I really like Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestor series so far. The world building and the blend of dystopic sf with its religious/political backdrop is well done. Possibly because Lawrence never lets ideas take dominance over the characters themselves.
Grey Sister is more of a split narrative than Red Sister. The story tracks Nona, an apprentice nun at Sweet Mercy as she learns martial arts, magic, and seeks to pursue vengeance for the death of her friend (who died in book 1) and Abbess Glass, the Machiavellian puppet master who is trying to steer the world towards a more benign and less selfish reality.
It’s rare in a split story that I enjoy each track equally though if I had to choose the suffering, scheming, and tipping of Abbess Glass’ dominoes probably won me over. Glass unlike so many of the characters in Grey Sister is not a powerful warrior or capable of weaving threads of magic. Instead, she uses guile, foresight, and an understanding of her enemies/friends. What’s most fun is that so often, we don’t get to follow Dumbledore or Merlin or other mentor figures. Usually, they operate in the background and make appearances only in time to give the hero a boost or a needed bit of wisdom. With Glass, we get to see the chess board, how she moves the pieces, her opponents counter and what happens when she herself becomes a piece (probably a bishop) herself.
(more at Goodreads… https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35715280-grey-sister)
