Review: The Devil Incarnate
<p>At the end of my <a href="http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=5777">review</a> of <cite>The Devil&#8217;s Concubine</cite> I wrote &#8220;it would be nice to think that the sequels will be about something other than her approach-avoidance dance with the guy, but experience has taught me to be pessimistic in such matters.&#8221;</p>
<p>To my pleased surprise, my pessimism was not fulfilled.  In <cite>The Devil Incarnate</cite> (Jill Braden; Wayzgoose Press), the romance element is almost disappeared; this book really is about QuiTai&#8217;s struggle against the Thampurians rather than her sex life.</p>
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<p>The Devil is dead.  Qui Tai and Kyam Zul have split up.  But there&#8217;s no rest for Qui Tai, as the scheming head of the House of Zul (Kyam Zul&#8217;s grandfather) seems bent on driving the Ponongese into a revolt that can only fail. It seems to be up to her to stop this from happening&#8230;and what is the old man really after?</p>
<p>Not only does the form of this book shift away from romance, it shifts towards SF.  The one supernatural element in the setting transforms into something else in a revelation that destroys one of Qui Tai&#8217;s few certainties.</p>
<p>The setting continues to develop in interesting ways, and the author&#8217;s dexterity with prose and facility at scene-setting are undiminished.</p>
<p>This is clearly the middle book in a trilogy or longer sequence.  But it leaves me anticipating its sequel with more interest than the first one did.</p>
