Blurb:
An underground city. A deadly project. And an Intelligence agent who can help Jossey take down the City…if she can trust him again.
Jossey grew up believing the Onlar, creatures of the aboveground, were monsters. But when they kidnapped her, she found out terrible secrets about her city and her family. Her choice to help the Onlar against the City almost cost her her life. And the Intelligence agent she’d thought was her friend was the one tasked with carrying out her execution. But he didn’t quite succeed.
Now Jossey, barely alive, has been sent to the Onlar by a mysterious figure from the City. And time is of the essence – her solar network project could mean disaster not only for the Onlar, but for thousands of citizens as well. She can’t do much from the Onlar camp, but Gavin, Jossey’s Patrol leader and longtime friend, isn’t convinced she’s dead. And Patrol has started to learn the truth.
As tentative alliances form, Jossey begins to think this might be easier than she’d thought. But a terrible miscalculation has been made, one that may cost her and her friends both the City and their lives. Can she see it before it’s too late?
Review:
Aestus: The Colony is on par with the first book (The City), in terms of storytelling and writing quality. I thoroughly enjoyed both books.
In this second book, the reader learns even more about the city’s politics and some of the history of its founding. It wasn’t what I’d expected. The Onlar’s story was also unveiled in its entirety. I thought both aspects of the worldbuilding were done very well.
The Colony also branched into a more romantic subplot… Jossey’s attention is split between three different men, and she’s indecisive about who she’d rather be with. (I was personally hoping for someone she ultimately did not choose, and am still a little baffled by the end result.) While I liked some of the character development that resulted from this part of the story line, I did find it a distraction from the larger story at times.
The Colony had a solid ending, and I was content with how the conflict was resolved. I can see the possibility of more related stories coming in the future, as some things were left open (but the overall storyline was concluded.) This was a great sequel and conclusion to the Aestus series.
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