Weight of Stone: Laura Anne Gilman

[silverflight8]

An island nation has vanished. Men of honor and magic have died unnatural deaths. Slaves flee in terror. . . . Are the Silent Gods beginning to speak? Or is another force at work?

Jerzy, Vineart apprentice and former slave, was sent by his master to investigate strange happenings in the Lands Vin--and found himself the target of betrayal. Now he must set out on his own journey, to find the source of the foul taint that threatens to destroy everything he holds dear. By Jerzy’s side are Ao, who lives for commerce and the art of the deal; Mahault, stoic, and wise, risking death in flight from her homeland; and Kaïnam, once Named-Heir of an island Principality whose father has fallen into a magic-tangled madness that endangers them all.

These four companions will travel far from the earth and the soul of the vine, sailing along coastlines aflame with fear, confronting sea creatures summoned by darkness, and following winds imbued with malice. Their journey will take them to the very limits of the Sin Washer’s reach…and into a battle for the soul of the Vin Lands. For two millennia one commandment has kept the Lands Vin in order: Those of magic shall hold no power over men. Those of power shall hold no magic. Now that law has given way….

The second novel of the Vineart War, it follows Jerzy, Ao, and Mahault as they escape from Aleppan. Jerzy, accused of breaking Sin Washer's commands by both Washers and lay lords, flees overseas as he tries to carry out his master's instruction: find what the taint is coming from. The narrative switches between Jerzy's point of view to the antagonist's, giving us finally a glimpse of who is on the other end.

It is fascinating to see the progression of Jerzy's powers. In the first book he is only beginning to understand and improve his abilities with the wine. His time away from The Berengia and the necessary self-reliance he needs in Aleppan change him. Away from Malech, he discovers his quiet magic--the ability to use magic without having to ingest a drop of spellwine at all. I also enjoyed the fact that Ao and Mahault (and a fourth character, introduced earlier in Flesh and Fire) had motivations of their own, although they ultimately choose to follow Jerzy.

This novel, while I enjoyed the extra information about the quiet magic, kind of suffered from middle-of-the-trilogy symptom, whereby you kind of have to give us information and action to fill up room but can't rush towards a conclusion. I think that's why Jerzy is jerked from one place to another--out to sea, then back to House Malech, then out again, then back, and then out again. (Then back.) In a way it's another symptom of how Jerzy isn't really in control of things--he's being pushed around by the antagonist, and he is honestly one of the more aware characters; the other Vinearts are being silently taken out, and the ears of the lords are being poisoned by aids (think Wormtongue). It makes for frustrating reading as they're dragged around the map though.

And like most novels of the hero growing up, the master must die. AH, NO, Master Malech! Noooooo. The degree to which I like Malech is hard to describe, since he goes from slave master who kills slaves instantly if they transgress (this is a justice system that has zero time lapse) to someone that Jerzy looks up to. For the Vinearts slavery is the way that things have been done--to find the next Vineart to take over the vineyards, one has to start in the yards, though other people do not see it this way. Still many others look up to Malech too, because Malech specialized in healwines, so much that when the plague went through all the Vinelands he was able to save most of the people in The Berengia. (That's why the name of the house is Malech, too; his fame had eclipsed his master's.) While I understand the death--a means of isolating Jerzy, to show that no one is safe, not even those who know of the threat--it was painful.

In conclusion: I thought this book had more weaknesses than the first, but it was still quite good and if you liked the first, definitely pick up this one. 9/10