All Silence Must Cease (The Peacebringer Series Book 2) by Raymond W. Wilkinson; The Women of Vespa Academy Are Back in a Brave New Bloody World

 

All Silence Must Cease (The Peacebringer Series Book 2) by Raymond W. Wilkinson; The Women of Vespa Academy Are Back in a Brave New Bloody World 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery.

Spoilers: If there is one trend that has stood out among the books that I am reading this year so far, it's the abundance of sequels. I have read nine sequels so far so many that I am considering making a separate Best of Category just for sequels at the end of the year. It's not just that they are common sequels either. They are sequels to books that were favorites in years past. This year, I read Wallace House of Pain by S.M. Stevens, the follow up to Beautiful and Terrible Things which was my #1 Contemporary Fiction book last year. I also read Merchants of Light and Bone by Erika McCorkle and The Penny Arcade Mother's Care Orphanage by David Neuman the continuations of Merchants of Knowledge and Magic and Kaleidoscopic Shades Within Black Eternity respectively, both of which were my top favorites from 2022. Not to mention the continuing adventures of The Forge Trilogy in The Shadow Guardians Series by G. Russell Gaynor, The Others by Evette Davis, The Mantis Gland Series by Adam Andrews Johnson, The Everlan Trilogy by Conor Jest, and The Angela Hardwicke Science Fiction Mysteries by Russ Colchamiro. Well we can also add All Silence Must Cease, the second book in The Peacebringer Series by Raymond W. Wilkinson, the follow up to To End Every War which was my favorite book of 2023.

To End Every War was a unique book in the Epic Fantasy genre in that it wasn't an Epic Fantasy. I mean it was. It was set in an Alternate version of our world in 1902 where Elves, Dwarves, Giants, Centaurs, Selkies, demon-like Abraxas, and Fairies exist alongside Humans and in this case attend university together. There were the usual tropes that can be found in such works: arcane mysteries, magic, strife among various kingdoms, and so on. 

But what set it apart was that the focus was on the characters, a circle of female friends and their conflicts with each other and adjustments to living in a new environment away from home. No epic quests, no good vs. evil battle. Just six women of different species, backgrounds, and personalities learning to live with and like each other, more Feminist than Fantasy. In my previous review, I compared it to “Lord of the Rings meets Mary McCarthy’s The Group” and said that “it's not an Epic Fantasy with an All-Female cast. It's a Woman's Fiction Novel that happens to have a Fantasy setting.” I did not exaggerate.

The second volume is less character driven and more plot driven but no less interesting. Alongside the individual characters and their internal issues within themselves, each other, and their peers, it also puts them into the larger scope of warring communities, secret societies, political backstabbing, and their own roles as future community leaders, influencers, and fighters. 

The women are definitely rife with personal trauma that has affected their lives in Vespa Academy. Esmeralda Vespa, the Human future Duchessa, becomes a central figure in various power struggles. She weighs potential marriages and obtains a very dangerous rival with an unstable prince.

Zabel Lusine, an enigmatic Elf is pregnant and has a secret marriage to another Elf while her husband's guardian is her patron. Her body is also inhabited by a simulacrum, a violent Dark Elf named Shamir.

Viatrix Corna, a scholarly Dwarf finds her image of her family and species called into question. She has to deal with her father having an extramarital affair, her brother being part of a Socialist organization that is planning violence, and her grandfather being a member of a secret society that finances many of the happenings in the other lands.

While Alya Pamoroyan, an Abraxas, is studying in Vespa Academy, her kingdom has been attacked. She is anxious about her parents who are reported missing and her newly married sister, Dina who will soon be right in the thick of things.

Kirsi Takala, a Selkie, is struggling to put a hold on her violent nature, which all Selkies possess (and makes them good but terrifying fighters). She also is trying to solve a mystery involving her mother's time in Vespa and the dark secrets that led to her dismissal and a murder.

Kamila “Kam” Ruszo, a Human/Fairy hybrid is going through physiological changes as her body transforms into a more Fairy-like form. She also learns that her mother is a spy and assassin and has the Royal family in her sight.

The six women's struggles are both external and introspective, mixing the personal and political. There are great moments that collide their private lives with their public and pushes them into a wider circle of influence and change.

One of those moments involves an assassination attempt during a public event. The characters also face various conflicts such as Kam’s with her mother, Viatrix with her father and brother, Kirsi with bullying students, Alya with Dina, Esmeralda with the prince, and Zabel with Shamir during the attempt and its aftermath. These intertwining conflicts change their lives by pushing them onto darker, unsettling, and unstable paths.

The larger big picture events surround the characters but except for some violent moments and allegiances of older friends and family members do not directly involve them. Being peripherally involved might not be the same way as physically involved but it is no less traumatic.

They might be on the edge of the events, but those edges are becoming narrower and they will soon be thrown in.

Right now they have to live with the consequences of other’s actions. They worry about family members being exiled or disappearing. They are disillusioned by family members who walk violent and treacherous paths. Their darker sides become even more present as they give into violence, sadness, and rage. They weigh the changes that will be made to end these conflicts. 

The strengths in both this and the previous book is the tight sisterhood and solidarity that form around the main characters. In this book, we still see that each character is able to put her own worries aside and use her talents to aid the others. Whether it's Viatrix’s scholarly pursuits, Kam’s interest in sneaking in and out of forbidden places, Zabel's intuitive wisdom, Alya's stoic rationality, Kirsi’s obstinate energy, or Esmeralda’s leadership and big picture thinking, these women always find a way to help one another through their various struggles. Which makes the ending all the more questionable, darker, and potentially even more tragic.

As the book ends, each character is recruited by secret organizations, go home to fight in their own way, make advantageous marriages and alliances, and settle into private lives in their kingdoms while becoming involved with the local political scene. In other words, they have to take larger parts in the worlds around them.These changes could mean that they will not only participate in the upcoming conflicts but will be forced into becoming enemies with each other. 

The school motto might be “To End Every War” but war seems to be what is going to happen. The characters have to decide whether they will take part or stick together to find a way around war and end it.