Gordon Greenhill’s second MG novel in his The Relics of Errus novels, Plight of the Rokan Boy, starts off quite differently from the first in the series. The initial offering of Relics mirrored the spirit of the beginning of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. This second entry starts off like Prince Caspian by describing the travails of a young boy in the portal world. Unlike Narnia’s sequel where the plot switched back to the main characters of the first book, Plight continues on from the boy’s point-of-view. No sequences of beginning on Earth, finding the portal, and traveling through it exist in Plight. Instead, the book starts right in the middle of the portal world with a runaway who is searching for his mother.
This decision works to this entry’s advantage as the boy, Romul, meets the protagonists from the first novel, Flight of the Skycricket. Back are the lovable Hoover sisters: Eli, Anna, and Rose but this time we’re observing them from Rokan’s viewpoint. Romul is an irascible misanthrope and doesn’t want to have anything to do with the three girls. Yet, he is drawn into an adventure with the sisters as they travel to a new (to them) corner of the world of Errus.
Romul is part of the Rokans, also known as the “latecomers.” A race of people the rest of the world looks down on, they survive by serving the Garlandium people. They dye their hair white and believe in a deity called the Queen of Anguish, not the gods of the Garlands. Romul has recently found out his “mother” kidnapped him as a child and is not his actual birth mother. Following the advice of a seer, he sets out for Halighyll, a busy city within Garlandium where he meets the sisters.
From there, a priest sets the foursome off to a distant city to meet an inventor on a seaside mission. Their quest takes them deep below both the water and the ground while encountering all sorts of interesting characters.
A second in a trilogy often has the feeling of incompleteness. And while this story does end, it leaves the narrative wide open to what comes next. In this way, it succeeds as the bridging narrative between book one and book two. As in the first novel, the threats feel legitimate and an inspired twist occurs near the end. The plot contains everything a reader would want in a fantasy adventure.
Comparing the books doesn’t really help decide whether to read it or not. Overall, the book leaves its audience both satisfied and wanting more. To that, I say, “bring on the third book.”