Silence of the Soleri

The Amber Throne #2

by Michael Johnston

Silence of the Soleri is the action-packed sequel to the epic fantasy novel Lev Grossman calls "bloody and utterly epic."

Solus celebrates the Opening of the Mundus, a two-day holiday for the dead, but the city of the Soleri is hardly in need of diversion. A legion of traitors, led by a former captain of the Soleri military, rallies at the capital’s ancient walls. And inside those fortifications, trapped by circumstance, a second army fights for its very existence.

In a world inspired by ancient Egyptian history and King Lear, this follow-up to Michael Johnston's Soleri, finds Solus besieged from within as well as without and the Hark-Wadi family is stuck at the heart of the conflict.

Genres: Fantasy

384 pages, Hardcover

First published February 16, 2021

About the author

Michael Johnston was born in 1973 in Cleveland, Ohio. As a child and a teen he was an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy. He studied architecture and ancient history at Lehigh University and during a lecture on the history of ancient Egypt, the seed of an idea was born. He earned a master’s degree in architecture from Columbia University, graduating at the top of his class. Michael worked as an architect in New York City before moving to Los Angeles. Sparked by the change of locale, a visit to the desert, and his growing dissatisfaction with the architectural industry, he sought a way to merge his interests in architecture and history with his love of fantasy. By day he worked as an architect, but by night he wrote and researched an epic fantasy novel inspired by the history of ancient Egypt and the tragic story of King Lear. After working this way for several years, he shut down his successful architecture practice and resolved to write full time. He now lives and writes in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.

You can find Michael on twitter @mjohnstonauthor

Reviews

[Nursebookie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review in three lines

Ruthless Politics
Betrayal At Every Turn
Unbridled Ambition

Oh my goodness! I started reading this series and I am blown away by the vast detail and the scope of the world building in this historical saga series. I was completely lost in this story and has consumed me in the best way possible. I absolutely enjoyed this action packed and uber epic fantasy read! SFF fans cannot miss this one.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

as of 2021, i will only be doing full reviews on the story graph (username: noreadingdegree).

[Nerine Dorman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book one of The Amber Throne, Soleri, by Michael Johnston, got off to a promising start with an Egyptian-themed epic fantasy world, but unfortunately book two, Silence of the Soleri, didn't quite follow up. I feel that this can be attributed to there not being sufficient development for individual character arcs, in addition to a polarisation of the main arc.

Johnston's writing is strong, but I feel that more stringent attention in the developmental edits could have helped lift this story out of the somewhat muddled novel that was eventually released. One good thing is that we didn't have any characters withholding key information as what happened in Soleri. Yet I do have a bone to pick with the mysteries of the Soleri themselves, that were left hanging by the end, which came off with a deus ex machina. Action sequences often felt rushed, with characters' motivations for their behaviour not clearly expressed, which marred the compelling world building for me somewhat.

I know it's awful making comparisons with other, more popular works, but I kept feeling as if these books were offering a serious nod to GRRM's ASoIaF, which wouldn't have been wholly unpleasant if individual character arcs were fully fleshed out.

There's not much else I can say, for fear of spoilers. Johnston has much to offer, and with an editor lending a stronger hand in the developmental stages, this novel could have been so much more. Also, I don't want to come down too hard, if there are more books to follow in the series, and this one is intended as middle book in a trilogy – in which case the loose threads will be picked up later.

[Nathaniel Beaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of the strengths and weaknesses of “Soleri” (the prequel) are the same in this book, so I won’t say that much. As far as strengths; it was a bit more fast paced than the first and the plot itself had a lot of potential… unfortunately it didn’t live up to the potential.

This book lacked believability, detail, character development and suspense. It was very predictable - the surprises weren’t really surprises at all. Just like the first book, the crudeness and sexual parts of the book are very unnecessary. The writing style was also not on par with the first book.

Anyway, that said, it wasn’t a bad book. I did enjoy most of it - it just needs to have more depth and emotion. I’m sure the author is passionate about his work, but as a reader I want to feel his passion and I don’t. I hope he continues writing though, because he did something unique and daring - and we need more of that.

My Rating: 5/ 10 Stars

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately I found the second volume to be a little disappointing. The narrative revolved over much at times around exposition and dialogue, and the world building, which was one of the strengths of the first book, suffered. I’ll definitely still pick up later volumes, but I just didn’t love this one.

[Blaise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Soleri when it first came out, but I am sorry to say that this sequel was a big let down. The plot structure, decisions, and conflicts didn't flow and everything seemed out of place. I felt like the story had so much potential, but the choices let me feeling bitter. I won't be continuing with the series.

[K Saju · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the books where after the release of the first I was eagerly waiting for the next one to be published. But somehow i found this to be a disappointing follow-up, did not enjoy the buildup of the characters and somehow the plot was just not there

[thirdplacelibrarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who truly enjoyed book one: Soleri, book two: Silence of the Soleri, also by Michael Johnston, has been quite the disappointment, especially after a three-and-a-half-year wait (which feels astronomical nowadays in the publishing world). To be completely honest, in book one, I had fallen in love with the characters and their interconnected characterizations and stellar personalities that all seemed to be focused on finding revenge; however, book two’s follow-up was completely underwhelming and the subsequent revealings of previous intrigues and secrets sputtered out into the abyss, at least for me. While I developed a bit of a soft spot for Merit Hark-Wadi, even more so than book one, it still was not enough to make up for all of the other failings. If I could have requested anything from Silence of the Soleri, I would have asked that the duology’s original focus on its main characters and its in-depth worldbuilding be honored throughout book two just as much, or even more, than book one. While that did not come to pass, I will still enjoy book one and pretend that the happenings of book two were left to the reader’s imagination instead.

A warm-hearted and much-appreciated thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books, and NetGalley for providing an advance copy! Please consider picking up a copy of Silence of the Soleri at your local book depository.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are coming to a head and happening fast. Characters are going deeper. And mysteries are close to being revealed, sort of. The empire of the Soleri is falling under siege by the kingdoms they overran centuries ago. The long-living emperor has been dead for ages. The gods seem to be statues, but some know that those statues are not what they seem. We learn that Mithra-Sol had children who didn't play well together. But one family seems to have the blood of one of those children running through them, and they are the ones pushing to invade Solus. Throughout the book each character faces situations that seem like they can't possibly survive, but they do. There is so much deception, and many twists and turns. In the end, it almost seems like everything is settled. But it's not and there has to be another book!