I read Arm of the Sphinx

 This week's novel is Arm of the Sphinx, the sequel to Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft.

Senlin and his band of misfits have taken an airship and become mediocre pirates, who only take 10% of their victim's cargo, just enough for them to keep the ship serviced and the crew fed.  They're trying to get to the ringdom (or level) of the Tower of Babel where Senlin's wife probably is, but since they're unable to go there directly, they attempt to get there from the abandoned, spider-filled forest of a ringdom above, which is now home to a small rebellion, trying to disrupt the tower.

This second book keeps going with the same level of wonders as the first book.  Each new ringdom they visit continues to be novel and fascinating and frightening and strange.  And even though previously visited ringdoms are spoken of as less marvelous, they're still plenty scary.  The word hasn't gotten dull once it's better understood either by the characters or the reader.

For example: it turns out the painting from the first book is part of a set.  This move could make the world feel smaller, since we now understand the mystery of that component, and instead of one part being a huge ordeal, now a larger whole is the same level of huge ordeal.  But instead, the set of paintings is really cool, and although this revelation that it's part of a set ties up mysteries from the first book, it presents its own set of mysteries and promises new, diverse adventures.

What did change between this book and the last was that the point of view was expanded from just Senlin to the whole crew.  I was surprised by this move at the beginning, but by the end, I was so invested in all the characters that I wanted to hear what they were up to and what they thought of everything.  Most of these characters are women, which I bring up because for a series that started from the 3rd person limited view of a middle-aged white dude, expanding it out to include mostly women is pretty neat.  It's also neat that the three main women are so different from each other, while all being flawed in different ways and sympathetic in different ways.  This should be the norm, but I'm still pleased.

I especially love Edith.  I want more books about Edith.