The Stuff of Stars by David LitwackMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Orah and Nathaniel have set off from Little Pond, attempting to cross the ocean in search of the keepmasters' kin. What they discover isn't exactly what they were hoping to find.
The technos, those who still cling to knowledge and wonder, are struggling to survive. A cataclysm has claimed their best and brightest - locking them in the Dream - leaving only the very old and the very young who struggle to keep the city alive.
On the other hand, the greenies who have rejected technology, and those who have been cast out of the city, struggle to survive, barely being able to feed and clothe themselves.
Yet what the city has is still more advanced that anything in the Keep and Orah and Nathaniel must walk that thin line between the warring parties if they hope to return home - with or without their hoped-for tech.
The Stuff of Stars is a delicate web of desires and hatred, each party pulling for their own goals to the detriment of all else. It's told in Orah's voice, giving you the insight and folly of a young woman consumed with the goal of making her world a better place.
As with The Children of Darkness, Litwack pushes the narrative to balance the quest for truth and knowledge against the desire to be right, because in this dystopian world, to seek knowledge is synonymous with seeking the dark and destruction.
The Light of Reason by David LitwackMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Orah and Nathaniel are home - but everything they've worked for before they left is gone. The new grand vicar, one they have personal history with, has taken over and is pushing the people back into fear, back into the old ways. Worse - he's taken over the keep and is jealously guarding the knowledge only for his own use.
Nathaniel is slipping down the slippery slope into darkness and Orah can only watch in horror. But she does not know what else to do either. Is violence the only way to win? What if they only thing they can do to counter the brutality of the grand vicar and his men is to be equally violent in return? When will the bloodshed end? Can the light of reason bring about peace when there is so much anger and hurt?
The Seekers' original quest from The Children of Darkness finally comes to a close, laying bare the confusing maze between darkness masquerading as light and light appearing as darkness. What is the truth? Is knowledge and the pursuit of it evil? Or does evil reside in our own hearts, awakened by our insatiable lust for power?
The Light of Reason is a thoughtful book, one that pursues peace through the ravages of war, attempting to grasp the true essence of light amidst the darkness.
Note: I received a free e-copy of this book for review from the author (sometime in Nov 2016 and which should really have been reviewed earlier. Sorry!)
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