The Bitter Twins

The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, Book 2

By: Jen Williams

Narrated by: Jot Davies

Length: 23 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

From Jen Williams, highlyacclaimed author of the Copper Cat trilogy and three-time British Fantasy Award finalist, comes the second novel in the electrifying Winnowing Flame trilogy - the sequel to The Ninth Rain. Epic fantasy for fans of Robin Hobb and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

The Ninth Rain has fallen. The Jure'lia are awake. Nothing can be the same again.

Tormalin the Oathless and the fell-witch Noon have their work cut out rallying the first war-beasts to be born in Ebora for three centuries. But these are not the great winged warriors of old. Hatched too soon and with no memory of their past incarnations, these onetime defenders of Sarn can barely stop bickering, let alone face an ancient enemy who grow stronger each day.

The key to uniting them, according to the scholar Vintage, may lie in a part of Sarn no one really believes exists - a distant island, mysteriously connected to the fate of two legendary Eborans who disappeared long ago. But finding it will mean a perilous journey in a time of war, while new monsters lie in wait for those left behind.

Join the heroes of The Ninth Rain as they battle a terrible evil, the likes of which Sarn has never known.

©2018 Jennifer Williams (P)2018 Headline Publishing Group Limited

Critic reviews

"Fantasy adventure at its very best." (Starburst)

"Williams excels at eldritch world-building." (The Guardian)

"An absolute joy to read...jam-packed with breath-taking inventiveness." (James Oswald)

Love this book!

Action, action, action. Great characters, fun and clever dialogue with an interesting plot arch. Fun fantasy series that just gives you what you want without being cheap about it.

Listened to the first two books while packing for my move, and let me tell you it made packing fun. Gave me the ability to pack for 10 hours straight each day.

Can wait to listen to the third book.

very slow

It was a very slow story. Unbelievably bad choices by the main characters at times.

Great Second Installment

In the second installment of The Winnowing Flame Trilogy, we follow a group of people whose warbeasts have newly hatched and the struggles they go through to connect to their beasts and each other while the enemy still lingers over them all.

I loved this addition. I was a little nervous about starting it, just because the first book was so good I worried that the middle book would suffer from "middle book syndrome" and not be as good or satisfying. Yet, I need not have worried. Not only was it satisfying, but it sets up the last book wonderfully.

I loved the new characters. It was surprising in parts and sad in others. But overall it was a great read!

Good story, excellent narration

An engaging story and world. The narration by Davis is one of the best I heard - excellent voice acting and wonderful storytelling. At times the voice is too long and the contrast in volume is abit problematic, but his storytelling talent is amazing.

A MacGuffin middle, mostly

“I snore magestically!”
Twenty hours of this book had the MCs divided into three groups, all on quests of varying MacGuffin degrees. Particularly frustrating was the arc with Noon and Tor, as it defied credulity that they’d come upon fantastic things and yet not demand answers. The Winnowry from book 1 barely factors in this installment. And, the lack of their prior memories makes the war beasts immature, which is sometimes more frustrating than entertaining.

“Just between you and me, I’ve never crawled up a monster’s A before- it’s quite exciting!”
On the other hand, I loved the dark arc for the Queen and Hestillion, and the final four hours when the arcs converge was thrilling. Some of the reveals in the second half were very satisfying to hear.

“I burn!”
The book 2 vibe is even more YA than book 1, with little pops of humor and occasionally jarring writing that failed to maintain the otherworldly tone (there’s even a point where someone
exclaims “F me sideways” … which was a head scratcher). But, book 2 also had some amazingly heartfelt and heartbreaking moments, along with a fantastic Empire Strikes Back ending.

Perfect blend of plot driven and character driven fanatsy

This trilogy is completely fantastic!! And the narrator is amazing. It's a perfect blend of plot driven and character driven fanatsy as well as fantasy and sci-fi. 5+ stars! It got me out of my reading slump.