Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing a sequel that I’ve been looking forward to for a while, Relics of Ruin by Erin M. Evans. I enjoyed the first book in the series, Empire of Exiles, and have been so curious to learn more about the world and the characters. Did I love the sequel? Read on to find out! 🙂

From a rising star in epic fantasy comes the captivating second novel in a trilogy featuring an unlikely team who must find a way to work together and solve an empire-spanning mystery to defend the last place they call home.

The conspiracy at the heart of the empire has been revealed. The Archivists played a key role in solving a brutal murder and uncovering one of the empire’s longest kept secrets. Now, what’s left in its wake are a series of unearthed artifacts, one shaken city, and the shocking truth not dared spoken aloud. 

Just as the empire has begun to regain normalcy, another mystery unveils itself when a stolen ancient relic is found. Only no one knew that it was missing from its sacred vault in the first place. And now that the real one has been recovered, who replaced it with a fake?

With Quill and Amadea at the heart of another mystery, they will need to quickly follow the clues that all lead back to this new relic.

Because all the while, an old enemy is gathering strength beyond the Salt Wall and the Archivists might come to find there’s nowhere left for them to go but over.

***Thank you to Orbit Books for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

I hate that I didn’t love Relics of Ruin as much as its predecessor. To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why this book didn’t work as well for me because it had so many of the same elements as Empire of Exiles. There was a twisty mystery, political machinations, and plenty of magical shenanigans. Maybe the problem was that it was too similar to the first book? I don’t know.

The pacing in Relics of Ruin made me dread picking it up at times. There were a lot of things going on, but somehow, I was still bored for large swaths of the book. It didn’t help that the mystery was quite convoluted and felt too much like a side quest by the end. I wanted way more progression of the main plot points, especially the conflict with the usurper, but the major things happening in this book were only tangentially related to that conflict, at best.

Despite most of the story taking place within the capital of the Empire, Relics of Ruin did manage to meaningfully add to the world-building. There was more politics in this book than the first, and I liked getting to see how the different ducal states and the imperial authorities worked together to govern the territory. There were even a few glimpses of things beyond the Empire, and I’m hoping the last book will explore the abandoned homelands even more. The story in this book also provided opportunities to learn more about the different races/cultures, which I loved getting to know better.

The character journeys were my favorite thing about Relics of Ruin. Tunuk and Richa really shined in this story, and I loved learning more about them. They both had to come to terms with some secrets from their past. I especially appreciated seeing the growth in Tunuk. He became more aware of how his attachment issues impacted his current relationships, and I loved that he, Quill, and Yinii became closer once he started letting his walls down a little. There were so many great character moments in this book, and I’ve now become even more attached to this crew than I was before.

Unfortunately, the focus on character in Relics of Ruin slowed things down a bit too much for me. It seemed almost like the story was crafted just to let the reader learn the backgrounds of Tunuk and Richa before moving on to more important things in the next book. That is how it felt to me, at least. While I enjoyed learning more about the characters, I wish it hadn’t come at the cost of effectively side-lining the main antagonist of the series for most of the story. Therefore, I give Relics of Ruin a rating of 3.75 out of 5 stars.

Have you read Relics of Ruin or Empire of Exiles? Did you enjoy this sequel as much or more than the first book? Let me know your thoughts down in the comments!