Bringer of Dust (The Talents Trilogy, #2) by J.M. Miro
Published by Flatiron Books
Publication date: September 17, 2024
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Horror
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When J.M. Miro’s historical fantasy Ordinary Monsters ended a small band of children gifted with different magical capabilities was under assault as the divide between the world of the living and the dead was being breached by an evil seeking to grow its power. Now, Charlie, Marlowe, Ribs, Oskar, and Komako are back in the aftermath of their battle, to deal with their new world. This is Bringer of Dust, the second novel in Miro’s The Talents Trilogy. If you haven’t read the first book, I’d suggest skipping this review and returning after you’ve read it, simply because everything in a sequel review is a spoiler if you haven’t read the first book.
Having said that, I’ll be steering clear of any details that might hamper anyone’s enjoyment of Bringer of Dust, a behemoth of a novel that takes place not in a wide span of time, but of worlds. Cairndale is gone and Scotland is no longer safe so some of the children and their teacher, Miss Davenshaw, have gone to an abandoned villa in Italy, while Ribs and Alice head to Paris, and Charlie undertakes the onerous task of finding and saving Marlowe. Each now encounters new levels of danger, battling other talents amidst a host of undead seeking to open one of the last orsines (the seal between the two worlds).
Bringer of Dust is a sprawling epic that finds the original cast growing up and honing their talents while encountering others with talents they’ve never seen before, such as a bone witch, a keywrasse, and drughrs. The novel has the same magnetic pull as Ordinary Monsters, but Miro has amped up the levels of gore and horror to the point it changed the novel’s overall tone. The protagonists’ bonds felt less important, as if more energy had gone into devising increasingly devastating ways to kill or be killed, and less into the emotional artistry found in the debut. Miro’s ability to immerse the reader in the darker aspects of late 19th century Europe, particularly the slums of London, is unmatched. The tension and unease unleashed by those details kept me on edge so the carnage felt excessive.
I still loved this book, just not quite as much as the first. Miro creates a universe that slips and slides between the living, the dead, and the undead in a way and to a degree that makes it hard to keep everything straight. In one sense, this may be a clever device to keep the reader off-balance, but given the length of the novel, I couldn’t hold all the threads together from beginning to end. The sense of heroes and villains and even the purpose of the children’s quest blurred at times. And yet, I couldn’t stop reading. By the end of Bringer of Dust a new, more destructive terror has been unleashed; a creature that could mean the end to all talent-kind. I’m already excited to read how this extraordinary trilogy closes out.
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*I received a free copy of this book from Flatiron Books in exchange for an honest review.*
This is just one of the books I chose for my fall reading on Sarah’s Book Shelves Live. If you want to get even more fall reading recommendations you can find the episode wherever you go for podcasts. Clicking on the image below will also take you to podcast link.
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