Grab Your Edition The Swan Riders (Prisoners Of Peace #2) Written By Erin Bow Disseminated As Volume

Scorpion Rules was one of my favorite YA books ofso I was excited for the sequel, Unfortunately it feel short of my expectations, It lacked the emotional depth of the first one, I had a really hard time caring about the characters which made me not care about the story, There is a deeper meaning here about the differences between a human and an AI that was interesting but I don't think it was executed very well, I also found this to be unnecessarily confusing where the Scorpion Rules was not at all, I can't handle this many bi anxious AI worldsaving feelings I am an emotionally compromised robot in a meat body HELP

Talis is to AI as Howl is to sorcery.
Prisoners of Peace is to optimism in scifi as the Hyperion Cantos are to nihilism in SF, Greta is the love of my literary life in all her failures to deal with horses and all her decadeplus of Greek poetry without recognizing romance until it kisses her straight in the face.


I love these two, The sequel is vastly different from Scorpion, but in this glorious way like the difference between Queen and Invasion in the Tearling trilogy, Together, they're stunning.

And Erin Bow has no right to be so hilarious in single sentences while demonstrating magisterial sweeping views of the future in paragraphs, but I'm glad she uses it.
I'm so glad. One of the many wonderful things in this and the previous book, The Scorpion Rules, is the snarky humour of the AI, In this we get a double dose from Michael and Two,

A mustread author, Still so unique, I don't know why this serie is so different but I really like it, such great characters here, I DID NOT THINK THAT A SEQUEL WOULD DO THE FIRST BOOK JUSTICE, BUT I WAS WRONG!

If you have read my review of The Scorpion Rules, you will know that I was very very impressed with the first book in the Prisoners of Peace series by Erin Bow.
I raved about the world building, the characters, the diversity found among said characters, as well as Erin Bow's writing itself, I was also very happy with the credibility of Erin's writing, despite the fact that she is describing fictional events which happenyears into the fictional future of our world.


I cannot imagine how those who finished The Scorpion Rules when it first came out, and with no sequel confirmed or in sight, because I know that the instant that I finished the first book, I wanted to know more.
I wanted to know more about the world which Erin Bow has created, and I wanted to know more about the characters which I found myself loving,

Unlike those who had to wait a year for the next book, I had The Swan Riders at my fingertips, and was able to start reading, the moment I finished the prequel.


Without spoiling anything, I can just say that Bow does not disappoint, The detailed and scientific explications of the mechanical reappear in this book, and Bow appears to delve even deeper into the world she has created, as well as the advanced technology found therein.
She also contemplates human emotion, and the secrets surrounding what it means to be human, quite effectively,

Like The Scropion Rules, this book was also an emotional roller coaster, although in a slightly different way, The pacing is the same, and there were no sections in the book which I found to be "dragging," although there were some events which developed slowly, Even so, Bow effectively held my attention, and I would have finished the book in one or two days if I had not been so busy and you can read all about that in my Monthly WrapUp post for September, haha!

Bow also kept me guessing throughout, and I really enjoyed being unable to predict what will happen in the story! In addition, she also managed to wrap the story up, despite it feeling as if it were unwrapupable, haha.
There is also potential for the series becoming a trilogy, which is something that I am really hoping for!

The creativity behind this series, as well as the thought which went into telling the story of Greta, Talis, amp Co.
, has just blown my mind!

Highly recommended to lovers of SciFi, dystopian fiction, philosophical contemplation, and of course, adventure! POTENTIAL SPOILERS

This was an interesting little book.
It pretty much only gets its tag and rating because it's a sequel to a very likely contender to my 'Best Books of' list, and while this is a very good book, it's vastly different from The Scorpion Rules, and a lot of it was actually kinda confusing.


Let's start with the good stuff, because there actually is a lot, I liked seeing Greta's transition in an A, I. I liked how she talked, how she thought, how she figured things out, Although I do kinda wish she was a bit more, . . robotic. She's described as looking exactly the same, which I was kinda disappointed about, She should've had silver eyes or something like that,

I also liked seeing her relationship with Elian develop in this book, even though, . . apparently they're dating now That confused me in the other reviews, I just thought they were extremely close friends,

The cast is still really diverse, which is fairly unique in YA scifi, I think this is the only scifi series I've read hat describes the fate of the entire world, not just one part,

The backstory of how Talis came to be was really interesting, He wasn't as humorous as he was in the last book, but he had a few enjoyable quips here and there,

I also liked the pacing, Yes, it was both written and paced weirdly, but it made sense since Greta's robotbrain is in control now, Plus I flew through it really quickly, obviously,

However, I felt like a lot of the scenes were very confusing, I still don't really understand Talis' death, or why there was two of him, or what really happened in the ending, it felt very confusing to me, Mainly because it wasn't really explained,

I also didn't really understand the concept of the Swan Riders, I mean, I kinda did, and then I kinda didn't, Again, that could've been much better explained,

I was upset Greta's girlfriend wasn't in this,

Also, apparently they're in Canada Explains why I didn't get all the references, I always assumed Greta was Greenlandic though, Even here, it sounds more like Greenland than Canada from the climate and language and culture and everything,

Overall, not as solid of a sequel and finale as I would've wanted, but still really good, Did you ever pick up a book you knew little about Maybe it was on sale, or someone gave it to you, Then you read it and it was life changing and gorgeous and you didnt understand why everyone wasnt talking about it, That was The Scorpion Rules for me, I got it while it was on sale for Kindle and I devoured it in one day, only stopping to dry my tears and gush to my little brother about how perfect it was.
When I heard there was a sequel, I was understandably worried, The Scorpion Rules had one of the most beautiful and perfect endings I ever read, Ive spent the lastmonths scared of reading the sequel, afraid of what it would do to the perfection of its predecessor, I could not possibly be more surprised and content with The Swan Riders! I will never doubt Erin Bow or her talent again, This book was epic perfection on a whole new level, It took the beauty of The Scorpion Rules and turned it into something even better, It took that perfect ending and gave it new meaning, I dont know how a book set in such an unrecognizable future and based on so much science can be filled with so much emotion or be so relatable.
This is a book on what it means to be human, and in our current world filled with so much evil and hate, it is such a welcome and necessary book.


The Swan Riders takes the story in a very new direction, While The Scorpion Rules focused on Greta and the other children at

the precepture, this book focused on the world itself, Talis, and the swan riders, From the first book, we already know what the human children experience and how they see the world, but now we get to see what the AIs and the swan riders experience, and how they view things.
We learn more of the history of the world and how Talis and the swan riders come to exist, I had a lot of questions while I read the first book, and while I wasnt terribly upset not to have them answered, it was a pleasant surprise to have them answered in this book.
The story itself has always been enough to keep me reading, but knowing more about the swan riders and Talis really hooked me, Bows worldbuilding is very interesting, She never gives more information than you need, It is an effective strategy that keeps you focused on the game and the players, not on the why until it really matters, and will have the biggest effect on you.
It makes for some very emotional and pivotal moments in The Swan Riders, I absolutely ADORE when a science fiction writer can make a future world seem so real I sit there waiting for it to become my reality, Erin Bow is a master at this, There are also major twists in this book that I can honestly say I did not expect at all! Bow is a master at building an interesting yet predictable story and then ripping it out from under you with amazing grace.
At points I had to take a minute to absorb what just happened, it took me that much by surprise, The themes of morality and humanity were so prevalent, with science always lurking in the corners, The Prisoners of Peace series is a look into our possible futureand the cure to save itor possibly prevent it,

Gretas journey towards understanding who she is as a new AI, and her interaction with former friends and swan riders Sri and FX, brings a whole new spark of reality into the story.
Gretas inner thoughts and reactions are all so incredibly believable, I found myself nodding at times agreeing with something Greta said or thought, I felt a real connection to her as the main character, The war inside her was a fascinating thing to behold, Watching her decide who and what she is, coming to terms with the changes in her, made the story what it is, I got to know Talis so much better in this book and I love him, He is my favorite character by far, He vacillates between being this inhuman genius, with far too much knowledge and power, and acting like a teenage boy complete with sarcasm and dirty jokes, He brings a lighter side to Gretas serious demeanor and weighty thoughts, I think FX, Sri, and the other swan riders provided valuable insight into this world and they were really compelling and mostly likeable characters, Elian popped back up in the story, much to my chagrin, I neither love him nor hate him, He serves a purpose, but Im often cursing how impetuous and short sighted he can be, He is still a valuable character and the story wouldnt be the same without him, The other AIs are very creepy, which I loved, Nothing makes a story more interesting than creepy AIs!! I think the only major player I really missed was Xie, She is not featured much in this book, but I can see why, Bow has her ducks in a row and the story must play out, I still missed her and the budding relationship between her and Greta, I honestly cannot wait to see where the next book takes us with all these characters,

This book is one of the few I would actually hazard to describe as perfect, The balance between witty banter and discussions of ethics is brilliant, The writing is superb and so very appropriate at all times, The language is flowery at the right times without ever being too much, Greta has poignant, emotional thoughts, while her dialogue is still snarky like a teenagers should be, I dont think Ive ever read a book where I find so much of it to be absolutely just as it should be, There is science, but also emotion, There are motivational epic moments, but also silly ones, There are moments of great action and adventure, but also many descriptive scenes and inner monologues, There are characters of all types with all sorts of personalities, Erin Bow quite literally left nothing out, This book and this series have become my favorite of all time, I cannot wait to read more from this incredibly talented author!,