The Song of the Orphans by Daniel Price – Review

Published: July 4, 2017

Publisher: Blue Rider Press

Genre: Science Fiction/Fiction

Series: Silvers #2

Pages: 752 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.0/5.0

Synopsis:

After their world collapsed in a sheet of white light, everything and everyone were gone—except for Hannah and Amanda Given. Saved from destruction by three fearsome and powerful beings, the Given sisters found themselves on a strange new Earth where restaurants move through the air like flying saucers and the fabric of time is manipulated by common household appliances. There, they were joined by four other survivors: a sarcastic cartoonist, a shy teenage girl, a brilliant young Australian, and a troubled ex-prodigy. Hunted by enemies they never knew they had, and afflicted with temporal abilities they never wanted, the sisters and their companions began a cross-country journey to find the one man who could save them.

Now, only months after being pursued across the country by government forces and the Gothams—a renegade group with similar powers—the Silvers discover that their purpose on this unfamiliar earth may be to prevent its complete annihilation. With continually shifting alliances and the future in jeopardy, the Silvers realize that their only hope for survival is to locate the other refugees—whether they can be trusted or not.

Good grief, this 700+ page book took nearly 6 days to read from start to finish. Admittedly, I was juggling about 15 different things during that period of time, but still. Fortunately, this is yet another book that managed to fend off dull moments with a barrage of wit, drama, and action-packed scenarios, leaving me biting my nails (figuratively) and frantically turning pages (literally).

The Song of the Orphans begins with an unusual scenario – Integrity is investigating the death of the Silvers in a movie theater. Now you may wonder (just briefly) how this could have happened if we’re to spend the next 700 pages reading about these very same people. I certainly did, but it quickly becomes clear that this is a Pelletier ploy to keep the government off the trail of their projects, the precious Silvers. This was a great introduction to the new “bad guy” that the Silvers will face and set the tone for their future dealings with Integrity. The whole story isn’t so simple as to have a single plot line though, because the characters are working out their relationship with the Gothams, reaching out to other groups (Golds, Coppers, etc.), as well as figuring out how to save this world from the same fate as their own. There’s so much going on that you really can’t miss a single sentence, otherwise you may miss out on something significant

I still think the characters are great and truly make the story stand out. The Silvers will throat-punch anyone that might harm one of their own and ask questions later. The two Golds that are added to the fold quickly become just as loved and protected as the others, especially to Hannah. The Pelletiers are fleshed out a bit more and their motives for saving the 99 “breachers” become much more clear. It was about time too, because their motives weren’t clear previously and were doled out in cryptic sentences. Also, did I mention the traitor/sleeper in the group? Oh yeah, one of our dearly beloved characters is actually a Pelletier in disguise. That really came as a surprise to me and trying to figure out who it was as the book progressed was SO MUCH FUN. I kept waffling back and forth about who I thought it was and in the end the person was one of the people I had suspected!!!

I felt that The Song of the Orphans was a strong sequel that I hope will lead to a mind-blowingly awesome third book (the finale?). Things changed significantly from the first to last page and yeah, that sounds like an obvious statement, but the direction the Silvers were headed in seems to have changed. It sounds like an all-out war against the Pelletiers now! If you have the time or inclination to check out two whopping books chock full of portals, augers, and defiant characters who seem to be flipping off the entire world, you really should check out Daniel Price’s books.

• Tweet