruler of Tahmais. When a lying villain with an impossible weapon comes to her realm to tear it apart, Tyn has to band together with the reticent First Spear Vehn, who hates her, and the cynical Rion, who’s still new to Mkalis and completely lost. All three characters go through convincing transformations in this eerie, suspenseful story based in Hall’s deeply unsettling world that gleams at the corners. The scenes are cinematically visceral, with pages soaked in sensory detail, atmosphere, and the tense promise of danger lurking at the edges of every rule-bound realm. Readers will feel they’re dropped into the story—and that will undoubtedly make their skin crawl, in all the right ways. This horror-fantasy will have readers waiting impatiently for the next volume in Hall’s dark series.