Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo: The Inherent Flaw of a Trilogy’s Second Installment | Book Review

Started Reading – March 13, 2022

33.1% “i wish i’d read chapter eight without already knowing the twist, but it still slaps”

Finished Reading – April 12, 2022

Rating: 2.5 stars.

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Hunted across the True Sea, haunted by the lives she took on the Fold, Alina must try to make a life with Mal in an unfamiliar land, all while keeping her identity as the Sun Summoner a secret. But she can’t outrun her past or her destiny for long.

The Darkling has emerged from the Shadow Fold with a terrifying new power and a dangerous plan that will test the very boundaries of the natural world. With the help of a notorious privateer, Alina returns to the country she abandoned, determined to fight the forces gathering against Ravka. But as her power grows, Alina slips deeper into the Darkling’s game of forbidden magic, and farther away from Mal. Somehow, she will have to choose between her country, her power, and the love she always thought would guide her—or risk losing everything to the oncoming storm.

Synopsis

At the end of Shadow and Bone, I found myself enjoying the relationship between Alina and Mal to a certain extent (though even then I wasn’t fully sold — I couldn’t get past the dreaded Growling). My doubt blossomed pretty immediately.

As soon as two characters develop their relationship, the sense of rooting for them can dissipate easily if the only intrigue was the separation. I liked the childhood friends to lovers bit and had a tad of faith in them, but it was quickly trumped by Mal being…well, Mal.

SKIP SPOILERS

Luckily, there was one saving grace to counteract the excessive mopiness and insecurity coming from Mal — notorious privateer, Sturmhond, who’s later unveiled as Nikolai Lantsov, prince of Ravka (one of two reasons I picked up this trilogy in the first place). Upon the earliest mention of him, I was thrilled to read the following description:

[…] A boy leans over me: ruddy hair, a broken nose. He reminds me of the too-clever fox, another of Ana Kuya’s stories, smart enough to get out of one trap, but too foolish to realize he won’t escape a second.

Siege and Storm, page 27

Having read The Language of Thorns, the short story collection of Grishaverse fairytales, I felt like a little Ravkan child upon hearing the familiar reference. What fun, am I right? (Allow me to recommend that book over Siege and Storm…)

It didn’t take long for my love of this new character to solidify — I had to find something to make the trek through this novel manageable (I’m so sorry, Ms. Bardugo).

“I thought you worked for Ravka,” I said angrily.

“I work for the fattest purse.”

“So you’d sell your country to the Darkling for a little gold?”

“No, for a lot of gold,” he said. “I assure you, I don’t come cheap.”

Siege and Storm, page 38-39

On top of this, he too insults those I’d love to throw a couple sneers and jeers at.

“That’s a good fellow,” Sturmhond said to Ivan. “Now, I’ll take the prisoner back to her quarters, and you can run off and do…whatever it is you do when everyone else is working.”

Ivan scowled. “I don’t think–“

“Clearly. Why start now?”

Siege and Storm, page 36

And then he moves on to the next guy with whom I am beefing.

Mal scowled, then turned on his heel and strode across the deck, disappearing into the ordered chaos of rope and sail. I took a step after him.

“Might want to leave him alone,” Sturmhond said. “That type needs plenty of time for brooding and self-recrimination. Otherwise they get cranky.”

Siege and Storm, page 85

And, also, one of my favorite put-downs:

“Keep your elbows in!” Sturmhond berated Mal. “Stop flapping them like some kind of chicken.”

Siege and Storm, page 111

That dig is quite reminiscent of one of my favorite movie scenes from childhood (which coincidentally also stars Ben Barnes):

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The Flaw of This Story and Second Books of Trilogies in General

Let me step away from the characters to note the plot and odd pacing of this story.

The end of Shadow and Bone saw Alina and Mal leaving Ravka, taking to the True Sea to escape the Darkling. Siege and Storm picks up soon after that and briefly depicts their time spent in Novyi Zem. Through an interaction with the Darkling that propels the story forward, we learn of his new army of monsters, nichevo’ya, grotesque creatures of the dark.

Following this, we’re quickly introduced to another figure of folklore, Rusalye, a sea serpent. However, we don’t get to feel the awe of this fabled creature because we’re only told of its greatness, and any suspense that could’ve been encouraged was thwarted upon the easy capture and conquering of the legendary beast. This seemed an odd and anti-climactic way of handling it, and I think the story may have suffered for it.

Then we see Alina and Mal envelop themselves amongst the crew on Sturmhond’s ship, the Hummingbird. This vessel is a highlight of the story, and it swiftly leads us to the midpoint of the book where everything gets dreadfully dull.

In Alina’s attempt to prepare for a battle against the Darkling, she takes it upon herself to become the new leader of the Second Army. This proves to be fairly underwhelming since there’s no struggle to acquire this position, and not much appears to be involved in it because hardly anything of note happens in the book until the final chapters when it picks up exponentially. This is not to say we don’t see some form of composition among the dwindled troops, but there’s hardly any notable conflict or suspense other than the imminent battle between Alina’s army and the Darkling’s.

The greatest fault of this book, I think, (other than Mal’s insufferable fragility) is that it primarily serves to bridge the gap between the first installment and the (hopefully) thrilling conclusion of the trilogy. Very little goes on to hold one’s attention, and while there are stakes, they’re all far off and detached from the happenings of the story at hand. We know the Darkling is assembling his own army and plan, and we know he’ll be closing in eventually, but in the meantime, there are weeks of preparing which involve Mal sulking, Alina battling her inner demons (which is not nearly as interesting as it could’ve been, though there’s at least a little bit of merit to it), and the few scenes of our beloved David actually working on something to prepare for this ultimate battle.

I think the reason for this dip in intrigue also has a bit to do with the fact that, like many other series of its time and market, the debut was sold to a publisher, and three-book contracts were dealt, leaving the author space to fulfill the quota. Therefore, I think the second installment can fall victim to being merely filler, and in all honesty, I hope that that is what this story is. Otherwise, it’s just a decrease in the series’ quality overall, and that would be a worse fate than a mere lull. (Let me disclaim that this is only a trend my uneducated eyes have noticed, so this observation may be flawed!)

Altogether, I found this novel quite lacking. Its only savior was the introduction of Nikolai Lantsov and the suspense built in the final chapters, and it’s for those facets that I’m carrying on into the trilogy’s conclusion (and the fact that I want to read King of Scars, but would feel most wretched skipping any character arcs of familiar personalities involved).

Have you read Siege and Storm, or do you plan on reading it in the future? Did you enjoy it? Why, or why not? Do you have any thoughts or ideas on why series fall off or dip in the middle? I’d love to hear your thoughts below!