Sejujurnya, saya mendekati buku ini dengan agak skeptis. Mau cerita apa lagi ini? Kan cerita utama sudah tuntas dalam satu buku saja yang terbit sebelumnya. Eeeh, ternyata saya enjoy sekali membacanya! Mengambil latar salah satu ulangan dunia (yang sudah baca buku pertama tentunya paham maksud saya), buku ini berfokus pada sang penubuat dan seorang calon pahlawan, Lenard. Sebenarnya sih, Lenard bukanlah calon pahlawan kali ini. Calon pahlawan sebenarnya keburu terbunuh, dan penubuat memutuskan untuk mengamati sosok bernama 'Lenard' yang telah membuatnya penasaran selama ini. Soalnya, yang ia dengar tentang Lenard hanyalah hal buruk-buruk saja.
Party Lenard menarik. Mereka semua petualang berusia 30-an, penyintas perang besar 15 tahun lalu yang masing-masing hidup dengan penyesalan dan survivor's guilt setelahnya. Lenard mengumpulkan mereka untuk menuntaskan beban yang masih menggelayuti mereka setelah perang tersebut. Kisah perjalanan mereka akhirnya berujung pada akhir yang membuat saya ingin menggebuk-gebuk lantai sendiri saking gemasnya. Bagi saya, Daken berhasil menulis buku yang bukan sekadar memanjang-manjangkan secara tidak perlu dari sebuah buku yang sudah tuntas dengan baik. Prophecy menambah kaya dunia Who Killed the Brave? sekaligus bisa berdiri sendiri sebagai satu karya utuh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This volume has a completely different vibe from the first one, even though it shares the same story. We have already covered everything we could in terms of the coming and going of the great war. Now it was time to see the smaller variables, the little things that embellish the greater acts. Leonard and his party are a beautiful representation of humanity despite all its flaws. They dedicated their lives to buying a better future, and there isn’t a single thing wrong with that. After witnessing the chosen Hero in volume one full of unstoppable determination and will, this was truly a refreshing read. This party are not the Heroes, they aren’t throwing their all at a wall ten times their size for the sake of humanity. They’re simply standing strong where they can, at a reasonable cost for their lives, and living to the fullest for the sake of the past, towards the future. Really I cannot emphasize enough how much I adore the characterization in these novels. Especially the Prophet, who suffers centuries without being able to lift a finger. It really is a unique and incredible read.
I liked this more than Vol 1, probably 3.5, but I don't feel like rounding it up to 4 (which is where my "enjoyed and will rec" books start from).
The focus on the difficulties of the Prophet's work and the revelations about Leonard and his motivations were great. The fact that we know throughout that Leonard isn't and won't be the Hero tinted the events in a way I enjoyed.
Not much else to say, while a nice read, there wasn't much for me to hold onto and I don't see myself rereading this.