The Fall of Waterstone

• Author: Lilith Saintcrow
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: June 11, 2024
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: Black Land’s Bane #2

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for sending me a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The mesmerizing Norse-inspired fantasy from New York Times bestselling Lilith Saintcrow continues.

Solveig and her shieldmaid have finally reached the fabled Elder sanctuary of Waterstone—a city of quiet, healing beauty, hidden from the Enemy’s gaze. Yet whispers race through the palace halls, and those they have come to tentatively trust have hidden intentions. For not only is the city a refuge for an elementals, her protector, and a mortal prince, it also holds a great weapon, one that only Solveig’s kind may wield. 

Yet Sol’s faith in her own magic is perilously fractured. She can rely on only her wits and skill at negotiation to be heard, or she will become a pawn in a dark game played by Elder and Enemy alike. The lord of the Black Land is mighty; treachery slithers amid Waterstone’s many wonders, and time is growing short. 

Before the darkness finds a way in, Sol must decide whom to trust, where to turn for aid, and whether she will take up a power she cannot hope to control. Even the right choice may doom not just the home she has left behind, but the entire world …

The first book in this series was a three star read; good but nothing over the top for me. I was originally drawn to this book because of the Norse inspiration, and my own personal interest in Norse history, mythology, culture, and magic. However, I wanted to give this a chance, hoping that I might like it a lot more in the second book. And I’m so glad I did, because it turned out that I found it a lot more to my speed. Consequently, I’m going to structure this review as more of a comparison to the first book, especially since I found it to be significantly more enjoyable in book two.

First of all, the pace picks up. Although it’s a little slower in the beginning, I found myself appreciating that more with this book. Now that we know what is going on, and who the major players are, at least to start with, Saintcrow cranks up the intrigue factor to 11. There’s so much that’s going on, having the pace be on the slower side at first allowed me to keep my footing as I grasped the dangers facing Sol and her shieldmaid, Arn, as they arose. They aren’t necessarily sure that the Elders are what they say they are, and don’t know who they can trust, aside from each other. At the same time, they’re all in danger from the shadowy threat of the Enemy, and it’s tough to figure out who they can trust. Once the setup is established, the action picks up and stays pretty steady throughout the story. 

The world building felt like it was missing a little something for me in book one, and it gets expanded more in this story. As they travel further north and into the Elder city of Waterstone, there’s more and more similarity to Tolkien’s stories. I am by no means an expert on his books, but I do know that he drew heavily from Norse culture for his books, and when I picture what Saintcrow wrote, I can’t help but see visuals from the Tolkien movies. 

I thought the fight scenes were great in the first book, but they’re epic in the second. There are more of them, and they range more widely throughout the territory and with different groups of characters. There are shapeshifters, orcs, and elves, or what is basically similar to those groups, and I found Saintcrow’s take on these beings and how they were interrelated to be unique and intriguing. 

Readers are treated to a little peek of Solveig’s magic in this book, although it wasn’t nearly enough. I feel like it’s going to play a big role in the next book, and I am really looking forward to it. There are some newly awakened powers that she’s come into recently, and she’s only just beginning to learn about them and how to use them, made more complicated by the fact that these aren’t typical abilities, and she doesn’t have access to anyone to discuss these powers with. So we know about as much as Sol herself knows, and it’s a slow learning curve for her. But I’ll be watching for this in the next book.

I am an absolute sucker for a story featuring good character development, and I was impressed by the growth in this story. To start with, there’s the change that Sol experiences throughout the story, as she learns how to stop questioning herself over every single thing, trust her instincts, and stand in her own power. As a volva, one of her responsibilities is for the spiritual needs of her clan, and to do that, she needs a strong sense of self-confidence. This is helping her develop that belief in herself, and trust in her strengths and abilities. She’s learning who to trust and who isn’t trustworthy, and how to make huge decisions with limited information. I loved Arn from the first book and this one made me love her even more. The bond between Sol and Arn was strong initially, but it has deepened into a sort of chosen sisterhood, where they are honest with each other, but always supportive and sensitive to the needs of the other. It really made me appreciate the women in my life. But what was really nice was the way that they make room for other relationships as well—Sol has a slow-burn romance developing, and I like seeing a romance that doesn’t feel the need to outshine the plot or move fast and feel forced. Arn has her own connections developing, and the way each friendship fills a different need was really cool to see.

Overall, this turned out to be a much more exciting read for me. It was less predictable and I found myself even more invested in Sol’s story. The chapters open with snippets of Norse-style sagas that foreshadow events in the chapter, and I found myself looking forward to and appreciating these, especially after having read through a book of Norse sagas recently. I still struggled a little with keeping the names of the male characters straight, but their personalities differed enough to make it easy to know who was who. Of course, it leaves off on a cliffhanger, and I am counting down the days until I get to read the next book. And in the meantime, I’m going to have to make a chart of all the male characters and study it until I can remember all the names. So for all you Norse culture buffs, Tolkien fans, and lovers of fantasy with plenty of intrigue, this is worth the read.

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