DRAGONMOUNT

Katy is a news contributor for Dragonmount. You can follow her as she shares her thoughts on The Wheel of Time TV Show on Instagram and Twitter @KatySedai     Showrunner Rafe Judkins answered questions about season two of The Wheel of Time on Prime Video. Recent announcements came during the San Diego Comic-Con panel focused on the Wheel of Time Origin shorts. They announced more Origin episodes are coming in August, released a season 2 sizzle reel, and announced that the television show is renewed for season 3!   After the panel, Rafe posted to Twitter that he’d answer questions on season two.     Rafe answered a lot questions (there are over 400 replies to his post), but here are the highlights:   Rafe shared thoughts on the general plotting of season two and where the story may take us. Many fans speculated, but Rafe confirmed, that season two will cover book two: The Great Hunt and book three: The Dragon Reborn. The third season just announced will cover book four: The Shadow Rising. Mat’s plot was changed the most, but by the end of season two his plot will line up for the events in book four. This makes a lot of sense, since Mat’s character didn’t really shine until book three.         Rafe also expanded on what’s in store for Moiraine and Lan. Rosamund Pike and Daniel Henney are big stars for the show, and it makes sense to give them a bit more to do. This will be a rather large change to the story, so it will be interesting to see how the wheel turns for those two characters!         Rafe also gave fans confirmation of a few fan favorite characters and scenes. We will be seeing everyone’s favorite wolfbrother: Hopper. We also will have scenes with Egwene and Renna (which means more of the Seanchan plot from book 2). We will love to hate Kate Fleetwood as Liandrin.           Rafe gave us some clues about what to expect from the shadow this season. The darkfriend social, which opens book 2, will be in the show. It’s a fantastic scene, and should make for great sleuthing and speculating. Rafe confirmed we will see more than one forsaken, and that they will have an expanded role closer to what we see in later books than what’s in books 2 and 3.           Rafe also gave us some background on season one. The first was about Uno - that he was breathing. Some fans thought Uno died after he was stabbed with the tainted dagger, but it sounds like Uno will live to swear again.  Many fans had questions about the Egwene - Nynaeve scene in the finale of season one. Rafe shared that the scene was changed at the very last minute due to COVID restrictions, and the original plan was for Egwene to help Nynaeve using Wisdom skills. It sucks for everyone that these compromises had to be made.          Finally, Rafe shared that we will continue to see the cold opens for the episodes as an ode to the point of view chapters in the books. It’s just one of the ways the team has adapted the written story to television. And WE WILL GET LONGER EPISODES. Great news and we can’t wait to see how The Wheel of Time team uses some extra time to tell this beloved story.         There's a lot to still learn about season two (we haven't heard when it will premiere), but hopefully this gives everyone plenty to speculate and theorize over until we can watch new episodes of The Wheel of Time on our screens again. What's your favorite answer from Rafe? Anything important that we missed? (400 replies is a lot to shift through!) Let us know in the comments below or in our forums.   

Macmillan Audio announced today that Rosamund Pike, who plays Moiraine in Prime Video's TV show, will narrate new versions of Robert Jordan's second and third Wheel of Time novels, The Great Hunt, and The Dragon Reborn. The new version of The Great Hunt will be available August 2, 2022, and The Dragon Reborn will arrive sometime in 2023.    The most well-known of versions of these audiobooks were recorded by the real-life husband and wife duo of Michael Kramer and Kate Reading. Prior to them, during the early 1990's, actor Mark Rolstrom recorded both abridged and unabridged versions.   Long-time fans can be rest assured that the older versions of both audiobooks from Michael Kramer and Kate Reading will remain available along with these new versions from Rosamund Pike.    It is unknown whether Rosamund Pike will narrate all books in The Wheel of Time series. For now it seems as though she is keeping pace with the story adaptation presented by Prime Video's series.  Season 2 of The Wheel of Time is expected to adapt many of the events in these two novels.    Here's the full tree release from Macmillan Audio:     The new audiobook can be pre-ordered here on Audible. It's also available on Libro.FM, Apple Books, Google Play Books, and more.    Tell us what you think in the comments, and be sure to join us on our forums and on social media.  

Adam Whitehead is Dragonmount's TV blogger. Adam has been writing about film and television, The Wheel of Time, and other genre fiction for over fifteen years, and was a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 2020. Be sure to check out his websites, The Wertzone and Atlas of Ice and Fire (including The Wheel of Time Atlas!) as well as his Patreon.   At the moment there’s a huge amount of hype swirling for the imminent launch of two fantasy shows based on literary properties: House of the Dragon, a forerunner to Game of Thrones, hits HBO on August 21st. Lord of the Rings prequel The Rings of Power follows that up on Amazon on 2 September. Both shows have recently dropped new trailers and started the marketing process.   With those two behemoths facing off, it’s understandable that Amazon is holding fire on the marketing for Season 2 of The Wheel of Time. Season 2 of the series wrapped back in May but so far we haven’t had much news about the launch date for the show (although we now have a Season 3 renewal confirmation!). Given that Season 1 wrapped in May 2021 and the show launched in November 2021, it might be logical to assume that Season 2 will likewise appear on Amazon before the end of the year. Indeed, fans and content creators have been debating this point for a while.   Looking at the timeline of how Amazon shot and then marketed Season 1 might be interesting:   19 September 2019: Season 1 starts shooting 17 March 2021: First brief teaser footage released 28 April 2021: Season 2 greenlit 14 May 2021: Season 1 wraps 30 June 2021: Logo revealed 19 July 2021: Season 2 starts shooting 23 July 2021: Poster revealed 18 August 2021: Publicity images revealed 2 September 2021: First trailer, release date confirmed 9 October 2021: First clip released 27 October 2021: Second trailer released 19 November 2021: Season 1 premiere 19 May 2022: Season 2 wraps shooting 21 July 2022: Season 3 greenlit, Season 2 behind-the-scenes teaser released   Based on the precedent from Season 1, we might be expecting publicity images and maybe a poster to emerge in the next month or so, followed by a trailer in September and Season 2 to premiere in November. No problem, right?   There are, however, two major differences compared to the launch of Season 1.   The first is the impact of COVID. Season 1 filmed over twenty months with two shutdowns of production caused by filming restrictions. The longest gap fell between the completion of shooting on Episodes 1-6 and the start of shooting Episodes 7-8 (it was during this gap that Barney Harris left for reasons that remain undisclosed). During these gaps in filming, post-production was able to proceed at a solid clip. CGI, editing, composing, etc all took place whilst the show was on hiatus and is believed to have been partially or mostly completed for the first six episodes by the time the show wrapped in May 2021. Thus, post-production was really only required for the last two episodes once shooting ended in May 2021.   Whilst I have no doubt that some editing, vfx work etc started for Season 2 before it wrapped, it does appear that post-production was in a less advanced state then it was when Season 1 wrapped. So, more work and presumably more time is required for Season 2’s post-production requirements.   The second issue is more obvious: Amazon are launching The Rings of Power with a double-episode bonanza on 2 September. The remainder of the eight-episode first season will be released once a week, taking them through 14 October (this may be less relevant, but House of the Dragon will release episodes from 21 August through 23 October). Amazon may feel leery about immediately following up The Rings of Power with another epic fantasy show straight away, or even a month later. They also have an additional scheduling problem in that the second season of Carnival Row has been sitting on the shelf for a lot longer than Season 2 of The Wheel of Time (Season 2 of that show wrapped in August 2021). According to Deadline, Amazon has internally committed to releasing Carnival Row in 2022, which would require them to either double-up on original show releases (which Amazon traditionally doesn’t do, at least not in the same genre) or push Wheel of Time to 2023.   Although Carnival Row is also fantasy, it’s more of a steampunk fantasy with a 19th Century Victoriana vibe, which would set it apart from the medieval-ish fantasy of both The Rings of Power and The Wheel of Time. For these reasons, I would guess that The Wheel of Time will not debut in 2022 but instead will launch in the first few months of 2023.   On the subject of the renewal, there’d been some ideas floating around from fans a few months ago that Seasons 3 and 4 would be renewed at once. We have seen more and more shows doing multi-season renewals – Netflix’s The Dragon Prince even got a four-season renewal a few years ago – and they’re being seen as a good way of spreading costs around, since shows can now go straight from producing one season into working on the next without an awkward pause (potentially lasting months) whilst the suits crunch numbers behind the scenes. This is both good – you know you’ve got gainful employment for the next two years rather than the next few months – but it can also be limited. When a streamer or network renews a show, they often also assign the budget, and when they renew for two seasons, they sometimes assign the budget for both seasons ahead of time. This is great if you know you’re not going to be ramping up the scale and scope of the project between seasons. If you are, it can be better to be more flexible and go on a year-by-year basis, even if that means a toe-curling wait every summer. Having two seasons renewed can also complicate things if one season goes over-budget: The Wire had its final two seasons approved by HBO in one go, but when Season 4 went seriously over-budget they were not given any more money, but had to “raid” Season 5’s resources to make up the shortfall, explaining why Season 5 was both shorter and had fewer locations.   It’ll be interesting to see if Amazon start any marketing moves towards launching Season 2 of The Wheel of Time in the next few weeks, beyond the Season 3 renewal and “sizzle reel” for Season 2. If we get into September and October without any trailer or marketing information, a 2022 launch I think could then be ruled out.   The second season of The Wheel of Time does not have a release date yet. As usual, we will keep you informed of all the relevant details. For more information, visit our TV show section of the website.    As usual, please continue to follow developments on our casting and news pages, and the forum, and stay tuned for more info as we get it.

Katy is a news contributor for Dragonmount. You can follow her as she shares her thoughts on The Wheel of Time TV Show on Instagram and Twitter @KatySedai   At San Diego Comic-Con today, Prime Video released a sizzle reel showcasing behind the scenes of Season Two of The Wheel of Time. There was a panel on the Origins series with panelists including Rammy Park, writer and producer for season two. This is our first glimpse of what’s in store for fans in season two since filming wrapped in May 2022.        Fans will be breaking this down for months! There are scenes fans might recognize and some that appear new. Anyone spot a fade on a door and a fight in the White Tower courtyard? I’m so excited to see what else the Wheel of Time team has in store for us!   They also announced new Origins episodes are coming in August.     The last piece of news is that Season three of the TV show has been green lit!  Check out the Dragonmount article all about season three.   What do you think of the behind the scenes for season two? Let us know in the comments below or in our forums. 

Prime Video announced today that The Wheel of Time TV show has been renewed for a third season. This announcement came today, July 21, at San Diego Comic-Con during the "Origins" panel where they showcased behind-the-scenes footage from the forthcoming season 2.   The season 2 release date has not been announced but is expected sometime in 2023, probably in the first half of the year.   Here's the press release for the season 3 announcement.      As always, for full coverage of The Wheel of Time TV show, follow us on social media and check out our TV show section of the website. 

Katy is a news contributor for Dragonmount. You can follow her as she shares her thoughts on The Wheel of Time TV Show on Instagram and Twitter @KatySedai   Kate Reading and Michael Kramer are the narrators of the Wheel of Time audiobooks and were special guests at the first WOTCon convention last week. WoTCon is a Wheel of Time convention created for and run by fans of the Wheel of Time. The first convention took place July 8-10, 2022 in Columbus, OH. During one of the panels, they performed a live reading of Moiraine’s Weep for Manetheren speech from The Eye of the World, the first book of the Wheel of Time series.   Weekly Wheel News recorded the live reading and posted it to their YouTube channel.   Check it out here:     Anyone need a tissue? Their voices are so incredible and this scene is such an iconic Wheel of Time moment. Let us know what you think in the comments below or on our forums.

Rajiv Moté is Dragonmount’s book blogger with a lens on the craft of fiction writing. When he’s not directing software engineers, he writes fiction of his own, which can be found catalogued at his website.   J.R.R. Tolkien said “all stories are ultimately about the fall,” and Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time certainly fits that description. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turning of the Wheel of Time, but much like the Hindu cosmology on which the Wheel’s cyclical history is based, there is an Age that represents the apex of human civilization (the Age of Legends), and an Age that falls into the nadir, where the Dark One casts his shadow on the world. Apocalyptic stories chronicle the fall. The stakes are whether there is hope of a subsequent rise.     While Robert Jordan’s take on the fall of civilization centered around the rise of an evil Dark Lord, it manifested in recognizably political ways. Our own world history shows war and strife following the rise of cults of personality around authoritarian leaders, fanning the flames of a society’s worst impulses. In the story, the road to Tarmon Gai’don was filled with such cults and despots, many of them familiar. Let’s look at a few.   The Children of the Light   The Children (or Whitecloaks as they’re called when not in earshot) are a military organization answerable to no authority but themselves. Though based in the nation of Amadicia, their Lord Captain Commander holds more power than the Amadician king, and they boast that their authority extends wherever the Light shines. Robert Jordan claimed that religion didn’t exist in his world, because the Creator and the Dark One were evident to all, but the Children are religious zealots, complete with a holy text, The Way of the Light, and an inquisitorial body, the Hand of the Light (or Questioners).   We don’t know much about the group’s founder, Lothair Mantelar, but he wrote The Way of the Light and organized the Children during the War of the Hundred Years. It was a brutal, bloody period of chaos following the disintegration of Artur Hawkwing’s empire. During such eras, charismatic leaders offering certainty, purpose, a banner, and an enemy tend to flourish. The Children’s enemies were Darkfriends, but Mantelar also had a useful target in the Aes Sedai. During Hawkwing’s final years (and possibly under Ishamael’s influence), the High King waged war against the White Tower, and his distrust of Aes Sedai was so great he even tried to build a capital around an Ogier stedding, where the One Power could not be used. Given the Dark One’s taint on saidin and Hawkwing’s hatred of Aes Sedai, it would have been easy for Mantelar to harness historical and legendary animosity toward those who wielded the One Power.   The glass columns of Rhuidean revealed the willingness to scapegoat and lynch suspected Darkfriends even before the Breaking of the World. The attitude carried forward through centuries, and is reminiscent of the Whitecloak ways.     The White Tower   While their name translates to “Servant to All” (“public servant?”), the Aes Sedai were a rarified class who lived centuries longer than ordinary people and, of course, could wield the magic power that drove the universe. What we know of the Age of Legends reinforces the idea that they were elites whose status was conferred by an inborn trait, the ability to touch the One Power. The White Tower was founded after the Breaking of the World, during a time of great strife. The Aes Sedai themselves became an even more exclusive group, as all the male Aes Sedai were driven mad by the Dark One’s taint.   Since its founding, the White Tower’s mission has been to spread its influence and consolidate its authority. Each Aes Sedai is treated in most nations with the status of a ruler, and the Tower’s premier, the Amyrlin Seat, has been known to command kings and queens. The Tower reinforces its authority by suppressing its failures. Moiraine won Lan’s trust by revealing one of the Tower’s secrets.     Into this atmosphere of elitism, arrogance, and secrecy comes the Dragon Reborn. When the Amyrlin Seat Siuan Sanche’s secret dealings with the Dragon Reborn were revealed, a faction of Aes Sedai led by Elaida do Avriny a’Roihan staged a coup and deposed Siuan. Elaida was strong in the One Power among Aes Sedai, which conferred standing. She was also steel-hard, determined, and sporadically possessed of the ability to Foretell the future, if not necessarily understand it, which gave her a disastrous false certainty. She was also almost laughably narcissistic. (I have since been disabused of the notion that someone so self-preoccupied could never achieve such a position of power in the real world.)   Mesaana and the Black Ajah couldn’t have picked a better leader to tear the White Tower apart. Elaida reigned through intimidation, threats, and bullying. She seemed incapable of building consensus or coalitions except through appeals to fear or greed. And she devoted a great deal of time and resources to self-aggrandizement, like building a personal palace to rival the White Tower itself. Elaida’s coup broke the Tower into its first open schism that became an all-out civil war.   In the context of current events, Robert Jordan’s take on the White Tower’s schism may have been optimistic. While Elaida’s unhinged leadership, and coterie of cronies and secret Darkfriends caused significant damage, Jordan showed that the institution of the Hall of the Tower, as well as backchannel activities of serious-minded Aes Sedai acting for the good of the Tower (and the world), were capable of healing the break. Egwene was instrumental in bringing the White Tower to Tarmon Gai’don on the side of the Light, but she did not act alone.   The Dragonsworn   If the Children of the Light brought elements of quasi-religious fundamentalism to the world of the Wheel, the Dragonsworn brought full-on, militant, religious extremism. It’s fitting. Rand al’Thor is a figure of religious prophecy, a messianic avatar of the Creator sent to save the world from humanity’s great adversary, the Dark One. The crumbling of nations was foretold; the Dragon’s appearance signaled the End Times, a new global purpose, and an open, literal war between Light and Dark. And in this cosmology, it’s absolutely, beyond-any-doubt true.   When Masema Dagar, a soldier who has guarded against the Blight all his life, saw Rand al’Thor in the sky, battling what appeared to be the Dark One, it was a religious experience that filled him with awe and zeal of purpose. In this world, that is a reasonable reaction to the arrival of the actual messiah. But as the Prophet, Masema amassed madmen around him, and became a crazed fanatic. How much of that was due to the disguised Forsaken (probably the proxy-loving Demandred) manipulating him? It’s unknown. Some people are just fanatics in search of a focus.   What’s interesting is that the Prophet, much like the Children of the Light’s Lothair Mantelar, invented his own moral code to rally his followers. For the Dragonsworn, extreme austerity, a detachment from worldly concerns, and devotion to nothing but the Dragon Reborn were the hallmarks of their beliefs. None of this came from Rand al’Thor. It became critical to his victory that Rand wasn’t the sort to dictate what was in people’s hearts, but as a religious figure, his refusal to do so created a moral vacuum for those who saw all old ties and purpose burned by the coming of the Dragon. That allowed others--Masema and the Forsaken manipulating him--to fill that void in a way that served the Shadow.   The Shaido Aiel   Just as the White Tower was sundered by news of the Dragon’s rebirth, the Aiel suffered an identity crisis when Rand proved himself their Car’a’carn by revealing their secret history. Even today, in the real world, people fight bitterly over the history they reveal about their own society. Identity is the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and to learn that identity is a lie invites a crisis.   When Rand revealed that the Aiel, proud, honor-bound warriors, began as sworn pacifists whose honor was to serve, he revealed that every one of them was one of the worst things an Aiel could be: an oathbreaker. The Tuatha’an, whom they called “lost,” were actually the keepers of the true faith. Some of the Aiel killed themselves to expiate their shame. Some permanently became gai’shain, a temporary status that contained an echo of what the Aiel once were. The Shaido Aiel doubled down on the lie of their identity, rejecting the revelations about their history as falsehoods designed to break them. Their clan chief Couladin claimed to be the Car’a’carn who would lead the Aiel to glory, a lie that many of his people would want to believe over the shame that Rand offered. Couladin offered to Make the Aiel Great Again.     Militant fundamentalists, arrogant out-of-touch elites, unhinged narcissist heads of state, religious fanatics, historical revisionists, violent secessionists. If Robert Jordan’s depictions of an apocalyptic age seem prophetic, it’s because he was a lover of history. The Wheel of Time repeats its patterns, and so do world events.

Amazon Prime Video has released the first deleted scene from season 1 of The Wheel of Time TV show on its social media channels.    The deleted scene features an alternative version of the events from Episode 1 that take place inside the Women's Circle cave in the Two Rivers. Nynaeve narrates about the role of women in society as Egwene is submerged into a pool with streams of paint. The paint colors correspond to the seven Ajahs.   This image was originally teased in the first TV show trailer, but never made the cut into the finished episode.      This clip was first revealed at the closing ceremonies of WoTCon, a first-year fan convention that took place in Columbus, Ohio. A day later, it was released on social media. A second clip was also shown at the convention featuring Egwene and Tam al'Thor.    (Updated) Here's our reaction video to this deleted scene, featuring Kitty Rallo.   

Katy is a news contributor for Dragonmount. You can follow her as she shares her thoughts on The Wheel of Time TV Show on Instagram and Twitter @KatySedai     The Wheel of Time: Origins Series has been nominated for Best Animated Short Form Series by the Hollywood Critics Association. The second annual HCA TV awards will be shown on broadcast and cable August 13th, and streaming on August 14th. The Hollywood Critics Association is an organization that is known for promoting diversity of film and television and was the first organization to create separate categories for certain streaming and broadcast television awards.    The Origins series debuted on November 19th with the first episode of Amazon Prime’s The Wheel of Time TV show. There are six episodes, each about three minutes long which explores the lore and history of the Wheel of Time story. The Origin series was originally hard to find in the X-ray content on Amazon Prime video, but the shorts can now be found as bonus features on the main menu or in the explore tab.    The Episodes are:  1. The Breaking of the World 2. The Fall of Manetheran 3. The Greatest Warder 4. Saidin, Saidar, Stone  5. The White Tower  6. An Ogier's Longing   Written by Rammy Park   Producer Jakub Chilczuk   Director Dan Difelice   Animation by  MPC Episodic   Narrated by  Ida May Rupert Degas   The Wheel of Time’s social media accounts also recently announced a panel focused the Origin series at San Diego Comic Con on Thursday, July 21st.    The description for the Comic Con panel hints that fans will see something special:       The writer of the Origins series, Rammy Park posted the news to Instagram and said:      I can't wait to see what the Wheel of Time team has in store for us. The animation of the series was beautifully done and it was a great way to introduce TV fans to the background and lore of the Wheel of Time. Be sure to check our the Origin series if you haven't seen them yet! Let us know what you think of them in our forums or in the comments below.  

Aleksandra (Ola) Hill is a Polish-Canadian writer and the founder and editor-in-chief of khōréō, a magazine of speculative fiction by immigrant and diaspora writers. She won the grand prize in the 2019 Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards and is currently pursuing an MFA in writing at The New School. You can find her on Twitter at @_aleksandrahill.   #   TL;DR: The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas is a chilling, genre-bending gothic novel set in the wake of Mexico's War of Independence. Chock full of twists, it's a perfect read for anyone looking for a breathless read, including fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, and The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James.   #   This column is usually about fantasy. But in late May, I told Jason that I really, really wanted to yell about this new horror book, and could I pretty please do so.   He obliged.   Readers, I am so excited to tell you about The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas. Pitched as Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca, it tells the story of Beatriz, a young woman whose father was killed in the War of Independence. She and her mother can only find shelter with the disapproving Tío Sebastián and his cruel wife, Tía Fernanda. Beatriz knows her prospects are meager and dimming with every day she stays with her mother’s family, and so, she flees in the only way she can think of: by marrying Rodolfo, a mysterious young widower with an estate far from the city.   He spirits her away to his hacienda, San Isidro—and from the first moments, Beatriz realizes that this place is not what she thought it would be. The land is arid; the house is in disrepair; and nobody seems to have any kindness to offer her.   Soon, whispers begin to follow her.    It is a standard haunted house narrative in that a person is trapped in a house first by their own hand, and then by the situation they have created, and they must learn to fight it lest it destroy them. Cañas captures the crescendo of the experience nicely, beginning with innocuous happenings and slowly bringing the reader and Beatriz herself to realize just how much danger she is in—and just how alone she is in her plight. Even as she finds an ally—more on him in a second—the house has ways of isolating individuals, speaking or acting only towards one person to further undermine their sense of self and leave the reader anxiously awaiting what will happen next. For those looking for an excellent spooky read, this will scratch all the itches you have.   But! The Hacienda weaves in so much more depth to the story. Like a typical Gothic novel, Cañas explores the horrors of societal expectations surrounding gender, leaving Beatriz stuck in dangerous situations because of social conventions, expectations, or simply because she is not seen as worth helping. However, the novel also focuses on classism and colorism, how dangerous and impossible power imbalances can be for the disenfranchised individual, religious zealots/pharisees, and the shape and impact of political revolutions. Each of the subplots and the themes they explore weave together into the main plot in a masterful way, making the story feel rich and complete. Perhaps my favourite part of the novel is one of the quieter question that many haunted house stories stop short of asking, let alone answering: what does it mean to find safe harbour after the violence and chaos of everything else that has passed? You’ll have to read and find Cañas’ proposed answer.    Although I loved the book, I do want to note that the beginning read a little slow to me. This was in part because of the shifting perspectives. The appeal of gothic fiction to me rests, in part, from only seeing it through one person's eyes—especially as that person begins to question everything that happens and, eventually, their own sanity. To see the world through another character's lens was strange at first; it felt almost like cheating because I could see pieces of the puzzle I didn't feel like I should have access to yet. Perhaps because of this, I didn't initially click with the other point-of-view character: Andrés, a young witch who had grown up in San Isidro before fleeing into priesthood to avoid being caught by the Inquisition, and Beatriz's primary ally throughout the book.   If you find yourself in this position, I implore you to continue reading through it. Trust me: this book has one of the most perfect endings I have seen in a novel and it works primarily because of the dual perspective. I spent the last hundred and fifty pages curled motionless in an armchair; it feels like it's meant to be finished in one breathless sitting. I had already planned to recommend the book, but it was its ending that cemented the novel.    Additionally, I also found Andrés' perspective growing on me throughout the story because it allowed me to learn about the house's past through a perspective that feels unique to horror. So often, houses are described as evil from the start, or not remembered as anything else. But Andrés shows us the love one can feel for a home that is now haunted and broken: There is something both magical and heartbreaking in seeing San Isidro through past and present, and witnessing the growth and change of Andrés and his power as well. His homecoming brings to mind the first moments of Rand's reunion with someone he thinks at first is a stranger at the Stone of Tear—long-awaited, desperately needed, and, in its initial moments, shockingly brutal. By providing two perspectives for the story, Cañas evolves the book beyond its Gothic roots, allowing her to address larger questions of home, family, and trust in ways that could not have occurred otherwise.   I absolutely loved this book and recommend it wholeheartedly for anyone who wants a delightfully chilling read. Cañas uncanny ability to weave the social realities of Beatriz's world into the supernatural horrors of the book makes the world feel lived in and real, rendering the things that go bump in the night that little bit scarier. I hope you love it as much as I did.