Book Review: Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee (Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal #2)

I've reviewed the first Dark Crystal prequel novel, and I sure am going to continue this series! So let's have a look at the second installment. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

Kylan the Song Teller takes center stage in this book, replacing Naia as our main POV. He and the others of his squad (Naia, Gurjin and Tavra) are still busy looking for a way to spread the message that the Skeksis are evil and draining Gelfling. The solution comes in the form of a bone flute, and it is now up to the main Gelfling to look for it and find it in time before more of their species fall victim to the Skeksis dark plans.

I overall thought this book was definitely a step up from the last, which already was really good. We get more characterization for our main characters, plus we actually get to meet Rian, who is very central to the conflict despite being a side character in the novels. We are also introduced to a new clan of Gelfling, the Grottan, an elusive subspecies that inhabits the darkest depths of Thra. 

We also meet Aughra this time, which was definitely an interesting scene, though it didn't go fully in the way I expected. I also liked the inclusion of two new urSkek halves, urLii and skekLi. I do think that this book could've done with more Skeksis presence (they're our main villains after all), but at least we had skekLi as central antagonist for this installment.

While not quite yet perfect, this is yet another intriguing dive into the world of Thra and this non-canon alternate universe execution of the events of the Netflix series. 

Rating: 4/5