I always know I’m reading a great book when I don’t want it to end, ever ever, and I want to stay in the world that the author has created for as long as possible. Ysabeau Wilce’s fantastical version of California—Califa—is like that, and I really didn’t want to stop reading her second book, Flora’s Dare. Nope, not one bit.
If you enjoyed the first book, Flora Segunda, in all its quirky, sweeping glory, then this sequel won’t disappoint. Flora and her best friend Udo tangle with zombies, giant squids, decadent scions of powerful families, Springheel Jack, earthquakes, rabble-rousing rebels, bird-headed human Quetzals, and out-of-control magical workings that could send you anywhere or anytime.
But my favorite part of the book might be the introduction of a character called Tiny Doom: ambitious (constantly trying ridiculously difficult magic), well-dressed (with a huge closet full of fabulous clothes), and unutterably foulmouthed (every other word out of her mouth is “fike,” the Califan version of the f-word), she’s more than a match for Flora. And that’s all I can tell you. You’ll just have to go read it, and find out if Flora has the guts to attempt the Ultimate Ranger Dare—cheating death–in order to save the world as she knows it, even if that means finding out that she didn’t know her world as well as she thought she did.
Read our 2007 SBBT interview with Ysabeau Wilce here, and buy Flora’s Dare from an independent bookstore near you!
I liked this book as well, and I agree that it won’t disappoint fans of the first volume.
Tiny Doom is hilarious!
I’m *thrilled* that this one is just as good as the first. The first was so hugely ambitious and insane that it’s hard to think of anything matching, not to mention surpassing that. I’m so excited!!