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Devil of Ponong #2
The Devil Incarnate
There’s no rest for the wicked, especially for the Devil. While QuiTai recovers from her last adventure, Levapur is turning into a police state. The Pongonese are pushed to the brink of rebellion against their colonial masters, the Thampurians – but who is behind it, and why? As the new Devil, QuiTai must wield her power and use her brilliant mind to outsmart her mysterious nemesis before a bloody uprising erupts.
- GenresFantasy
269 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2013
4 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Jill Braden
5 books48 followersThis is where I'm supposed to talk about myself in the third person. Jill did this. Jill won that. BORING. All you need to know about me is that I wrote the kind of novel I wanted to read: a political thriller that evokes Casablanca + Romancing the Stone + Oceans Eleven + Sherlock Holmes, with a dash of science fiction & steampunk. What genre is it? It's many. It's none of the above. I imagined an interesting character and set her loose. Her world still doesn't realize who they're dealing with, but they're finding out.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 7, 2014
I really like the main character. The cover kind of weird-ed me out, but it works and as you read the story, it fits. It is a good book and the second one hadn't come out when I read it otherwise I would have read it as soon as I was finished with this book.
May 21, 2018
As I’m sure you noticed, I loved “The Devil’s Concubine“. Braden begins the second installment of “The Devil of Ponong” series with this sentence:
"The morning QuiTai awoke completely sane, she knew Petrof was dead."
If any first sentence is an indication of the quality of its novel, this one is. In “The Devil Incarnate” Braden continues to weave her words together into sounds and images that brought me to the Island of Ponong and its inhabitants. Cultural gaps between the Thampurians and Ponongese are shown, not told, and I have no problem understanding the depths that must be bridged. The greatest one has to do with respect.
Thampurians respect only their male elders. When grandfather Zul states something as fact, younger generations are not allowed to gainsay him nor to disobey him even if their knowledge is greater than his. The Ponongese, however, are not bound by such rules. Age or gender do not automatically buy a person respect. Instead, titles are given on the basis of power and understanding. While speaking with people, QuiTai is called “grandmother”, “aunt”, “daughter” and “little sister” depending on the issue at hand. Even little children may be called “grandmother” if they are the most knowledgeable about a something. Even though QuiTai is a very powerful woman, her employees may call her “aunt” if the topic at hand denotes equality or if there is a close relationship. Oddly, enough, the Thampurians seem to fear this system. Or perhaps it isn’t all that strange after all.
In this story, QuiTai wants to find out who hired Petrof to kill her, Kyam Zul desperately wants to leave the island, and grandfather Zul plays games with deadly consequences.
Grandfather Zul is too much of a coward to speak directly to Kyam about what he wants to do. Despite having articles of transport signed by Governor Turyat and Chief Justice Cuulon, grandfather Zul has pressured Thampurians into denying Kyam transport back to Thampur. In spite of his cowardly ways, Kyam cannot find fault with the old man. He claims “It is not our place to question him” even when Hadre tells Kyam
He gave me a direct order not to tell you that he was here. He didn’t have the balls to tell you the bad news to your face, so he ran away and left it to me.”
In a sense, this is a “coming-of-age” story for Kyam. His blind devotion to Grandfather Zul is challenged over and over. Fighting facts, Kyam mostly blames others for the choices he is forced to make, and one wonders whether Kyam has the courage to face the truth about the old man.
Kyam is not the only one who has a difficult time removing his blinders. Major Voorus was hit hard when he discovered the truth about the slaves on Cay Rhi. Slowly he realizes that “honor” is just a word used by those in power to control the behavior of the masses. “Honor” must be redefined into something he can live with. He and Kyam have a defining moment when Voorus expresses his doubts. Both of them are forced to make a choice. Sadly, both judge the Pongonese on the basis of what a Thampurian would do.
"They’re just waiting for any excuse to slaughter us, and she has that excuse, Zul."
Fantasy and science fiction, more than any other kind of fiction, allows the reader to relax and look away from what their socialization has told them to think. Stories like “The Devil of Ponang” opens the door to issues like racism, culturalism, genderism and classism without telling us what to think about them. My own ideas of right and wrong have changed thanks to such literature, even when facts were not able to get through my noggin.
QuiTai grieves. Petrof killed her daughter, her family and had tried to kill her as well. In “The Devil’s Concubine” he killed her spouse, Jeezeret. “The Devil Incarnate” continues her grieving lessons as even more essential parts of her life cease. Yet she is not allowed time to grieve. Instead people demand more and more of her. Once a person manages to pull a miracle out of their sleeve, such as freeing slaves, even more unlikely deeds are expected of them. As the new incognito Devil, she also has obligations to the Ponong underworld.
"You’re running out of black lotus."
I envy none of these three for what they go through in this novel, but I did enjoy reading about them and the rest of the characters in “The Devil Incarnate“.
Copied from my blog: https://humanitysdarkerside.com/2018/...
"The morning QuiTai awoke completely sane, she knew Petrof was dead."
If any first sentence is an indication of the quality of its novel, this one is. In “The Devil Incarnate” Braden continues to weave her words together into sounds and images that brought me to the Island of Ponong and its inhabitants. Cultural gaps between the Thampurians and Ponongese are shown, not told, and I have no problem understanding the depths that must be bridged. The greatest one has to do with respect.
Thampurians respect only their male elders. When grandfather Zul states something as fact, younger generations are not allowed to gainsay him nor to disobey him even if their knowledge is greater than his. The Ponongese, however, are not bound by such rules. Age or gender do not automatically buy a person respect. Instead, titles are given on the basis of power and understanding. While speaking with people, QuiTai is called “grandmother”, “aunt”, “daughter” and “little sister” depending on the issue at hand. Even little children may be called “grandmother” if they are the most knowledgeable about a something. Even though QuiTai is a very powerful woman, her employees may call her “aunt” if the topic at hand denotes equality or if there is a close relationship. Oddly, enough, the Thampurians seem to fear this system. Or perhaps it isn’t all that strange after all.
In this story, QuiTai wants to find out who hired Petrof to kill her, Kyam Zul desperately wants to leave the island, and grandfather Zul plays games with deadly consequences.
Grandfather Zul is too much of a coward to speak directly to Kyam about what he wants to do. Despite having articles of transport signed by Governor Turyat and Chief Justice Cuulon, grandfather Zul has pressured Thampurians into denying Kyam transport back to Thampur. In spite of his cowardly ways, Kyam cannot find fault with the old man. He claims “It is not our place to question him” even when Hadre tells Kyam
He gave me a direct order not to tell you that he was here. He didn’t have the balls to tell you the bad news to your face, so he ran away and left it to me.”
In a sense, this is a “coming-of-age” story for Kyam. His blind devotion to Grandfather Zul is challenged over and over. Fighting facts, Kyam mostly blames others for the choices he is forced to make, and one wonders whether Kyam has the courage to face the truth about the old man.
Kyam is not the only one who has a difficult time removing his blinders. Major Voorus was hit hard when he discovered the truth about the slaves on Cay Rhi. Slowly he realizes that “honor” is just a word used by those in power to control the behavior of the masses. “Honor” must be redefined into something he can live with. He and Kyam have a defining moment when Voorus expresses his doubts. Both of them are forced to make a choice. Sadly, both judge the Pongonese on the basis of what a Thampurian would do.
"They’re just waiting for any excuse to slaughter us, and she has that excuse, Zul."
Fantasy and science fiction, more than any other kind of fiction, allows the reader to relax and look away from what their socialization has told them to think. Stories like “The Devil of Ponang” opens the door to issues like racism, culturalism, genderism and classism without telling us what to think about them. My own ideas of right and wrong have changed thanks to such literature, even when facts were not able to get through my noggin.
QuiTai grieves. Petrof killed her daughter, her family and had tried to kill her as well. In “The Devil’s Concubine” he killed her spouse, Jeezeret. “The Devil Incarnate” continues her grieving lessons as even more essential parts of her life cease. Yet she is not allowed time to grieve. Instead people demand more and more of her. Once a person manages to pull a miracle out of their sleeve, such as freeing slaves, even more unlikely deeds are expected of them. As the new incognito Devil, she also has obligations to the Ponong underworld.
"You’re running out of black lotus."
I envy none of these three for what they go through in this novel, but I did enjoy reading about them and the rest of the characters in “The Devil Incarnate“.
Copied from my blog: https://humanitysdarkerside.com/2018/...
September 17, 2017
Heady stuff.
Like the first book in this series this one makes you think. The story is told from the perspective of key characters and is intensely mental. The true motives and goals of everyone is in question. Very enjoyable. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.
Like the first book in this series this one makes you think. The story is told from the perspective of key characters and is intensely mental. The true motives and goals of everyone is in question. Very enjoyable. I would recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a good mystery.
May 28, 2017
Evil we weave
It is a complex read again and keeps you in suspense! Five stars for the mystery and intrigue! Intense is the mind!
It is a complex read again and keeps you in suspense! Five stars for the mystery and intrigue! Intense is the mind!
August 10, 2016
[Full disclosure: After seeing that I loved The Devil's Concubine so much after reviewing it for NetGalley, Jill Braden's editor contacted me and sent me a free paperback copy of this second book in exchange for an honest review.]
After The Devil’s Concubine was so good, could The Devil Incarnate live up to my expectations? Or would it suffer from the dreaded Book 2 Syndrome?
Once again, Jill Braden blew away my expectations. I won’t say that the second book in the series was any better or worse than the first book, but it was certainly different. Different in a good way. In this second book, there was a much bigger focus on the word of QuiTai in regards to the geography as well as the history. We get to learn so much more about how Ponong was conquered by the Thampurians as well as QuiTai’s life before becoming the Devil’s concubine as we met her in the first book. The thing with this backstory is that it’s spread all throughout the book so I didn’t feel overwhelmed at any point in time.
Of course we have our old favourite character QuiTai and Kyam, who spend most of their time apart in this book. Consequently, we’re introduced to a lot of interesting new characters both directly and indirectly like Grandfather Zul (Kyam’s grandfather), Ma’am Thun and Lizzriat. Each of these new characters have very different personalities, motivations and backgrounds so they add to the overall plot rather than just existing so the main characters have someone to talk to.
The thing that constantly impresses me about The Devil of Ponong series is the beautiful imagery Jill Braden uses. When QuiTai roams the streets of Levapur, I feel like I’m there. I can feel the hot, humid air as she strolls among her people and Thampurians; I can taste the rice and see QuiTai stumbling along in her Thampurian disguise on her way to The Dragon Pearl. Since Jill Braden chose to write a fantasy set in a non-Eurocentric world, she really did need to convey the completely different atmosphere of tropical climates and cultures. She most definitely succeeded in that regard.
As always with her writing, I never saw her plot twists coming. Especially the huge one regarding poor Kyam at the end and QuiTai’s secret victory over her new nemesis. The plot was a little slower in this book than in the first one, but there’s no point where it really drags, even in the middle. Instead, Jill Braden chose to slowly ratchet up the tension and wrote from a few different points of view to give us a glimpse at the larger politics taking place on Ponong. It kept me up reading into the early morning hours, at any rate.
I’m constantly impressed with Jill Braden’s writing and still can’t believe that this is her first published series. Her third book, Tempt the Devil isn’t out yet but I can’t wait to see her writing improve even more. If you’re looking for non-traditional fantasy, this is definitely the series for you and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
After The Devil’s Concubine was so good, could The Devil Incarnate live up to my expectations? Or would it suffer from the dreaded Book 2 Syndrome?
Once again, Jill Braden blew away my expectations. I won’t say that the second book in the series was any better or worse than the first book, but it was certainly different. Different in a good way. In this second book, there was a much bigger focus on the word of QuiTai in regards to the geography as well as the history. We get to learn so much more about how Ponong was conquered by the Thampurians as well as QuiTai’s life before becoming the Devil’s concubine as we met her in the first book. The thing with this backstory is that it’s spread all throughout the book so I didn’t feel overwhelmed at any point in time.
Of course we have our old favourite character QuiTai and Kyam, who spend most of their time apart in this book. Consequently, we’re introduced to a lot of interesting new characters both directly and indirectly like Grandfather Zul (Kyam’s grandfather), Ma’am Thun and Lizzriat. Each of these new characters have very different personalities, motivations and backgrounds so they add to the overall plot rather than just existing so the main characters have someone to talk to.
The thing that constantly impresses me about The Devil of Ponong series is the beautiful imagery Jill Braden uses. When QuiTai roams the streets of Levapur, I feel like I’m there. I can feel the hot, humid air as she strolls among her people and Thampurians; I can taste the rice and see QuiTai stumbling along in her Thampurian disguise on her way to The Dragon Pearl. Since Jill Braden chose to write a fantasy set in a non-Eurocentric world, she really did need to convey the completely different atmosphere of tropical climates and cultures. She most definitely succeeded in that regard.
As always with her writing, I never saw her plot twists coming. Especially the huge one regarding poor Kyam at the end and QuiTai’s secret victory over her new nemesis. The plot was a little slower in this book than in the first one, but there’s no point where it really drags, even in the middle. Instead, Jill Braden chose to slowly ratchet up the tension and wrote from a few different points of view to give us a glimpse at the larger politics taking place on Ponong. It kept me up reading into the early morning hours, at any rate.
I’m constantly impressed with Jill Braden’s writing and still can’t believe that this is her first published series. Her third book, Tempt the Devil isn’t out yet but I can’t wait to see her writing improve even more. If you’re looking for non-traditional fantasy, this is definitely the series for you and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
May 6, 2013
** I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **
If you liked “The Devil’s Concubine” then the sequel “The Devil Incarnate” will have you enraptured. QuiTai, Kyam Zul, Voous, Hadre and LiHoun along with a few new characters all make their way into the second installment where spying, sabotage and double crossing is at an all time high. Picking up the story right where “The Devil’s Concubine” leaves off, QuaTai herself takes on the role of the Devil. Not only does she still not know who is trying to have her killed but now her people are being bullied to the point of starting a rebellion. While she doesn’t feel obligated to do anything she doesn’t want there to be blood shed either. Feeling like a pawn she has to gain pertinent information and orchestrate a solution to her liking as opposed to her nemesis.
The vivid descriptions are once again masterful and make you feel as if you are there seeing it with your own eyes. The witty and sometimes snarky dialogue enriches the tale while giving new insights to QuiTai business as well as to some of the inner working of the Thampurian caste system.
Braden is a seasoned pro at leaving snippets of information along the trail begging you to figure out who the culprit and scenario is prior to the reveal. This story masterfully answers all questions brought up in the first book, continues to build on the Levapur culture and the for good measure builds intrigue and gives a hint of what will come in the third installment titled “Tempt the Devil”.
If you liked “The Devil’s Concubine” then the sequel “The Devil Incarnate” will have you enraptured. QuiTai, Kyam Zul, Voous, Hadre and LiHoun along with a few new characters all make their way into the second installment where spying, sabotage and double crossing is at an all time high. Picking up the story right where “The Devil’s Concubine” leaves off, QuaTai herself takes on the role of the Devil. Not only does she still not know who is trying to have her killed but now her people are being bullied to the point of starting a rebellion. While she doesn’t feel obligated to do anything she doesn’t want there to be blood shed either. Feeling like a pawn she has to gain pertinent information and orchestrate a solution to her liking as opposed to her nemesis.
The vivid descriptions are once again masterful and make you feel as if you are there seeing it with your own eyes. The witty and sometimes snarky dialogue enriches the tale while giving new insights to QuiTai business as well as to some of the inner working of the Thampurian caste system.
Braden is a seasoned pro at leaving snippets of information along the trail begging you to figure out who the culprit and scenario is prior to the reveal. This story masterfully answers all questions brought up in the first book, continues to build on the Levapur culture and the for good measure builds intrigue and gives a hint of what will come in the third installment titled “Tempt the Devil”.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews