Salt & Stone by Victoria ScottMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The grueling, punishing, unrelenting quest for the cure continues.
In this sequel to Fire & Flood, Tella faces two new legs of the race: the ocean and a frozen mountain. She's kept her Pandora Madox and added in a couple more. In fact, she seems to be the Pandora Whisperer, charming everyone's animal companion. She's changed a lot from the first book and that's a good thing.
The general adventure and world building in this story are wonderful. It is very reminiscent of The Hunger Games, but with a much lighter presence. Although the four legs of the race are difficult, there isn't an air of dread or hopelessness. The Pandora companion animals are vivid as are the landscapes. Scott has done an excellent job of placing us right in the center of each environment.
Tella, the main character, has really grown. In the first book she was sarcastic and flip and came off as trying too hard to be funny and cute. In this book she's much smarter. Although she spends some time trying to establish herself as a leader - another example of her trying too hard - she has gained the ability somewhat to evaluate a situation and make good decisions. Her compassion is prominent as is the depth of her care for those around her.
The side characters remain important but not vital; several are killed off. There are some heartbreaking scenes with the Pandoras. The action is really what takes center stage here, even with the addition of some new characters. Scott took the time with some of the side characters to show the way competition can make people more selfish. There are some damaging choices made with dire consequences.
The romance here is scaled way back in favor of the ultimate journey to win the race. It's still there but runs on par with the other friendships. It was nice to see a romantic relationship being given the same value as a friendship.
The ending was a letdown. I got to the end and thought 'wait! Where's the rest?' It's left so open-ended that it can't even be called a cliffhanger. It's as if the author wasn't sure there would be a third book, so she just kind of left us all hanging and wondering. There are a lot of loose ends. Scott has hinted that there might be a third book wherein the survivors of the race take down the people who run it. A lot of noise about that happens in the book, so it will be interesting to see if the publisher and/or author choose to finish the story.
This is a good series but not great. There are some problems - but overall, it's a good adventure with some suspense and interesting elements. It's worth the read even if it never properly concludes.
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