But Eason pulls it off, thanks to perfect pacing and the delightfully colorful duo at its core. “Nightwatch is a book that, in less capable hands, might collapse under its own inventive worldbuilding. It seems there is still dangerous arithmancy in Windscar-but the source isn’t who Iari expected, and they’re far worse than the separatists. As they delve into the ruins, they find remnants of long-ago battles, bits of broken armor and mechas-which unexpectedly reanimate and attack. Included in Iari’s team are Char, a decommissioned battle-mecha and newly-joined templar, and Gaer, ostensible ambassador and talented arithmancer. She’s worried about surviving separatists and a fresh attempt to upend the Confederation. Promoted and sent north to the tundra of Windscar, Iari leads a team of templars to investigate ancient, subterranean ruins, which local legend claims are haunted, and which have mysterious connections to the dangerous arithmancy used by the wichu separatists. But after she helped stop separatists from sabotaging the entire Confederation, she discovered a new sort of monster: the rogue-arithmancer, political kind. As a templar in the Aedis, a multi-species religious organization committed to protecting the Confederation, eliminating extra-dimensional horrors is her job.

Set in the universe of Rory Thorne, the second book in this sci-fi series follows unlikely allies who must discover the secrets of ancient ruins.

Nightwatch Over Windscar by K. Eason