The Singer and Her Song (Empire at Twilight Book 2) by N.L. Holmes – Review by Sherry Sharpnack
The Singer and Her Song by N.L. Holmes
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is Book #2 in the “Empire at Twilight” series, but other than the name of one king, there is no discernible overlap between Book #1 and Book #2, so you don’t have to read the first to follow the plot of the second.
Uqnitum is a court musician for a king in Mittani, the daughter of the great court musician Tapishili (akin to Handel at the court of George II, my closest comparison). Mittani is being conquered by the Assyrians piece by piece. Sure enough, Uqnitum’s city is invaded on one life-changing night, so she and her family – husband Ar-Tesshub, simple-minded son Wullu, and pregnant daughter Tatasshe – flee for their lives. The refugees are overtaken by the invading Assyrians and captured. The experiences this family suffers are really beyond imagining and so very difficult to read. The invasion and capture all occur in the first 20% of the book.
What we find out is that Uqnitum is a difficult person at the best of times. In fact, her older two sons have already fled their home city for life elsewhere – Uqnitum knows not where. Uqnitum is apparently a difficult-to-please mother, and my heart goes out to Tatasshe as she tries to deal with flight, capture, and pregnancy in the company of this difficult mother. Tatasshe and Uqnitum become court musicians in their new city, and are treated relatively well, considering that they are captive refugees, b/c the music master is a great fan of Tapishili. There is a grand celebration for the New Year plus the marriage of the king to celebrate, and Uqnitum’s fantastic voice is required, but Tatasshe is willing to give up her life as a musician – unthinkable! – to escape her mother, especially after their horrific captive march, which has left Uqnitum w/ PTSD on top of her anger issues. Uqnitum’s anger and PTSD cause simply devastating consequences to her and her family.
I have to say that Uqnitum is the least-likeable protagonist in a book that I have read since Jay Gatsby. I understand that she goes through great losses and terrible experiences, but she is honestly less capable at handling them than her pregnant daughter is – who had already lost her husband to the Assyrians before the story even starts! But again, as in Book #1, there is great world-building and the descriptions of the invasion, captive march, and the coup attempt are all well-written and gripping. 3 stars.
