I liked Aurora Rising well enough to check out its sequel, Aurora Burning. And since the first one ended with the squad coming together and actually working as a team (and since that’s my favorite part of any ensemble piece) I figured the second one would be all about Squad 312 versus the galaxy.
Aurora Burning (2020)
Written By: Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman
Genre: YA Science Fiction
Pages: 512 (Kindle)
Series: Book 2 of the Aurora Cycle
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
The Premise:
First, the bad news: an ancient evil — you know, your standard consume-all-life-in-the-galaxy deal — is about to be unleashed. The good news? Squad 312 is standing by to save the day. They’ve just got to take care of a few small distractions first.
Like the clan of gremps who’d like to rearrange their favorite faces.
And the cadre of illegit GIA agents with creepy flowers where their eyes used to be, who’ll stop at nothing to get their hands on Auri.
Then there’s Kal’s long-lost sister, who’s not exactly happy to see her baby brother, and has a Syldrathi army at her back. With half the known galaxy on their tails, Squad 312 has never felt so wanted.
When they learn the Hadfield has been found, it’s time to come out of hiding. Two centuries ago, the colony ship vanished, leaving Auri as its sole survivor. Now, its black box might be what saves them. But time is short, and if Auri can’t learn to master her powers as a Trigger, the squad and all their admirers are going to be deader than the Great Ultrasaur of Abraaxis IV.
Shocking revelations, bank heists, mysterious gifts, inappropriately tight bodysuits, and an epic firefight will determine the fate of the Aurora Legion’s most unforgettable heroes — and maybe the rest of the galaxy as well.
Minor spoilers.
Discussion: I feel like I should start off by saying that I enjoyed reading this book. It was an exciting romp filled with non-stop action. High-speed escapes, daring ventures into ancient derelicts, space battles. All of that was great. But in the end, I felt like there were just so many little choices I didn’t agree with that it made it hard to like the overall picture.
The first half of Aurora Burning was exactly what I was expecting. The squad is united. They feel like family, appreciating everyone’s strengths and making up for each other’s weaknesses all while poking fun at each other. It works. And the mystery presented in the first book has deepened considerably, keeping me guessing. Really the underlying mystery was probably the best part of the book. How did that note in Finian’s handwriting get there? What does it mean?!
But all those great pieces that I loved about the first half sort of…fell apart in the second half. And part of that might be my fault. I really feel like a story that depends so heavily on the ensemble really needs to get all the interpersonal kinks worked out early in the series. Tearing the family apart after they’re all finally trusting one another just feels unnecessary, especially for something as trivial as a past you have no control over. These characters who would supposedly die for each other just fall apart completely when one little lie is revealed? Come on.
And I’ve never claimed to be a fan of the whole fated romance thing. I like my couples to have something in common and a mutual attraction that grows as they get to know each other. I do not like men who are inexplicably drawn to a woman for no reason and the women who fall in love with their brooding silences and jerky personality. And then their relationship fell prey to the worst trick in the book. Contrived conflict. You can’t tell someone “I love you so much, I don’t care about your past” and then turn around and hate them when you discover what that past actually is. It just feels like conflict for the sake of conflict.
And the icing on my personal annoyance cake is cliffhangers. There is no end to this story. I know there’s going to be a third book. Clearly they were not going to save the galaxy in just two installments. But there was absolutely no resolution to any of the conflict presented in book two. Just a jagged cutoff. What this tells me is that the author doesn’t trust their characters or their story enough to carry me into the next book. This feels like the worst kind of manipulation, and I hate it.
But those are my pet peeves. And I recognize it hit a lot of them. But you know, Aurora Burning did improve on some of the mistakes I thought the first book made. There were still a ton of point of view characters but this time the head hopping actually made sense. The different viewpoints actually strengthened the narrative because whoever was talking was the one who had the most at stake in that part of the story. Much smoother than the first book. And Zila, who was so robotic and inaccessible, was given a backstory and more of a voice. She actually became one of my favorite characters.
In Conclusion: I think this will work for a lot of people. It’s action-packed with some really memorable characters and will appeal to a young adult crowd who enjoys a certain amount of angst in their romance. And like I said, it was just really fun to read. Hands down exciting. But if you’re going to pick it up, beware the sudden drop at the end. It looks like we’ll have to wait another year before we learn how they all survive to finish the fight.
No Comments