In a way, Muse of Nightmares feels uncomfortably like two books spliced into one, or lack a backdoor pilot for another series. And so the last half of the book becomes a mad dash to stop this character, whose power is much more formidable, from destroying everything and everyone they love. Rather than further investigate the politics of Weep, however, she reaches deep into the past of her worlds, introducing a new character who, like Minya, is really just after revenge. With this gentle excavation of Minya’s psyche underway, Taylor must turn to another antagonist for conflict with the Mesarthim.

Sarai must venture into Minya’s dreams in order to try to heal her sister, or at least help her-but it is, of course, not that easy. So the first half of the book plumbs the depth of Minya’s trauma as a teenager trapped in a 6-year-old’s body. So it’s a stand-off: Minya can’t get to Weep without Lazlo’s help, and Lazlo can’t outright refuse her lest he lose Sarai again. But if Lazlo does that, then Minya and her ghost army will wreak devastating revenge on Weep.

If Lazlo doesn’t agree to bring Minya down from the citadel into Weep, then Minya will let that leash go, and Sarai will evanesce into … well, wherever it is that souls go. This leaves Sarai … undead? Around, at least-but in Minya’s thrall, her free will more like a very short leash. Muse of Nightmares picks up where Strange the Dreamer leaves off: Sarai has died, but her soul is captured by her sister Minya. Spoilers for the first book but not this one. Obsession can be powerful, but by its very nature it also tends to be unhealthy, for it prevents us from seeing when we’re about to run headlong off the edge of a precipice. From Lazlo’s obsession with Weep or Thyon’s obsession with alchemy in Strange the Dreamer to Skathis’ obsession with power or a new antagonist’s obsession with revenge here in Muse of Nightmares, this motif runs throughout the series and touches every event. Laini Taylor has learned this storytelling lesson well, for her characters are distinguished by their obsessions. I was reading a very different, unrelated book last night before bed, in which someone says that the key to a good story is usually obsession.

Muse of nightmares by laini taylor