There were few books I anticipated more than the sequel to the extreme horror book The City. Fortunately, S.C. Mendes sent me an advanced reading copy (ARC) of the sequel, The Order of Eternal Sleep.
I do have to say, this sequel took a turn I wasn’t expecting at all. There’s some good and some aspects I wish were different. For example, there were hardly any scenes in the City itself. I loved the underground Mara-ville, it was one of my favorite aspects of The City.
However, the good triumphed the bad. For example, the reader now has more insight into the characters as well as the Mara themselves. Many previous questions are answered in this book. I also love the character development, and I really warmed up to John McCloud (he was my least favorite character in the previous book).
Just know that even though I received an unpublished copy of the book, the review, opinion, and thoughts are very much my own and this is an honest review.
Obviously, I won’t give away any The Order of Eternal Sleep spoilers in this review, but I will give spoilers away from the first book. It’s the only way to make the story and character transitions make sense. If you haven’t read The City yet, please do. You can buy it on Amazon and Godless.
So, let’s begin!
Re-Introduction to the Characters
In this book, the characters we see again include:
- Max
- Ming
- Detective John McCloud
- Lieutenant Harris
- Valbas
I’m sure I’m missing some, but those are the key characters.
As I stated in the intro, I absolutely love the character development here. The Order of Eternal Sleep takes place a few years after the end of The City, so the characters did lots of growing in the meantime.
Ming by far has the best development. I won’t give too much away, but she’s almost like a badass assassin now. She was one of my favorite characters in the first book, and now I love her even more.
McCloud is the character who surprised me the most. In The City, he was an ambitious detective wanting to take on murder cases. In only a few years, he’s burnt out yet stuck on the most difficult case next to the Chinatown Surgeon.
Max didn’t undergo as much development. But this shouldn’t surprise anyone — *spoiler alert from the first book* but he was imprisoned by The Mara for all of these years.
You also meet new creatures in the brief time that makes place in The City. These creatures are recycled puppets that The Mara use as servants. They look like Frankenstein monsters, all stitched up and creepy looking. But there’s more to them, Mendes hints that in the book. I really hope the recycled puppets are introduced again, I loved them.
The Beginning
The beginning of The Order of Eternal Sleep is similar to that of The City. The San Francisco police gets called in to investigate arson and murder. As they’re investigating the scene, they find the basement (because the basement is really where the magic happens). Cryptic designs and odd sculptures surround the room. But what’s really alarming is the tortured child in the cage.
What’s Going on Here?
Okay, I’m not giving too much away. In short, The Mara want to rise to the surface and abandon their underground City. I’m obviously not going to give away how they’re going to do that.
Remember how I said this book answers some questions I had? If you read my review of The City, one of the questions I asked was whether The Mara were inherently evil or if they’re profiting off of the evil of humans. The Order of Eternal Sleep answered this question: The Mara are evil. They will shed as much bloodshed as they can to emerge to the surface.
That’s all I’m going to say about this topic.
Was the Sequel Better Than the Original?
Yes and no. There are aspects I love about the sequel; however, I don’t think it’s overall better than the original. What I like about The Order of Eternal Sleep is it answered many questions I had when reading the first book. Mendes’ world now makes so much more sense. I have a better sense of who The Mara are, why they built The City, and why human criminals flock there.
I also love watching the character progressions. They all change in such interesting ways, even if they’re predictable. For example, I knew Ming would be nothing short of a badass, but I fell in love with her character even more in this book.
In addition, this book is great on its own. Creepy cults, sketchy people, corruption, nightmares, murder, violence, and plenty of twists and turns will keep any reader entranced by this book. That’s all you need in horror books, right? I definitely ate this book up, regardless of whether or not it was the sequel to The City.
But there are things I didn’t like. First and foremost, there are a lot more characters and various other scenarios going on in this book. Trust me when I say it all makes sense at the end. But while I was reading the book, I lost track of certain characters and who they were. I had to flip back and re-read some sections to get a better view of what was going on.
I also wish more of this book would take place in The City. I loved The City and all of the scenes depicting the depravity and torture that went on down there. That and the idea of a secret underground world is such a cool concept. I understand why most of this book took place on the surface, but I still missed The City.
Will There Be a Third Book?
Read The Order of Eternal Sleep and decide for yourself! I think (more like hope) there will be a third.
Buy The Order of Eternal Sleep
Overall, The Order of Eternal Sleep continues the story from The City in an unexpecting way.
While I wish there were some of the more bizarre and fantasy elements from the first book, I enjoyed it and I think fans of The City will, too.
I have a feeling that as the saga will continue (and I truly hope it does), I will learn more about these characters and The Mara. My good side is rooting for Max, Ming, and McCloud, but my sadistic side wants The Mara to take over the entire world.
The Order of Eternal Sleep will be released on January 31. You can preorder it at Barnes and Noble and you can preorder a signed hardback copy on Etsy. This book will be released by one of my favorite indie horror publishers, Blood Bound Books.