Starsight II by Minnette Meador

When I was small I used to love big books because you got more words for your pennies. These days I tend to go for more slender volumes—old age and dry rot, maybe, or else I’m acquiring a shorter attention span from my kids. Minnette Meador’s “Starsight” books aren’t the huge tomes of my youth, but neither are they short. They’re actually quite a satisfying length—long enough to draw you into Minnette’s well-realized world, and short enough to finish without strain.

When I saw that “Starsight II” was about the same length as “Starsight I,” I found myself hoping I wouldn’t have to reread the first book to understand the second. Not that I’d mind rereading it—it’s just that my to-read list is longer than my sons’ book list for college. But I needn’t have feared. Minnette has an uncanny skill at “showing” what I’m meant to remember, without actively re-educating me. Just as I realize I’m meant to remember someone, I’ll see them thinking how things used to be, or someone will ask why they did it, and all becomes clear.

Of course, the storyline itself was too intricate to be clear till the end. Setbacks piled on top of disasters, and poor tortured Joshan had me swinging from certainty to despair as he followed his path. Battles in one place effected changes in another, and slowly Minnette drew the many threads together, only to turn that gradually growing question of the gods into a startling dénouement that left me smiling and bemused.

A satisfying continuation to the story begun in “Starsight I;” an unpredictable, and thought-provoking conclusion; and another good book. But if you haven’t read “Starsight I” I’d strongly recommend you go there first. After all, why miss out?