The Red-Stained Wings

Lotus Kingdoms #2

by Elizabeth Bear

Hugo Award-winning author Elizabeth Bear returns the epic fantasy world of the Lotus Kingdoms with The Red-Stained Wings, the sequel to The Stone in the Skull, taking the Gage into desertlands under a deadly sky to answer the riddle of the Stone in the Skull.

The Gage and the Dead Man brought a message from the greatest wizard of Messaline to the ruling queen of Sarathai, one of the Lotus Kingdoms. But the message was a riddle, and the Lotus Kingdoms are at war.

Elizabeth Bear created her secondary world of the Eternal Sky in her highly praised novel The Range of Ghosts and its sequels. She continued it the first book of the Lotus Kingdoms, The Stone in the Skull.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dragons, Queer, Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, LGBT

384 pages, Hardcover

First published May 28, 2019

About the author

What Goodreads really needs is a "currently WRITING" option for its default bookshelves...

Reviews

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The slow burn from the previous novel flared up into a raging fire in this one, proving, at least to me, that these books probably shouldn't have been split up in the first place. And now that I've read this middle book, I'm certain I'll want to read all three in a row.

Good news, everyone! It's all worth re-reading! :) And for all you action freaks wanting to see what is below that precipice you were standing on with the first book? This one is as bloody and chaotic and heartbreaking as the first was a steady careful-character-and-world-building panorama.

I personally loved the Gage's quest among the dragonglass and for all you dragon lovers out there, I really got into the dragon and the implications more than I have for any dragon in a long, long time. :) Read into that however you will. I'm very, very impressed with this fantasy.

Elizabeth Bear promised so much in the first book of the Lotus Kingdom and gave us nothing but awesome in this. The two belong as one. Now if only I had the third in my greedy little hands, I'd be a happy man. :)

No spoilers! Just vague personal reactions! *But damn, how I want to gush about certain scenes* :)

[Elizabeth Bear]

Finished writing this yesterday. :D I count that as my first time reading it, too!

[The Captain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahoy there me mateys! Aye, this is a review of a book two where I will try to post no spoilers but read at yer own peril. But this is also a reflection of what me foray into the works of Elizabeth Bear has been like since reading the first book of the Lotus Kingdom series.

The first book I read by the author was karen memory way back in the days before I had a blog. I loved that and so requested the stone in the skull from Macmillian-Tor/Forge and luckily got an eArc from the publisher. As I said about book one: “The beginning was an explosive entry into the world and while the pace slowed a little after that, I was obviously engrossed. The world building is fantastic, the characters are extremely diverse, and I couldn’t guess many of the plot twists. The relationships between characters stood out for me and I loved getting further hints into backstories and motivations as I read.”

That review was from 10/9/17. The only problem after reading book one was the long wait until book two. So I went looking for Bear’s other works to read during the waiting period. Between reading the stone in the skull books one and two, I have read five other books by the author. Reviews are linked below. But I want to focus on the Eternal Sky trilogy.

Ye see, this Lotus Kingdoms series is set in the same world as the Eternal Sky trilogy. Only I somehow missed that completely until this latest book. Having read the original trilogy completely enriched me reading the second book of the newer related series. Both trilogies are meant to stand independently. But I be very glad to have gotten the back story of the Steles of the Sky kingdom before returning to the Lotus Kingdom.

Part of this stems from a couple of characters that were featured in original trilogy and then make smaller appearances here. I not only loved seeing them again but I understood how they had ended up in the Lotus Kingdoms. In the cases of the wizards in particular, I knew how their magic worked. Those details were glossed over when dealing with the Lotus Kingdoms in the first book. But the major part stemmed from the fact that the world felt much more real to me having read the others. I think in having read so many of Bear’s other books, I have a much better understanding of her style and particularities.

I was worried when getting to the red-stained wings that I would have a problem with remembering the details because of the time between books one and two. Not a problem at all. I was quickly sucked back into the drama and politics of the Lotus Kingdoms. The Gage and the Dead Man continued to be favourites and are in fact the highlights of the book. I say this even though there be many strong female characters throughout. And there be a dragon! This was a strong middle book that kept me attention from start to finish. The only small problem I had was how long it took the traitor on the Queen’s court to be discovered. It was obvious in this book from very close to the beginning but wasn’t resolved until the very end. That small irk aside, I cannot wait for the final book in this trilogy. Arrrr!

[Judy Lesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh My Goodness, this book was amazing. The imagination shown by Elizabeth Bear in filling out this world kept me tied to the story even when I wasn't reading. The four principal characters are separated into different aspects of what is happening throughout the Lotus Kingdoms and all four of those circumstances are vital to the whole so I didn't begrudge any time spent away from my favorite character (the Gage), but when the story was concentrated there I felt as if my mouth was hanging open all the time in amazement. Hmm, two uses of forms of the word amaze in one paragraph probably means I need to move on.

I am so glad I decided to read The Stone in the Skull before this second book because it gave me the background I needed to fall immediately back into the rhythm of this story which is full of action and war and creatures, volcanic eruptions and weather and magic to go along with the wonderful cast of characters. Yes, Bear has provided concisely worded passages to move you from the first book to the second, whether you have not read the first or it has been a while and your memory just needs a little bit of refreshing. Those passages flow easily and naturally and there aren't so many of them that they begin to irritate. That was well done, but I would still recommend reading the first book before this one if you can. This second book also continues to feature Mrithuri Rajni of Sarathai-tia and Sayeh Rajni of Ansh-Sahal, two women who rule over their kingdoms with strength and love. Once again it is a refreshing portrayal.

I won't even try to deny that my favorite character is the Gage and when his portion included a dragon, well, I was not going to put that book down!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan - Tor/Forge for an e-Galley of this novel.

[John Devlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book is fine

A bit of gene wolfe’s strange fantasy world…but not too much…a bit of world building and a lot of empathy for the characters…and some humor…and an engaging iron man

But not much happens and the Gage’s repugnance at slavery seems off putting and out of place for any faux medievalism

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is very much the middle book of a trilogy, so I don't have much to say about it except that I loved revisiting this world and spending more time with these characters, and I can't wait for volume 3.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this but I just couldn’t get into it. The Dead Man and the Dragon at the end were the only characters that I felt were interesting enough to wonder what they would do next. The plot seemed to lack forward motion and when the Dead Man repeatedly said that the siege was boring I thought: Yes! For me too!

[Christine Sandquist · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review and others can be read on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks.

THIS ARC WAS PROVIDED by Tor/Forge via NetGalley IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW

The Red-Stained Wings is the second book in Elizabeth Bear’s The Lotus Kingdoms Trilogy. A review of the first book, The Stone in the Skull, is available here.

“It seems to me that the difference between a good ruler and a bad ruler is not always what they choose to do. Sometimes it is how – and why – they choose to do it, and whether they justify it to themselves.”

The Red-Stained Wings is a delightful follow-up to Elizabeth Bear’s The Stone in the Skull. While my one complaint from the previous book still stands (LET ME SEE THE GAGE FIGHT dangit!), I was enthralled by the new events and plot points introduced in The Red-Stained Wings. Bear’s prose and worldbuilding is stellar as always, and it’s a joy to see characters you’ve been following for 500-odd pages across two books meet up and finally interact.

The scale of political upheaval has also expanded – rather than being grounded in the mundane aspects of human life and death, the mythos and gods of the world are now becoming properly involved. Each god claims a land as its demesne, supplying it with suns, weather, and life. Is there a gentle sun and a bright trail of stars? Perhaps three suns, one harsh, one mild, and one quick? Or do you stare into a godless abyss? A rajni’s role in worshipping her gods suddenly seems much more important. My respect and concern for both Mirthuri and Sayeh as the rightful daughters of the Alchemical Emperor has shot way up.

“There was no Cauled Sun in the sky, no Heavenly River spooling its brightness across the firmament. There was blackness, and the blackness was picked out in little stars that shone with a cold silver light that cast no shadows but made everything seem as flat and foreign as cut paper shapes layered on a canvas.

Nizvashiti let its head fall back on its emaciated neck, staring blindly upward. ‘This is a dead sky.'”

While I’m typically not a fan of “villain” POVs in novels, I enjoyed reading Himadra’s chapters much more than I would have guessed. It almost made me a bit angry – Himadra is supposed to be the antagonist, yet here I was sympathizing with him and genuinely liking him. Called “The Boneless,” Himadra suffers from a debilitating condition that did not allow his bones or muscles to develop properly. Himadra relies on his skills as a politician, negotiator, and leader to move throughout the political landscape. As the novel progresses, however, it becomes increasingly clear that although Himadra has his own motivations, he’s also being played as a pawn by much larger forces. Himadra and Sayeh, on opposite sides of a war, raise moral questions regarding how a ruler should behave.

The Gage is off on his own quest, seeking an ancient artifact in the dead and poisoned city of dragons. Finally, he has the chance to come forward and make judgements independent of other characters – some of them questionable or challenging. While I do desperately want to see the Gage in a war setting, I do have to admit that the character development and depth here was much, much more satisfying even than a good battle.

While waiting for the third installment of The Lotus Kingdoms, I’m very much looking forward to reading Bear’s other series set in this world: The Eternal Sky trilogy.

[Chrystopher’s Archive · Rating 5 out of 5]

*audio reread to get ready for The Origin of Storms!

There are a lot of good things to talk about with this one. Even beyond an absorbing, intricate storyline that evolves naturally and keeps the surprises coming, and great characters, I'm really impressed with the worldbuilding. Not even just the worldbuilding, but also the skillful delivery of information about the worldbuilding. Bear found that really, really fine balance between trusting the reader to understand what's going on and infodumping. I also felt like this was a step up from the first book in the series, which had odd tone fluctuations to me. I'm definitely locked in and am really looking forward to the next book.

I'd recommend for fans of high fantasy in particular and fans of fantasy in general.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

I Just couldn't get into it and dropped it after reading about 1/4 of the book.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this, and two other novels, while travelling out of state to set up funeral arrangements for my father in law. I needed a distraction, this did just that. For that I give much thanks to the author, Elizabeth Bear.

This definitely is much faster paced than the first book. My only complaint about the first was that it felt a bit sluggish, but despite that it was also a great read. While this book could be read without reading the first in series, I don't recommend doing so. Certain aspects would be misses.

Bear is great at character building. They are among some of the most memorable I have read about. I much so have loved reading about Gage in this series. He was once a man, now part automaton. His scenes in this book were very engrossing.

There were questions from the first book which were answered in this, but this book also left questions and loose ends. I am impatiently waiting for the third book for those answers. I am curious to see if I am correct about a few things.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for being allowed to read an arc edition of this book.

[Doctor Science · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given how much the story jumps around, it could really use a Dramatis Personae list--I kept spending too many brain cycles on remembering who people are.

I continue to not believe in the world-building, but I do like the characters and want to know what happens to them next.

[Lata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elizabeth Bear continues the intricate plotting and scheming of the various characters circling around the Alchemical Emperor’s throne..

War preparations are underway as the two rajnis find themselves in bad positions, with Sayeh’s young son in the custody of one of the contenders for the throne, while the other rajni Mrithuri finds herself under threat from within her Court. Meanwhile, a brutal warrior and rival contender, who keeps Sayeh imprisoned, approaches Mrithuri’s home.

Dead Man does his best to support Mrithuri, while the Gage travels to encounter an ancient dragon.

The tension builds with this instalment, and though the pacing is slow, I really liked this middle book. The characters are so well drawn and the politics suitably twisty, and the two rajnis are wonderful characters.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can I say other than it was clearly a book two. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great. I suppose things happened, but it felt as though more or less, the book could have been half as long if that was all it was. The Gage and the Dead Man and the Rajni's all did stuff, and the story progressed. I don't know what to say other than I definitely want to read more, the next one, but so far this was definitely number two of the two.

[Vendea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Důstojné pokračování a závěr série. O poznání větší spád než v prvním díle. Autorčin styl, systém království, mytologie... jsem více než spokojena. Závěr byl možná trochu nedotažený a čekala jsem víc, ale rozhodně to neubírá na kvalitě!

4/5*

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seemed a little less wordy as it went along, but I still had a better reading experience by skipping the long ruminations and lighting only on passages where there was a lot of dialogue. Do like the characters, particularly the female ones, and am invested enough now to see the series through.

[Barb in Maryland · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

Great fun--rousing adventure, deadly betrayals, wizardly doings for good and evil, and a dragon.
This second book does not disappoint at all.

deeper review to come (I hope).

[Jessie Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second book in Lotus Kingdoms series; fittingly stronger than the 1st since that was mostly a long (admittedly interesting) prologue. Still don’t love the characters, nor am I overly invested in any of the building storylines beyond superficially...… but there's interesting dragon mythology and solid worldbuilding to keep my interest for at least one more book. ★★★½

[Jon Karoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received an eARC via NetGalley and TordotCom.
—-

Over other previous reads, where stories were filled with action and adventure, “Red-Stained Wings” featured almost no epic clashes between warring factions. Sure, there’s a few cannon balls here and there, and a few sorceries pulled up from Wizards’ sleeves every now and then. But it’s a definitely a big change of pace and I’m not complaining about it.

It’s the most character-driven book I’ve read in a while, where we explore each of the main cast as they navigate in their own hopeless and complex situations. “Red-Stained Wings” is proof you don’t need a tome with a thousand pages to give you intricate character-driven narratives. Everything is packed in there, self-discovery, purpose and empowerment, ambitions in every angle. Of course you’ll know who to root for, and at the same time, you kind of develop sympathy over supposed antagonists. Reader’s Stockholm syndrome?

All the characters are rich, fleshed out, and well-developed. There were characters I cared for, those I never wanted to leave their POVs, and a character I love to hate so much, which makes the book all the more better.

In such a tight book, the worldbuilding is amazing. It’s vast and weird. The Cauled Sun provides dim light and heat in the night, and the stars brighten the day. There are strange entities in the world and divine schemes gradually unfold.

Perhaps my favorite parts involved the Gage, traversing through dangerous land. The worldbuilding here explodes, a blast of epic proximity, making it known that there are much bigger things happening than the family drama. Or rather, the true reason behind it all. The intrigue here extends farther and makes insidious twists along the way.

[A.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

After all the setup in the first book, things progress, the city is under siege, and there are losses. The Gage is sent off on a quest with one vulture as companion, to try and find the key to the riddle that was their first message. The dead man is appointed body guard to the young Rajni Mrithuri, the ruler of Sarathai-tia, and he falls in love with her.

The Rajni Sayah [who is third sex] is hostage to her cousin Anuraja who is besieging Mrithuri’s city. But she gains some allies. Her son is held hostage by another cousin Himadra.

Anuraja is power hungry and thinks HE should be on the magical throne of their grandfather; but he’s already killed six wives, and Mrithuri does not want to marry him.

888

I am legit asking what has happened with this book marketing? 50 reviews? in nearly five years? for an award winning SFF writer? and it never made it into paperback, so I assume the sales tanked.

why? it has third sex people, it has epic fantasy worlds, intelligent women doing intelligent things. AND dragon shifter wizards!

I like the way it twists things, especially the old ‘be careful what you wish for’ or should that be that you must be very precise when commanding wizards. You want the river to rise? Sure, here’s an underwater volcano.

Book 3 was released in June 2022, so I have asked my library to order it in.

4 stars

So far this year, my library saved me A$1,958.78

[Ms_prue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoilers! Look away now if you can't bear to know my favourite things about this book!

In no particular order:
- a May-December romance that doesn't make me want to take a cleansing bath in acid. It's healthy! Respectful! The vast age gap was acknowledged and struggled with and overcome in book 1, and it's now progressed to being tender, sweet, open, honest and very pragmatic.

- part of a self-sacrifice bargain for invoking supernatural aid is giving up the supplicant's self-limiting beliefs

- Sayeh "you are not immune to propaganda (extended version).gif" Rajini

- His Competence Himadra, an impressive little shit, truly worthy of the title

- Will the Gage and Himadra bond over a shared love of baths in book 3???

Factory owner: I was thinking I could offer you money to use your body as a blueprint to make a fucktonne of robot employees
The Gage: Counteroffer - you don't do that, you do me an altogether different bit of assistance, and in return I perform a great feat of willpower by not destroying everything here, because I understand the system that created this factory is larger than the factory itself, and if destroyed another identical one would just take its place, unless the forces that created it are actually addressed and challenged.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"...she was seeing past a boundary, into a land under a sky ruled by different gods. She knew other gods made other suns: she had heard of the twin suns of Song, the Lion Sun of Messaline. She had never imagined what it would be like to see past the veil from one land into another."

There a lovely surreal quality to Bear's imagination. A world in which there are multiple skies, environments and magics. She also paints vivid pictures with a language use that is both evocative of other cultures and creatively poetic at the same time.

This is a slow paced story. Not littered with great battles or over blown heros. It's the characters that draw you in. The mystery of what amazing creature or personality will next make an entrance.

Basically this part of the trilogy is one long siege in the war between cousins, offspring of the Alchemistic Emperor. Each had their own kingdoms; well, until one greedy, disease, mean spirited nephew wanted the Peacock Throne of the deceased emperor. The question behind this war is...who are these non-human sorcerers fueling the destruction and who do they work for?

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

War has come to a shattered empire. One queen holds the magically raised Peacock Throne that only the rightful emperor can ascend. She rules from its shadow. One queen has a shattered city, a poet, a broken leg, and the only rightborn heir in a generation. One king has the pox and the armies. Another has the kidnapped heir. Wizards, or something like them, are stirring them up against each other. There are those beasts that feed on war.

Very much a second book. I enjoyed it, though man, there were too many characters who all had the same voice and it irked me a how much of the story is driven by characters concealing information from each other. Also, I don't know why they sent a cyborg a very long way to talk to a dragon he didn't know was there, why no one told me about nasty extractive industries based on debt slavery, and where all the zombies came from, other than there was world-building to be done.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

War comes to the Lotus Kingdoms, pitting distant cousins against each other although the initial strikes are made by the rajas (male rulers) of Sarathai-le (Anuraja) and Charanath (Himidra) against the rajnis (female rulers) of Sarathai-tia and Ansh-Sahal, respectively.
While Ansh-Sahal is no longer a place thanks to a lethal volcanic eruption, it is still a people, with a male heir who becomes a bargaining chip.
Rajnis Mrithuri and Sayeh finally meet each other as Sayeh serves an unlikely master.
The Gage and the Dead Man are separated when the Gage is sent by Mrithuri on a discovery mission to the far east to the poisonous (to humans) dragon territory of the Singing Towers. There the Gage discovers that there is a greater threat to the territory of Lotus Kingdoms entire than intrafamilial warfare.
Great "middle novel" action. The story moves forward while becoming increasingly complex.

[T.J. West · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the first book of Elizabeth Bear’s “Lotus Kingdoms,” so I was eagerly awaiting the sequel, “The Red-Stained Wings.” Unsurprisingly, it’s a magnificent follow-up to the first novel, filled with suspense, rich character development, and world-building that’s on par with anything else in the fantasy literature landscape.

Bear’s prose tends to be cerebral, and there are times when this keeps us at a bit of a distance from the characters. However, she also does a great job of making us character for these individuals as they deal with both emotional and political challenges in a world growing more uncertain by the day.

This is the kind of fantasy that grabs hold of you from the first page and doesn’t let you go until the last, and it leaves you hungry for the final volume in the trilogy. I can’t wait to dive in!

[Hannah Hartman · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED this second installation of this series just as much as the first. The second is far more action packed which felt appropriate now that we know our characters so well. The world is absolutely fascinating and very well developed. I still adore all of Bear's descriptions of places right in color, texture, and depth. This one was definitely darker than the first, leaning into disturbing in a couple spots. But it all felt so purposeful and balanced that it didn't bother me (a rarity, I usually cant handle anything dark). This one did have a bit more crude language than the first but its sporadic, not consistent. And no more intense spice scenes in this one! Im not the biggest fan of the romance in this series, felt too rushed and shallow. But the world is so fascinating and the plot so captivating that it doesnt ruin it for me at all. On to book three!

[Joe Crow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I’m not exactly an impartial reviewer, what with being a decades long enthusiast of Comrade Bear’s work, but that was some kinda awesome. Of course, it’s got the “middle book” curse of setting stuff up for the finale, but I hafta say the more and more I read of stuff set in this world, the more I love it. Wicked tiger-sorcerers who feed on war, ancient blind dragons drowsing in poison cities under killing stars, gargantuan Straandbeest cities mining radioactive deserts for dragon bones, cigarette-smoking amnesiac goddesses, the Gage and the Dead Man doing their thing, cunning queens desperately breaking themselves in pieces to save their people and outwit viciously dullwitted princelings; man, this place has it all!

[Bentgaidin · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Red-Stained Wings' is an excellent continuation of this fantasy epic, full of war and magic, and monsters and miracles, forces far vaster than any human, without ever losing its focus on the relationships between people. The book is full of small heart-to-heart moments that seem like such tiny things, while also being the only things that see people through such horrors. The contrast between this and the wildly vast fantastical images -- chain-smoking volcanic goddesses, radioactively poisonous dragons, revenant mystics and human automatons -- are part of what makes this such a delight to read; you should really go read these books (starting with 'The Stone in the Skull', if not the Eternal Sky trilogy) and settle in for some great epic storytelling.

[Kaitlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequel was faster paced than the first book in the series, and I loved every minute of it. Elizabeth Bear’s prose is a delight to read. The bits of philosophy and wisdom that come from the characters is captivating, and added to my enjoyment of the novel. The world Bear created is fantastic. We learn a little more on the Alchemical Emperor’s creations, as well as the other lands. I love how imaginative this book is, and the dragon mythology was really interesting. The characters and their relationships were well developed. Mrithuri’s character development was satisfying, and I started liking her more. Sayeh is still one of my favorite characters, as well as the Gage and The Dead Man. I am looking forward to reading the next book (even if I don’t get to it right away).

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good, but unfortunately also quite Middle Book-y

I appreciate it all the more after slogging through another Richard Morgan novel, and I like the characters and the setting and the prose; but I really missed the Dead-Man-And-Gage friendship from the first novel, and while reading it the feeling that nothing was really going to resolve in time mounted until it was impossible to ignore. There's going to be another book. I'll definitely read that one! But this one was.... book two out of three.

I can appreciate it solved one arc, at least, but I feel like there was a certain amount of Faff and I wish this trilogy could've been a bit tighter