I adored Red Sister. It was just gorgeous to the point where I was almost giddy with delight reading some scenes.

Grey Sister didn't capture the same feeling.

A sc-fi second book in the series. Nona Grey starts to learn the secrets of the universe in mystic class. Nona must choose her path before she leaves the convent is sweet mercy. Red of a Martial sister, Grey of a sister of Discretion, Blue as a Mystic sister or black of a Bride of the Ancester and a life of prayer and service.
This book was not bad but not one of my favourites. It was well written and is second in a 3 part series. For those who enjoy so-fi I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinions.

Not having read the first book in this series I felt totally lost with this second instalment. It doesn’t work as a standalone and it doesn’t provide enough background so that I could work out who was who, how the characters related to each other and basically what the hell was going on.

I have the feeling that if I had read book one I would have loved it and this sequel but unfortunately I just struggled to finish and didn’t get much enjoyment from it.

You certainly need to have finished the first book in the series before starting this otherwise you will definitely be lost.

As the first book this is a ​violent fantasy.

But the characters and world are well developed.

It moves along at a fast pace and kept me engaged and wanting to read more when I finished.

So if you fancy a violent Fantasy this could be for you.

Mark Lawrence is one of the authors you love or hate and all I can say is I have started to love his style of writing and characters more with every book.

His world building is completely out of this world and I can see why people go back time and time again for his books.

Grey Sister is the second in the series and follows on from Red Sister. This is action packed, but it mainly picks up from about halfway through the book. I like the characters, they were strong and fearless and I felt that they were well created. The book is dark and it takes you on an adventure you soon won't forget.

Red Sister, the first book in Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestor series. had me conflicted. I wasn’t crazy about it, but I was curious to see what happened next. Unfortunately, Grey Sister failed to wow me in the way I had hoped.

I think my biggest problem is that I find Mark Lawrence’s style of writing does not pull me in. It clearly works for many, but it doesn’t grab me. The storyline in the first one, however, allowed me to overcome this. Such did not happen with this one. We skipped forward in time and missed the emotional impact of the events in book one, to the point where it felt like things were just brushed aside. Add in the fact that no growth occurred in the time skip, and I felt like I was reading the same book again. At the age the characters are, a lot of growth should have happened, yet it hadn’t. Perhaps I’m being overly picky – I find this happens often with fantasy, despite how much I love the genre – but this one didn’t live up to what I’d expected.

Although this series is insanely popular, I belong in the minority and I find I don’t particularly care about how it ends.

A great fantasy epic. I found this one much more political than the first which isn't a bad thing, but the pacing did suffer from it from time to time. Nonas demon, Keot, was a welcome edition. The fights were much more brutal this time around, especially the contraption called "the Hurt" that was introduced. All in all a decent second chapter. Looking forward to seeing what the final chapter has ins tore.

Due to a number of reasons I no longer intend to read this book or the series as a whole and so I will not be able to read and review it.

I do not wish to endorse this author after what has come out recently so unfortunately will not be reviewing and rating this.

So I enjoyed Grey Sister more than Red Sister, if only for the fact that the plot felt a little bit more consistent: everything was leading up to the final few chapters rather than several big events throughout the book, and I found that I was much more engaged. There was less of some of my favourite characters (such as Ara and Apple), but I loved learning more about Zole and Kettle, which I hope continues! One of the best things about this series is the characters, and even the new ones that are introduced partway through are just as thought out and those these from the beginning. I'm going to read a couple of different books before Holy Sister, but I cannot wait to find out what happens in the conclusion!

Review by my co-blogger Celeste at Novel Notions
**************************************************************************

Grey Sister is an action-packed thrill ride that packs a heavy emotional punch. It’s everything a second book in a trilogy should be. So many writers miss that mark when it comes to a middle book, but not so with this series. There was not a single chapter that felt boggy or unimportant to me; I was entranced by every page. Lawrence took the story and relationships he crafted in Red Sister and managed to make them both more playful and more poignant and, most importantly, more powerful. I have never come across another fictional character to whom friendship is more important and personality-defining as it is with Nona Grey. I think this quote illustrates that importance beautifully:

“Those…are my friends and I would die for them. I would face a terror for them that I haven’t the courage to stand against on my own behalf.”


During the first half of the book, we get more focus on the school setting that won my heart in Red Sister. I love everything about the descriptions of Sweet Mercy convent. I love the classroom setting, and how each class and teacher is so radically different from one another. I love that Nona still stuffs herself in the dining hall, as if a plate with food still on it is an affront to her. I love the battle training in the Blade Hall. I love dorm life and Nona’s battles with classmates turned enemies and her secret wanderings into hidden places with her friends. School stories have always been special to me, and I think they always will be. Nona’s story is now among my favorites in that category. However, the story doesn’t stay within the walls of Sweet Mercy, and the story takes some crazy turns from there.

“Your enemies make you what you are. Your foes shape your life more than friends ever could.”

Something that set this book apart from its predecessor was the inclusion of another perspective in the storytelling. Instead of seeing the entire tale through Nona’s eyes, we are also witnessing the experiences of Abbess Glass. I was thrilled to get a peak inside her mind, because I think the Abbess is a wonderfully complex character. She doesn’t have the crazy strengths and abilities demonstrated by so many of her novices. No, her gifts are far more subtle. The best literary comparison I can thing of for her would be Lord Varys, the Spider from Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Abbess Glass is playing a long and deep game, and knows how to pull strings and plant ideas without anyone being the wiser. However, I find her to be much kinder and more caring than Varys, and much more likely to use herself as a player on the board instead of being content to orchestrate behind the scenes. I find her highly compelling, and the trade-off between her and Nona’s perspectives kept the story feeling fresh.

“When strength is in your hands there is a temptation to lash out against what looks like injustice. But our rules are all we have to stop everyone from lashing out, each to their own sense of justice. Battles are better fought within the system, even when it seems broken.”

As I stated earlier, there was an insane amount of action in this book. I think that Nona is the most badass character I’ve ever come across in fiction, male or female. Her sense of self-preservation is impressive when she’s alone but flies completely out the window if one of her friends is in danger. I have never met another character so free with their love and so fiercely protective of those who have won her affections. I’ve also never seen anyone so freely admit their faults or so canny in their ability to use said faults to their benefit. I know the quote below is long, but I feel like it perfectly sums up Nona’s view toward her internal struggle with rage:

“The holy disdain anger, for what faith is not, at its core, about acceptance of things you cannot change? The wise call wrath unwise for few truths are to be found there. Those who rule us stamp upon rage for they see it clearly, knowing it for the fire that it is, ad who invites such hungry flames among that which they possess?

To Sister …, though, fury was a weapon… There is a purity in rage. It will burn out sorrow. For a time. It will burn out fear. Even cruelty and hatred will seek shelter; rage wants none of them, only to destroy. Rage is the gift our nature gives us, shaped by untold years. Why discard it?”

I find her understanding of herself incredibly compelling.

I am also insanely impressed with Lawrence’s prose. Book of the Ancestor is the first of his series that I’ve read, but every element of his writing style just absolutely works for me. He has a beautiful way with words, and knows how to weave metaphors seamlessly and powerfully into his descriptions. For example:

“The sword Cage held offered its sharpness to the world and the Corridor wind, divided by its edge, hissed in pain.”

Isn’t that a beautiful description of the sound the wind makes? I could hear it as I read that line. He also has some profound things to say that serve as great commentary of and words of wisdom for the time in which we live. Here are a few of my favorite lines:

“The understanding that power corrupts is an idea older than the language we repeat it in.”

“The world is not changed by individual acts of violence, no matter how good the cause.”

“The greatest threat to any faith is not other faiths or beliefs but the corruption and division of its own message.”

I agree with all of these so strongly, and Lawrence stated them so well, that these are lines that will stay with me.

“There are many poisons that will induce madness but none perhaps quite so effective as love.”

Love comes in many forms, and we see them all in this series. Romantic love, maternal love, love between friends, and even darker loves, such as love of power and of self. Love is often portrayed as a source of weakness, and we see it as such in both Red Sister and Grey Sister. But it is also presented as a source of strength, which I absolutely believe it is.

“Trust is the most insidious of poisons.”

I can’t recommend this series enough. I have my fingers crossed that Holy Sister will be a mind-blowing ending to Nona’s story. If that wish is fulfilled, Book of the Ancestor will be among by favorite trilogies I’ve ever read, without question. If you love school settings as much as I do, you’ll love this. If you like your books pack with nearly nonstop action and epic fight scenes, you will definitely get that with Nona’s tale. If you prefer your fantasy packed with girl power, you can’t find a more powerful group of women than those residing in Sweet Mercy. Nona is a phenomenal protagonist, and I can’t wait to see where she takes us next.

I adore Mark Lawrences writing and so I binge red both Grey Sister and the third book Holy sister. So, I apologise in advance if this review touches a bit on the third book and the series as a whole – however I will not be including any spoilers. Lawrence has created anothter brilliant series that every fantasy fan should try – and I’ll also be mass stalking all his other books.

Grey Sister was great as it did not suffere from 2nd Book Syndrome at all. I found that I loved all three books just as much as each other, and Lawrence has given each book enough content. The writing is very epic fantasy and the story does contain a lot of slower parts, however there’s big action scenes, world building and so much character development throughout that you can read it so quickly.

The front has a little summary of book one for reminding you of what happened, and then the book throws you straight back into the adventures of Nona Grey and co. I found the world building to further expand from Red Sister in a good way. We get more information about the Corridor and the history of this world, as well as snippets about the Ice.

The Noi-Guinn were a mysterious and great antagonistic group to go up against the Covenant of Sweet Mercy and Nona. I enjoyed how Lawrence gave us more information about them, and that Nona learned along with us. Nona as a whole has matured since the first book, and is further training herself for the fight we see at the start of Red Sister.

Each of Nona’s sisters also have great depth to them. No two are the same, and they all have their strengths. As each of them are training to be different Sisters – it gives us a great insight into all the paths that Nona could take too. The Covenant of Sweet Mercy is all about girl power with how bad ass these players are.

Alongside the young sisters, we have the mentors and also Abess Glass who we get a great POV from. I loved how her chapters gave us so much more information, and intriguing parts that Nona doesn’t quite grasp yet. The love she has for all her sisters really shines through.

I clearly loved Grey Sister because I immediately went on to Holy Sister after reading it!

Positives of Grey Sister
World building
Character growth
Negatives of Grey Sister
Slow parts

Abbess Glass is a boss. Kettle is my dark shadowy sister. Sherzal and Joeli are vicious villains. The moon is falling. And Nona really needs to embrace her sapphic feelings. This was a million times better than Red Sister.

All the big faults I found in the first book - the slow plot, the lack of character development and lack of emotional connection to the protagonist seemed to melt away in the sequel. We start with a Nona changed from her confrontation with Tacsis. She's darker. Angrier,with voices that compel her towards the harsher parts of her personality. Given the traumas she's been through its easy to see why she would seek to embrace this side of her personality. However, she has a love for her friends - especially Ara and Darla that shines through. It's these friendships that make Nona relatable and likeable and stops her fully falling into pain. The addition of Joeli also adds another dimension to Nona's development and adds tension to the plot. Joeli is a delightfully spiteful character, perfect to dislike and hate who quite often throws a spanner in Nona's future. As does Keot. An inconvenience and a darker threat. And full of useless information.

Abbess Glass is another wonderful character. We get a fair few chapters from her perspective, which were a refreshing change from all Nona's angst (although admittantly less action packed and more political). The woman knows how to play a long game, plotting and scheming all possible resolutions to scenarios in the distant past. She owns the final word, the final show. She's an absolute boss, yet so frequently overlooked and underestimated because of her sex and her age. If there's any lesson to take away from this it should be to never underestimate this nun. The same can be applied Sister Kettle. She gets a lot more airtime here, and is just as mischevious and mysterious as ever.

As mentioned the plot is a lot tighter and smarter in Grey Sister, with Nona starting her Mystic classes and trials before the story turns everything on its head half way through. Doing this allows the plot room to grow and expand the lore, adding a richness to the world building and making me feel invested in the story more. There's still the need for revenge from the first book, but this is wrapped up on bigger ideas and wider more world shattering plans.

Im excited to finally get to the last book in the series. If this installment is anything to go by, it's going to be a bumpy and emotional ride.

Well, Mark Lawrence is officially up top on my list of go-to-authors for his stunningly original take on dark fantasy - And well I think having completed two of his trilogies (Yup. Complete series in itself! Old men with long beards, sit up and take note!) he becomes the author whose series I have completed/loved to bits, that I've read the maximum.


Mark is at the top of his game - and with this new series, Book of the Ancestor, he is consciously striving for something different. (Here’s my review of Red Sister) For one, the protagonist is a young girl, growing into her legacy in this savage, ice-bitten world. And it’s definitely not dark as Jorg or Jalan’s narratives. The world-building has been phenomenal, to say the least and Grey Sister builds on the strong foundation laid by the opening salvo, to give us a glimpse into this wild, savage and beautiful world called Abeth - When four ancient tribes landed here from the stars to make this land their home. The Moon continues to fall and the Corridor, a narrow space between advancing walls of ice where life is brutal and yet, still strung up in the tight circles of political intrigue that reaches down to destroy the common man, is becoming narrower by the day. There are the wild Durnish by the sea and the heretics of Scithrowl are baying for blood near the northern borders. And the wheels of conspiracies are turning even faster.

Caught in between all of this, Nona Grey – our protagonist, a full Three-Blood has now graduated to the next class inside the Convent of Sweet Mercy – studying the ways of the Mystic Class to be a Sister of Discretion. The events of this book unfolds two years later from where Red Sister ended. (The trade-mark non-linear narrative still is employed to great effectiveness by Mark here as well.) But even in the new class, Nona is not made to feel welcome. Her popularity has made her the target of hate and jealousy among many of the noble-born children within the convent, chief among them being Joeli Namsis – whose father has close ties with the Emperor’s sister Sherzal.

Complications abound – with Abbess Glass becoming the target of the Inquisition who believe the convent is encouraging the ways of the heretic. Glass knows this to be a direct assault on her authority by her enemies when the inquisitors move to arrest her within the Convent and also condemn Nona to be punished with death, pronouncing her to be a heretic. Nona escapes but Glass is arrested. And hauled off for further interrogation. Can Nona save herself and rescue Glass in the process, this becomes the focal point of the second half of this furiously paced narrative of this sequel.

In a lot of ways, Grey Sister is the bridge book – From our introduction to Nona and Glass and the whole process of growing up within the Convent in Book One to where the final narrative and the much awaited climax is going to explode in that final Book Three. I already did point out that Grey Sister sees much more robust world-building – as different corners of Abeth is revealed in their brutal savage glory yet. While the first half of the book happens within the walls of the convent, we are transported outside in the second half. To expose us to the wilder untamed country-side, to Sherzal’s Palace, to the secret hiding places of the assassins Noin-Guins, who had been humbled by Nona and much more.

We are re-united with much of our favourite bunch of novices from book one – chiefly Ara and Darla. Nona’s character evolution continues, her narrative still laced with poignant observations on life and the unpredictability of such, in this frozen world. There is a big addition to her life – Keot, about whom I wouldn’t want to give away spoilers, and will let you readers just experience him yourself. If anything, Nona is much more badass – as she has realized that her way to attain the Path is not the silent meditative process but the more direct, fiery manner lit up by righteous anger.

But I think the best part about Grey Sister is the inclusion of Abbess Glass’s POV. I admired her much from book one – but this viewpoint is so much cooler, giving us glimpses of how Glass’ mind, sharpened by age and experience, works to combat and thwart the legion of enemies surrounding her. Her POV is crucial to the plot, to help the reader understand the bigger political drama unfolding within the empire and the larger stakes at play in this world. She’s wise and clever – and despite the surmounting odds against her, her fortitude never falters. Just totally loved her character. Then there’s Sister Kettle, an accomplished grey sister – whose fierce love for Nona lit up the whole chapters. Another favourite of mine.

There’s a lot more action in this book than book one (Or perhaps, it’s just a bit more dangerous as we are up against stronger and more clever antagonists?) the pacing is even, grabbing us from page-one. The tension and intrigue keeps building as we come face to face with a lot more characters, some of them spoken about in Book One. Nona’s world is literally balanced tottering on the edge of a precipice and I cannot wait to see the end of this story.

A very capable addition to the Book of Ancestor series, Mark Lawrence continues to enthral us with his masterful storytelling, eminently quotable clever turns of phrases and a consciously thought-out heady mishmash of fantasy elements from varied influences. As the wind continues to howl over the ever expanding ice, lovers of this ass-kicking nun will find a lot more to love and cheer about in this sequel. A book I wholeheartedly recommend to all fans of Mark, old and new.

The middle book in a trilogy is always difficult, you've got to follow up what is usually a fantastic beginning and keep enough momentum going to be invested in the final book. Grey Sister excels at this, giving us a wonderful continuation of the characters we know and love. We get to see Nona grow even further and develop as a person and slowly learn more about the world that they inhabit.

I can't really say more without potential spoilers, and indeed I often tend to just review the first book in a series for that exact reason but I can definitely recommend this book and indeed this series.

A couple of years have passed since the events of Red Sister (the first book of Mark Lawrence's The Book of the Ancestor trilogy) and Nona Grey has been living comparatively quietly at the Convent of Sweet Mercy. She's not, as you might expect, spending long hours in prayer, or working on calligraphy or needlework, for this is a convent with a difference. One where, under the supervision of Abbess Glass and the sisters, novices are trained in martial arts - both practical hand to hand combat and the subtler ways of poison and mind manipulation.
Nona is now leaving many of her friends behind and moving up a level to Mystic class; making new enemies there, to add to the powerful ones she already has outside the convent. Combined they're determined to see her thrown out of the convent, preferably killed. Fairly obviously, Nona isn't going to co-operate - and a lot of other people are going to end up dead.

The second book of a trilogy is always tricky - the characters have been introduced, the world building is done, but the reader needs to be reminded of things they may have forgotten from the first book, while the action has to move forward to keep us engrossed. Despite a slightly slow start with a little too much emphasis on the 'school' aspect of Nona's life for my liking, I really enjoyed this return to Nona's world. As the story progresses the pace picks up with plenty of fight scenes and danger, but I also liked the less violent, sly, political manoeuvring of the abbess.


Something I hate about fantasy series is the hiatus between books as the next is written, edited and finally published. It's taken me an awfully long time to get round to reading this, so I'm lucky in that the third and final book, Holy Sister is already published.

Just a couple of warnings - despite the school style setting this is NOT a children's book (don't confuse it with Harry Potter or The Worst Witch) and you DO need to have read book one, Red Sister;without it little will make sense.

A great sequel, Grey Sister offers excellent and well-balanced development of characters, plot and worldbuilding - all the necessary elements of a middle book of a trilogy.

I really appreciate how Mark Lawrence provides a summary of the story so far at the beginning of his books. If I haven't read Red Sister almost two years ago, I would say that his comprehensive summary of things that matter the most would have sufficed. Nonetheless, I decided to reread Red Sister before delving into the sequel, and I was glad I did so as it helped me to rediscover the investment I had with the characters - a very important aspect for my reading enjoyment.

The story in Grey Sister starts two years after the events at the end of Red Sister, and Nona Grey is graduating from Grey Class to Mystic Class. What happened at the end of the first book has repercussions, both mentally and physically, on Nona and it was dealing with these 'scars' that dominated her character development here. The best part of Grey Sister for me was having additional character perspectives aside from Nona, namely Abbess Glass and Sister Kettle. Sister Kettle's perspective offers the reader the chance to understand the true workings of a Grey Sister (or Sister of Discretion). Abbess Glass, though, was the highlight of the book. She couldn't have chosen a more suitable name; Glass - strong and invisible, practically inert (meaning imperturbable), but yet try looking through glass and it will distort your vision. Getting into her mind and understanding her character motivation was fascinating. This is where we get to see a true mastermind at work. There is so much more to the story than being about Nona, and Abbess Glass stood at the centre of it.

"And with that push, Abbess Glass set a new game in play, one domino falling into the next. So many pieces to fall, so many chances to fail."

The plot develops and thickens in this sequel without unnecessary diversion or meandering, which is always appreciated in a good story. To avoid accidental spoilers, I will only say that I was wholly satisfied with the direction of the plot and the worldbuilding, especially with regard to its politics and power structures, that led to a really powerful penultimate conclusion in Grey Sister. However, somewhere between halfway and three-quarters into the book, there were instances in the narrative which felt a bit draggy and my engagement faltered a bit, similar to how I felt while reading Red Sister as well. Thankfully, both books has delivered fantastic climactic sequences which more than made up for it.

Compared to the worldbuilding in Lawrence's previous trilogies (which shared the same post-apocalyptic Earth), Abeth is unique and intriguing. I've read so many fantasy worlds, but this is one which I can say for sure that I will not ever want to live in. A world of advancing ice, only kept at bay by a focus moon which directs the heat of the sun, is far from pleasant but oh so interesting. There was a hint that the legends or history about the four tribes who purportedly came with their ships (and shiphearts) to Abeth was not entirely what it seemed, and I can't wait to see if more will be revealed in the final book of the trilogy.

"You may be rocks but humanity is the tide and you only have to stand upon the sand to see how that contest concludes."

Now, let's see how this brilliant story concludes in Holy Sister.

I was really excited when I go this book from netgalley and then I got distracted and have only just read it (and the first in the trilogy of course and I'm about to buy the third!). Excellent solid fantasy writing, think Trudi Canavan and Robin Hobb. I just want to gather Nona up and look after her but fate has other plans. I do wonder sometimes if Abbess Glass needs to be quite so vague and detached but hey it helps the story along. This was also my first foray into audiobooks and I must point out that the audiobook narrator is brilliant. Five stars all the way. Don't be silly like me, start now!

This was a bit of a tricky one for me to read. I read the first novel of this series and loved it, so I was really excited to get back into this world Mark Lawrence created. I struggled, however, as the world was so big with so many characters, I don't feel he did a good job of properly reminding the reader of what happened in book one. He does attempt this with a recap at the beginning of the novel, but I honestly couldn't remember so many characters from the first book or what happened to Nona in most of that novel, that this one was much harder to follow. I think the story has great potential though and I want to know how the trilogy ends!

A little recap of the setting: Abeth is a planet orbiting a dying sun; it is covered in ice, except for a not so wide strip of land, called the corridor, which is kept almost clean of ice due to the focus heat of an artificial moon. Some of the people on Abeth have magical traits: Hunska = stunningly fast; Gerant = great size; Marjal = some forms of lesser magic; Quantal = complex, very powerful magic.

Usually, I find the second volume in a series somehow dissappointing; fortunately, not this one, I loved it even more than Red Sister! Nona is evolving, learning new skills and getting stronger, but is still flawed and angry and making mistakes, just like a normal human being. This volume also brings as a novelty chapters from Abbess Glass's PoV, which I enjoyed imensly, as she is always full of witty and wise remarks.

The book is full of action and twists, and the secondary characters are better developed than in Red Sister: I got to have favorites, despised/'hated' some others, learn more about them and their motivations. Overall, a helluva sequel!


P.S. Still maintaining my complaint about the lack of commas..
P.S.2. A special thanks to Mark Lawrence for including a little recap chapter with the most important facts in the first book.