The Second Siege by Henry H. Neff

 The Second Siege
by Henry H. Neff

This is the second book in the fantasy young adult series. I already reviewed the first one. I have to say that the issues I had with the first seem to be magnified in this one. In brief, the plot follows directly on from the first book. The forces of darkness are chasing our hero and his friends. The school setting is nearly completely absent and we jump into a second world fantasy for a short while.

It is strange to say this, but this book seemed rushed even though it is over 600 pages. Even allowing for the large type and fewer words per page of an young adult book, this is still a lot of room to work with. The problem here to me seems to be that the main character doesn’t have much time to react to the plot points.

For instance, for the first book and most of this one, a big deal is made that his mother is missing, not dead. There is, of course, a reveal. What seems like a key plot point that should drive the rest of the book and, perhaps, the series is dealt with quickly and we are on to something else. The characters have no time to react to the situations. I am not expecting that he would develop a drinking problem or PTSD, but some reaction would be nice.  I have the third book here and will read it, but instead of being excited, I am a little apprehensive.

Mildly recommended.