James Nicoll Reviews

2024’s Mirrored Heavens is the third and final volume in Rebecca Roanhorse’s Between Earth and Sky secondary-universe fantasy trilogy¹.

After the events of the last two volumes (Serapio has survived an apotheosis; Serapio has dealt with Naranpa, the avatar of a rival god) Serapio is now free to rule the city of Tova as the Crow God Reborn.

There’s just a small matter of a prophecy.

The wording of the prophecy is clear:

On earth, in heaven, and within,
Three wars to lose, three wars to win.
Cut the path. Mark the days. Turn the tides.
Three tasks before the season dies:
Turn rotten fruit to flower,
Slay the god-bride still unloved,
Press the son to fell the sire.
Victory then to the Carrion King who in winning loses everything. 

Alas, the prophecy does not come with an interpretation key. Perhaps the prophecy’s terms are literal. Perhaps they are metaphors. Perhaps they are a mix of both. Perhaps the lack of clarity is to ensure that Serapio does not once again find a way to evade his god-given destiny.

On the other side of the Cresent Sea, in the city of Cuecola, Balam plots. The Lord of the House of Seven played a central role in the years-long plot to see a Crow God avatar upend Tova. Now Balam plans to invade Tova, overthrow Serapio, and take power himself.

To cross the Crescent Sea, Balam needs a fleet. Such a fleet has been commissioned from the Teek. Never one to rely on a carrot when a stick was at hand, Balan dispatches his trusted subordinate Tuun to make sure his precious fleet is delivered in time.

• Step one of Tuun’s compliance program: massacre the Teek elders.
• Step two: terrorize the surviving Teek into completing the fleet in less time than is actually possible.
• Step three: infuriate Teek sea captain Xiala to the point that Xiala embraces certain divine gifts no sensible invader would want to own or use.

Balam has allies. Balam thinks he has a fleet. Balam is painfully aware that Serapio is very nearly a god. Armies might not be enough. Therefore, Balam embraces dark magic. Yes, such magic comes with ominous warnings… but surely such warnings do not apply to a man as ambitious as Balam.

~oOo~

As with the second volume, the list of dramatis personae contains implied spoilers for the previous volumes. If you’ve not read the first two books, do not casually thumb through volume three.

This e‑arc came with a map, which I found very handy in visualizing who was where. As I suspected, the Crescent Sea is analogous to the Caribbean. However, the various cities were nowhere near where I had guessed.

Balam’s embrace of cursed sorcery despite such magic being notoriously unreliable and reliably corrosive to sorcerers might seem hubristic. If (almost) every previous sorcerer has come to a bad end, why does Balam think he’s going to be an exception?

There are two excellent reasons: First, it’s possible to find a way around magical hazards. Serapio’s continued existence is proof that loopholes exist even in divine plans. Second, one of the side-effects of dabbling in forbidden magic is impairment of one’s executive function.

I was a bit worried that, not having read the previous volume in the last two years, I would have forgotten enough that this moderately hefty, somewhat complicated volume would be incomprehensible. Not so! The e‑arc comes with a handy refresher about what has gone before but even if it didn’t, Mirrored Heavens does a nice job of reintroducing its cast and the exciting events in which they are tangled.

Memory is aided by the fact the gods are taking an active interest in the mortal realm. Consequently, the cast of characters has been culled and continues to dwindle rapidly. Pious believers frustrated that their chosen divine beings are ambiguously intervening in daily life might want to read Mirrored Heavens to see what happens when they do.

My only critique is that I am sad to see the story end. Otherwise, Mirrored Heavens is a fine conclusion to Roanhorse’s trilogy.

Mirrored Heavens is available here (Amazon US), here (Amazon Canada), here (Amazon UK), here (Apple Books), here (Barnes & Noble), here (Chapters-Indigo), and here (Words Worth Books).

1: Volume One was reviewed here, while Volume Two was reviewed here.