Fall of Light

Fall of Light (2009) Nina Kiriki Hoffman

The first Nina Kiriki Hoffman book I read was Fistful of Sky, which I read in a single sitting and absolutely loved.

Fall of Light is set in the same world was Fistful of Sky, only the main character is Opal, Gyp’s sister, and these events take place a year or so after the events in the first book.

Opal is a special effects make-up artist and this is her second movie working with horror “star” Corvus Weather. Corvus is seven foot two and so gets to play monsters. However, in this story Corvus is less of a monster and more of an unknown, and he’s hoping this part might get him noticed by people will to see more in him than a monster.

Unfortunately, it turns out there may well be a monster in the area–a creature who wants to use the films for his own ends.

First, the bad. I don’t like Opal nearly as well as I like Gyp. She’s not a bad character–not at all–but I kept comparing her to Gyp, and that did her no favors. For once, I think that having read a previous book was a detriment to my enjoyment of this book.

Now, onto the good. This is still a very good book. I believe that if I hadn’t been wanting Opal to be Gyp (which I shouldn’t have done, but what can I say? I love Fistful of Sky) I would have thoroughly enjoyed it. So I’d say the failure in this instance was on the part of the reader, not on the part of the write.

Additionally, like most of her books, although this is set in the same world as other books, you can easily read this book without having any other books set in this world–or even books written by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

If you loved Fistful of Sky, read this, but remember that this is not Gyp. If you have not read Fistful of Sky or anything else by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, you can easily read and enjoy this book.
Rating: 7/10

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