I gave book one a pretty hard time in my last review of this series. Hopefully this second installment is better. Spoilers ahead.
When one day Geffen vanishes with a piece of the Mask of Anoret, Gwen and Tanner fear he has betrayed them. They will have to travel to a setting of treacherous mines in order to track down Geffen and the mask. On their way they are joined by an unlikely ally: a cocky boy named Connor and his Beast, Nera the giant cougar.
I gave book one a lot of flak, and with good reason. It felt like a bunch of generic fantasy tropes cobbled together while doing pretty much nothing unique or different with them. Book two is also still very basic fantasy fare, however I will give it credit for doing more with what we're given than book one ever did.
Book one had one thing going for it: its neat unique concept of Beasts as a race and the Mask being able to control them, thus giving our heroes all the more need to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands. Not just because they want to save Avantia from the evil Derthsin misusing it, but also because they have a personal connection to their own Beast and losing them would be like losing a family member. And this book does give brief glimpses of what that'd be like.
These Beasts are more than just animals companions to their Riders, they're their closest friends and basically family. They're sapient creatures often with unique features and abilities. They're bonded to their Riders. However with the Mask in the wrong hands it can take away all of that in an instant and transform them into mindless killing machines to do his bidding. So it's neat that the conflict isn't just "we want to save the world from the villain", but also "we want to prevent the villain using the companions we love dearly to take over the world"
Thankfully, book two expands upon this concept, but also other things such as the world and the characters. In book one we mostly traveled to some generic villages but didn't go to all that many unique locations, however this time we travel a whole lot and the mines make for a neat setting for the climax, especially with the constant threat of cave-ins and a monster lurking in their depths.
Still, while I like the fact that the characters get a tad more expansion and things to do here, plus us having the inclusion of another Beast Rider, I feel that the characters remain a bit flat. In book one Tanner was definitely so generic a fantasy hero that I genuinely didn't care about him. In book two I'd say he's a little better, but he and the other characters still feel a bit on the two-dimensional side. Obviously there's room for this in future books as well, but by now we're already halfway into the series and still we get very little to work with.
I do admit that I find Connor the most enjoyable out of our main heroes, though, because he does have the most personality. Tanner is pretty much your generic fantasy do-gooding hero, Gwen is the short-tempered girl (possibly later a love interest?) and Connor is, well, kind of a dick who thinks he's better than anyone, but that's what makes him fun. Yes, he's on the side of the good guys, and yes, he is actually very skilled, but he also likes showing off and isn't instantly friendly towards our heroes despite them both having similar goals and both being Beast Riders. But that makes for a nice addition to their dynamic. So while the characters don't have a lot going for them, I was glad that Connor's inclusion led to some fun interactions in the group because he's an actually flawed and enjoyable character, and he does go through an arc. An admittedly simple one, but still an arc.
Like, take Tanner. If you wanted to describe his character, qualities that would apply would be just, heroic and brave. Sure. But those are traits you find in a lot of high fantasy protagonists. And if you want to delve any deeper into his character you just get so little. What sets him apart from other characters of this archetype? What are his connections to the people in the town he grew up in? What are his hobbies? How did his bond with Firepos develop? What is his relationship like with other characters aside from his Beast, Gwen and in this book Connor? Why did Firepos choose him of all people to be her Rider? Most of these questions go unanswered, leading to him feeling very "stock" if you follow. An archetype with nothing new or unique applied.
So overall this is for sure a step up from the first book, however I still don't consider it very good. There's elements in this book that really work, but the (so far) lackluster characters and bland world-building outside of one or two exceptions just doesn't make this feel like it's truly trying to be its own thing.
Rating: 3.25/5
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