The Harpy Knight by Sara Omer

Book Review

Elloise

Bataar Rhah, the Gryphon King, overthrew the emperor and married his daughter. He remains untouched by the vermilrot that has killed so many others and turned them to ghosts, thanks to Preeminence, perhaps. Now, Bataar seeks to add the berserkers of the north to his army as he continues to grow his empire.

Nohra and the Harpy Knights killed her own aunt and claimed the city. It has been three months since then. Three months of war. Now she pretends loyalty to Bataar, a man she must marry. Little does he know that she and his wife, Qaira, have become close, both harbouring their own secret motives, even as the feelings between them grow. Nohra seeks to discover Bataar’s weakness and awaits her revenge.

Elsewhere, her brother, Nassar Zultama, the true heir to the throne, prepares to marry his third wife and take back the city of Dumakra. All the while control over the Djinn, Darya, is weakening, and the truth about Preeminence is to be slowly revealed. 

The Harpy Knight begins with a recap of the first book in the series in the form of a letter, which is a welcome reminder of the world and the last actions of our key characters. Bataar and Nohra’s distaste for one another is well written and contrasts with the complex relationship forming between her and Qaira. All three of them have conflicting desires, and this plays out nicely through the narrative.

The characterisation here is excellent and does well to avoid some of our usual tropes. Nohra goes from strength to strength, never wavering in her determination to have revenge against Bataar, who, in contrast, suffers a slow loss of control that begins to show, to detrimental effect. We have a clash of desires, and a duo that Qaira does her best to manage in increasingly bleak circumstances.

The book moves at a good pace, and the stark backdrop of war and the atrocities our characters face are handled well, giving the reader a good overview of how critical each decision and action becomes. This second book of The Chaos Constellation series is definitely not holding back on the grimdark, and leaves us with the promise of an explosive conclusion to come.