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Inheritance Trilogy #2
Sunset Over Abendau
Kare promised he'd hold the Empire for ten years and no longer. A decade later, he's no nearer to freeing himself. Haunted by past events, in a role he hates, the temptation to walk away bites deep.
When the lost heritage of his father is revealed a new future opens to him, one threatened when old enemies rise against those he loves. To safeguard them, Kare will have to fight for the Empire he hates and face the deadly secret hidden deep in Abendau's deserts.
When the lost heritage of his father is revealed a new future opens to him, one threatened when old enemies rise against those he loves. To safeguard them, Kare will have to fight for the Empire he hates and face the deadly secret hidden deep in Abendau's deserts.
277 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 16, 2016
4 people are currently reading
235 people want to read
About the author
Jo Zebedee
25 books108 followersI write dark sci fi and fantasy with kick-ass pace. Edgy voices and sexy space pilots. And people, conflicted and sometimes half-mad, but always written so closely you could be them.
If you want to keep up to date with what I'm up to, get exclusive short stories and information about launches, sign up at: http://jozebedee.com/newsletter/ (I promise not to spam anyone!)
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If you want to keep up to date with what I'm up to, get exclusive short stories and information about launches, sign up at: http://jozebedee.com/newsletter/ (I promise not to spam anyone!)
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
October 19, 2016
Sequels make me nervous, but my fears were unfounded once I'd got a few chapters into Jo Zebedee's searing second offering in The Inheritance Trilogy.
The relentless pace in the series of events kept my heart-rate up, and the knot of apprehension that manifested in my stomach remained for a good couple of hours after I'd finished reading (in a good way, of course). Jo Zebedee really makes sure you're immersed in the characters lives and experiences!
While I'm not overly fond of the slang used by the characters throughout the book (it's too 'earthly'), I'll admit that it does lend authenticity to the dialogue. As with Jo's first book in the trilogy, Abendau's Heir, the writing is solid and well edited.
If you love gritty space opera, this series (so far) is a must-read. Get yourself 'Abendau'd'!
I was pleased to receive a mobi review copy from the publishers, Tickety Boo Press, in exchange for an honest review.
The relentless pace in the series of events kept my heart-rate up, and the knot of apprehension that manifested in my stomach remained for a good couple of hours after I'd finished reading (in a good way, of course). Jo Zebedee really makes sure you're immersed in the characters lives and experiences!
While I'm not overly fond of the slang used by the characters throughout the book (it's too 'earthly'), I'll admit that it does lend authenticity to the dialogue. As with Jo's first book in the trilogy, Abendau's Heir, the writing is solid and well edited.
If you love gritty space opera, this series (so far) is a must-read. Get yourself 'Abendau'd'!
I was pleased to receive a mobi review copy from the publishers, Tickety Boo Press, in exchange for an honest review.
June 13, 2016
The middle book of a trilogy is always a precarious thing. The first book can be written with a definite ending, so if the story doesn’t take off, it forms a reasonably complete entity in itself. The final book brings together all the threads, allowing the author to reveal their vision and, hopefully, creating a whole that reads as more than its parts. There is no such luxury in the second book of a trilogy: this is where the story must stand on its own, with the reader unsure of where it is going. It has to develop the story, and make the reader want to come back for more, despite knowing there will not be a proper conclusion yet.
I loved Abendau’s Heir, despite not really being a fan of space opera. So, I was eager to read the second novel, but knew that all of the above would apply. Sunset Over Abendau would have to work even harder to keep me in the story than its predecessor. It did not disappoint.
Set ten years after the events of the first book, it begins not with the main character of Kare, but with his defeated enemy, and then introduces another player whose sole desire seems to be to bring Kare down. The subtleties of worldbuilding are revealed, as the universe the characters inhabit is shown to be seen differently according to who is viewing it, and from where. In doing so, it shows a very different galactic landscape from the first book. A fact reinforced by the entry of the main character, and those around him. They are changed. Damaged by the events of the war and tortures they endured in book one. Damaged, and having suffered for ten years with those injuries, physical and mental.
And, therein lies the genius of the author. These are stories about people. People you can relate to. Marriages strained by events long past, but never over. People hiding their secrets from friends because of their own shame. Decent people doing the wrong thing due to the lies they have been told. Bad people having moments of conscience, which only makes them more despicable when they turn away from it. All with a vast backdrop of warring families, imperial politics, space travel, and battles.
I particularly liked the development of Lichio’s character, with the relationship with Josef, and the Kare-Sonly-Kerra family dynamic.
Sunset Over Abendau does have its faults. I think it could have been a bit longer. As with book one, I thought there were sections and relationships which could have been expanded to make it an even richer story. And, I would have liked to have seen more of the Roamer culture, as that section didn’t feel as developed as other areas in the novel. But these things are always a matter of personal preference. Jo Zebedee is a writer of lean prose, and sometimes the pace of the story causes exposition to take a back seat. Whilst I would have liked more in certain sections, I don’t think their lack harms the book in any significant way.
And the ending does make up for it. This is not the end. Some things have been resolved. The story has grown. Characters have come into their own. But there is going to have to be a reckoning.
So, to conclude, if you read and enjoyed Abendau’s Heir, I heartily recommend you read Sunset Over Abendau. If you have not read either, and like character-driven sci-fi, then I suggest you give this trilogy a serious look. The third part will follow later this year, I believe. Or, in early 2017.
Overall, I’d say 9/10. A very good book by a talented author. Give it a go.
I loved Abendau’s Heir, despite not really being a fan of space opera. So, I was eager to read the second novel, but knew that all of the above would apply. Sunset Over Abendau would have to work even harder to keep me in the story than its predecessor. It did not disappoint.
Set ten years after the events of the first book, it begins not with the main character of Kare, but with his defeated enemy, and then introduces another player whose sole desire seems to be to bring Kare down. The subtleties of worldbuilding are revealed, as the universe the characters inhabit is shown to be seen differently according to who is viewing it, and from where. In doing so, it shows a very different galactic landscape from the first book. A fact reinforced by the entry of the main character, and those around him. They are changed. Damaged by the events of the war and tortures they endured in book one. Damaged, and having suffered for ten years with those injuries, physical and mental.
And, therein lies the genius of the author. These are stories about people. People you can relate to. Marriages strained by events long past, but never over. People hiding their secrets from friends because of their own shame. Decent people doing the wrong thing due to the lies they have been told. Bad people having moments of conscience, which only makes them more despicable when they turn away from it. All with a vast backdrop of warring families, imperial politics, space travel, and battles.
I particularly liked the development of Lichio’s character, with the relationship with Josef, and the Kare-Sonly-Kerra family dynamic.
Sunset Over Abendau does have its faults. I think it could have been a bit longer. As with book one, I thought there were sections and relationships which could have been expanded to make it an even richer story. And, I would have liked to have seen more of the Roamer culture, as that section didn’t feel as developed as other areas in the novel. But these things are always a matter of personal preference. Jo Zebedee is a writer of lean prose, and sometimes the pace of the story causes exposition to take a back seat. Whilst I would have liked more in certain sections, I don’t think their lack harms the book in any significant way.
And the ending does make up for it. This is not the end. Some things have been resolved. The story has grown. Characters have come into their own. But there is going to have to be a reckoning.
So, to conclude, if you read and enjoyed Abendau’s Heir, I heartily recommend you read Sunset Over Abendau. If you have not read either, and like character-driven sci-fi, then I suggest you give this trilogy a serious look. The third part will follow later this year, I believe. Or, in early 2017.
Overall, I’d say 9/10. A very good book by a talented author. Give it a go.
October 12, 2016
Sunset Over Abendau is the second in Jo Zebedee's 'Abendau' series and works well in that context. This part of the saga is set 10 years after the events of Abendau's Heir (although the prologue follows on almost immediately from the end AH). The early chapters make a good job of reintroducing characters and seeing where they are now but this does seem to be at a slower pace, but then, THEN, what I was expecting from the prologue happened (I know, I'm being vague but I don't want to spoil things for you) and the story transforms into a finger burning, page turning race to the end. The fact that the main story only covers a short span of time probably helps this as well. And all I will add to that is that I am so glad I have book 3 to hand as I really want more, more, MORE.
When I reviewed Abendau's Heir I compared it, in style, to Star Wars and I am not going to change that. This is Sci-Fi built on character, scene, story and not something you need an engineering masters degree to understand, and thankfully Jo Zeb does characters well.
How will the events of Sunset affect our heroes? Only time will tell (but you won't have to wait too long, Abendau's Legacy will be available from 24th October). This is shaping up to be a series that will place the author up there with the 'names' in Science Fiction. It is said that women are under represented in Sci-Fi writing - Jo Zebedee might just be taking steps to rectify that.
5/5*
When I reviewed Abendau's Heir I compared it, in style, to Star Wars and I am not going to change that. This is Sci-Fi built on character, scene, story and not something you need an engineering masters degree to understand, and thankfully Jo Zeb does characters well.
How will the events of Sunset affect our heroes? Only time will tell (but you won't have to wait too long, Abendau's Legacy will be available from 24th October). This is shaping up to be a series that will place the author up there with the 'names' in Science Fiction. It is said that women are under represented in Sci-Fi writing - Jo Zebedee might just be taking steps to rectify that.
5/5*
October 28, 2016
What a finale
I've been waiting for this last book to come out and it didn't disappoint. Beautifully rounds off this character-focussed Space Opera. Highly recommended.
I've been waiting for this last book to come out and it didn't disappoint. Beautifully rounds off this character-focussed Space Opera. Highly recommended.
May 16, 2019
Sunset Over Abendau(The Inheritance Trilogy Book 2) by Jo Zebedee
For anyone who's read Jo's first book in this set, it may be easy to understand when I talk about how dark that book seemed to be. I almost struggled to decide when I'd subject myself to this: the next installment. So of course I started with the sample.
It starts with a prologue and I often don't care much for prologues. This one is done well and is quite appropriate to the story. It both sets the plot and brings the reader up to date to things after the end of the first book and gives the reader a look at Averrine whose power was blocked by Kare at the price of his own power being lost. Though she has lost her power, Averrine is neither cowed nor worried; instead she's plotting her revenge as she is locked up in a maximum security prison.
The story begins ten year after. It does not start with Kare, instead it starts with Baelan; the son that Kare doesn't know he has. Baelan is being raised in the desert by tribesmen and Phelps, one of Kare's most hated enemies. Baelan is being groomed to take Kare's place and also to help bring his grandmother, Averrine, back into power. We're five percent into the book and the plot is getting so thick that you're not going to want to stop by the end of the sample.
Finally we get to the victors of the last battle in the last book and if ever there were a story to paint a picture depicting the phrase 'to the victor belong the spoils' Jo nails it quite well. Her characters, who already are quite complex to begin with, have added new layers of complexity along with a false sense of complacency that is only compounded once again by the consequences of their actions. Except this time we include the consequences of the inaction.
The reader is reintroduced to the survivors of the first book and it doesn't take long to realize that the group is highly dysfunctional. Kare never wanted to take his mother's place and yet he seems entrenched in that spot while he's let his personal life get away from him. His wife Sonly and her brother Lichio both have their own issues lingering in the background and they all seem to have let the distance of ten years make them complacent about the enemies they have let live. But as the reader advances into the story it becomes evident that the ensuing events might be just what our heroes need to get them back on track. Even if it means there might be a journey into the darkness once more and with Jo at the helm that's almost a guarantee.
It's not often that a reader sees the second book in a series outshine the first in so many ways. I highly recommend the first book in the series and despite how dark it felt to me it is one amazing premier novel for an author. For those who haven't read Abendau's Heir, I suggest you get to it quickly so you can better enjoy the second book. And for those who have read the first book-you'll love this one more.
I have to mention that there were elements of the desert, the tribes and the political landscape of this novel that kept bringing Frank Herbert's Dune to mind, and I hope the author doesn't take offence in me making that comparison. When it comes to the characters, their complexity and their struggles it's all pure Jo Zebedee. So when all of you SFF fans finish this, if you haven't already, you should check out Jo's Inish Carraig. (Completely different world and characters, but an example of the range this author has to offer.)
J.L. Dobias
For anyone who's read Jo's first book in this set, it may be easy to understand when I talk about how dark that book seemed to be. I almost struggled to decide when I'd subject myself to this: the next installment. So of course I started with the sample.
It starts with a prologue and I often don't care much for prologues. This one is done well and is quite appropriate to the story. It both sets the plot and brings the reader up to date to things after the end of the first book and gives the reader a look at Averrine whose power was blocked by Kare at the price of his own power being lost. Though she has lost her power, Averrine is neither cowed nor worried; instead she's plotting her revenge as she is locked up in a maximum security prison.
The story begins ten year after. It does not start with Kare, instead it starts with Baelan; the son that Kare doesn't know he has. Baelan is being raised in the desert by tribesmen and Phelps, one of Kare's most hated enemies. Baelan is being groomed to take Kare's place and also to help bring his grandmother, Averrine, back into power. We're five percent into the book and the plot is getting so thick that you're not going to want to stop by the end of the sample.
Finally we get to the victors of the last battle in the last book and if ever there were a story to paint a picture depicting the phrase 'to the victor belong the spoils' Jo nails it quite well. Her characters, who already are quite complex to begin with, have added new layers of complexity along with a false sense of complacency that is only compounded once again by the consequences of their actions. Except this time we include the consequences of the inaction.
The reader is reintroduced to the survivors of the first book and it doesn't take long to realize that the group is highly dysfunctional. Kare never wanted to take his mother's place and yet he seems entrenched in that spot while he's let his personal life get away from him. His wife Sonly and her brother Lichio both have their own issues lingering in the background and they all seem to have let the distance of ten years make them complacent about the enemies they have let live. But as the reader advances into the story it becomes evident that the ensuing events might be just what our heroes need to get them back on track. Even if it means there might be a journey into the darkness once more and with Jo at the helm that's almost a guarantee.
It's not often that a reader sees the second book in a series outshine the first in so many ways. I highly recommend the first book in the series and despite how dark it felt to me it is one amazing premier novel for an author. For those who haven't read Abendau's Heir, I suggest you get to it quickly so you can better enjoy the second book. And for those who have read the first book-you'll love this one more.
I have to mention that there were elements of the desert, the tribes and the political landscape of this novel that kept bringing Frank Herbert's Dune to mind, and I hope the author doesn't take offence in me making that comparison. When it comes to the characters, their complexity and their struggles it's all pure Jo Zebedee. So when all of you SFF fans finish this, if you haven't already, you should check out Jo's Inish Carraig. (Completely different world and characters, but an example of the range this author has to offer.)
J.L. Dobias
May 9, 2017
I enjoyed this one even better than the first. Moving straight onto the next one...
July 29, 2017
Loved Jo's latest book in this great series. Absolutely riveting climax hag me on the edge of my seat. Looking forward to book three. An easy five stars.
February 1, 2017
This is the second book in Jo Zebedee’s Abendau trilogy, a space opera that see the struggles to hold and evolve a tyrannical empire into something better. Set ten years after the original novel it shows that this process is not as easy as it sounds, and that there are always flies in the ointment that make it harder again.
Like many second parts of a trilogy this is the axle on which the entire series revolves, having to make the transition between the setup in the first novel and putting things in place for the conclusion, and as is often the case the book is weaker than its predecessor.
This, of course, does not mean that it is a bad book, just implementing the process of change.
The main story is basically the collapse of all that Kare has built, the fall of an Empire and the implementation of that which will replace it. In some ways this is very reminiscent of the original story, only in reverse. Where in the original story Kare was put into a position that he had to contest the Empress for the control of her Emperor - after being imprisoned and tortured. Here the Empress tries to regain her Empire after being imprisoned and stripped of her powers (for her a kind of torture).
In fact it could be said that this middle novel is nothing more than a multi-paged reset button - I said could be, but thanks to Zebedee`s skill as a writer she gives more than enough to render this point redundant.
The book introduces a number of new ideas that keep it moving along nicely and set up a third and final novel that looks very promising indeed, but it is the deftness in touch of the writing that really sees the novel through to a strong finish, and because of that it is probably the little things that make it work rather than the epic overtones that are at the core of the story: Kare and Sonly`s marriage and the tragic destruction of said relationship rings true; his inability to talk about the torture he went through in the first book and the way it has effected everything around him is almost as heartbreaking as the torture itself; the very relationships of the characters that feel real and give so much heart to the story, so much so that a single death can feel like a whole solar system burning and hurt more; and how small misled people can find their way on their own by just observing the world and coming to their own conclusions.
Unfortunately I feel as though talking more about the book will inevitably lead to more spoilers, so I`ll say it is an excellent read, well worth looking at and will be more than happy living on my bookshelf.
This is a smallpress published novel (Tickety Boo Press) so something needs to be said of the production values. In this instance they are the highest possible, more than capable of holding it`s own with the more traditionally published works. There area few (very few) editorial decisions that do not seem quite right, but then I feel that about most books anyway!
Like many second parts of a trilogy this is the axle on which the entire series revolves, having to make the transition between the setup in the first novel and putting things in place for the conclusion, and as is often the case the book is weaker than its predecessor.
This, of course, does not mean that it is a bad book, just implementing the process of change.
The main story is basically the collapse of all that Kare has built, the fall of an Empire and the implementation of that which will replace it. In some ways this is very reminiscent of the original story, only in reverse. Where in the original story Kare was put into a position that he had to contest the Empress for the control of her Emperor - after being imprisoned and tortured. Here the Empress tries to regain her Empire after being imprisoned and stripped of her powers (for her a kind of torture).
In fact it could be said that this middle novel is nothing more than a multi-paged reset button - I said could be, but thanks to Zebedee`s skill as a writer she gives more than enough to render this point redundant.
The book introduces a number of new ideas that keep it moving along nicely and set up a third and final novel that looks very promising indeed, but it is the deftness in touch of the writing that really sees the novel through to a strong finish, and because of that it is probably the little things that make it work rather than the epic overtones that are at the core of the story: Kare and Sonly`s marriage and the tragic destruction of said relationship rings true; his inability to talk about the torture he went through in the first book and the way it has effected everything around him is almost as heartbreaking as the torture itself; the very relationships of the characters that feel real and give so much heart to the story, so much so that a single death can feel like a whole solar system burning and hurt more; and how small misled people can find their way on their own by just observing the world and coming to their own conclusions.
Unfortunately I feel as though talking more about the book will inevitably lead to more spoilers, so I`ll say it is an excellent read, well worth looking at and will be more than happy living on my bookshelf.
This is a smallpress published novel (Tickety Boo Press) so something needs to be said of the production values. In this instance they are the highest possible, more than capable of holding it`s own with the more traditionally published works. There area few (very few) editorial decisions that do not seem quite right, but then I feel that about most books anyway!
November 19, 2020
The middle book is usually the hardest, the slog, the one people tend to struggle through because they want to know how the trilogy ends. I think this is the best in the series, Zebedee manages to build well on the story she started in the first book and delivers some great character moments, and some great humour too!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews