Note to new readers: pretty much necessary that you read Bronze Gods first. Luckily that is not a chore. My only real quarrel with the Aguirre writing style is that it could be crisper. The books feel a bit padded out with extraneous words.

Very much worth a read if you want a steampunk adventure, and the romance angle is low key. Not much of a mystery, but hey: fire salamanders! ( )

Mikani and Ritsuko have just come off a case where they foiled a villain who was trying to destroy their city. Despite the accolades they receive, they are certain that he wasn't acting alone and are pursuing their investigation without official sanction.

Things are going a little crazy in the city too with the elementals that power the trains and the long distance mirror going crazy. They believe that it is an after effect of the spell the villain was trying to perform. Their superiors want them to find out the cause and stop the problem. Thus, they are sent out of the city in search of a solution.

Mikani calls on an older lover Saskia for help. She, in turn, wants him to return a favor owed and help her kill the leader of the craggers who are hampering shipping between the cities. Little do they know that the two problems are connected.

Between fighting off attacks of the craggers and dealing with angry elementals, Mikani and Ritsuko have their hands full. It doesn't help that Ritsuko has developed an ability to discern truth from lies when she hears people speak. This new power along with Mikani's ability to feel what people around him feel further complicates their new relationship.

The world building in this series is amazing. The magic is well integrated in the story as is the history of the world. I also really like the interactions between the characters. Mikani and Ritsuko's changing feelings for each other and their hesitancy to do anything about them provided an interesting dynamic played out around the larger issues.

I really hope that this wasn't the last adventure for Mikani and Ritsuko since the ending left them currently safe but with large problems still to be solved. ( )

The adventures of Janus Mikani and Celeste Ritsuko continue in Silver Mirrors, but the second novel of the Apparatus Infernum series takes a decidedly different tack. Of course, our two CID investigators have another mystery to solve, but their mission this time takes them across the ocean, over the treacherous peaks of the mountains, and deep into the fire elemental mining tunnels of the north.

Needless to say, I found Silver Mirrors to be a much more exciting novel than the first. The premise of the story – that the world’s elementals are unsettled and running amok as a result of the destructive events of the last book – is perhaps tenuous at best, but it hardly mattered. The important thing is, we get to go on an adventure out of the city and onto the high seas with our two protagonists. And thar be pirates!

Also threaded into this thrilling ride is the ever-present romantic side plot, with the sexual tension between Ritsuko and Mikani about to boil over and explode any second. Seriously, these two have it BAD for one another. And of course, everyone sees it except for them. If you prefer slow-burn romances and delayed gratification when it comes to love stories between characters, I can’t recommend these books enough. But it also behooves me to say it probably wouldn’t hurt to be prepared for how oblivious they are. Reading about the two of them dancing and flailing around each other’s emotions is a bit like watching a couple of hopeless players at game of charades. It’s hard to believe they actually make a living doing detective work and solving mysteries. But you know what they say about good things coming to those who wait. I think that goes for the characters and the readers both, and for now all we can do is root for Ritsuko and Mikani.

But I’m glad I decided to read this sequel not just for the progression of their romance, because there’s a lot more to the world of this series. Silver Mirrors expands it by having the characters travel afar, and not for the first time I wished a book would include a map. We also learn more about the magic and its limitations. For instance, when the behaviors of elementals are disrupted, the different instruments and devices they help power can also become unstable or fail spectacularly altogether. It wasn’t until this novel that I finally got a sense of the living, breathing connection between the mortal and the mystical.

The Aguirres are clearly not afraid to take their books into new territory. While Bronze Gods was more of a whodunit murder mystery, Silver Mirrors reads like an action-adventure with the characters embarking on a perilous quest. Book two may be a continuation of book one, but even so, the two stories can’t be any more different. It mixes things up and keeps this series interesting. Obviously, the Mikani and Ritsuko situation is something I’d like to keep an eye on, but I’m also looking forward to seeing what the authors will do in future installments and where they will take us next. ( )

Review to come ( )