I read Ms. Johnson’s The Mark of the Dragonfly, the first book set in the World of Solace, and I enjoyed it. I called it “techno-steampunk fantasy science fiction.” This book fits into the same genre and is set in the same world, but it’s a companion novel, not really a sequel. Either book could be read on its own terms and appreciated with or without the other.

The Mark of the Dragonfly features a super-cool train, and this new Solace book has a sentient airship. Both books feature feisty, adventurous female protagonists with kind and supportive male friends. In The Secrets of Solace, Lina Winterbock is an archivist apprentice in the Archivist stronghold of Ortana. The war between the Merrow Kingdom and the Dragonfly Territories is bringing many refugees and difficult decisions to the mountain strongholds of the Archivists, who are trying to remain neutral in the war.

Lina herself must make some hard decisions about whom to trust when she discovers a valuable artifact in the depths of a secret cavern in the mountain. Can she trust Ozben, a refugee boy with his own secrets? What about her teacher and mentor, Zara, who has been too busy to pay much attention to Lina for a long time now? Can anyone other than Lina herself be trusted with a secret that might change the course of the war?

Although the pacing and the balance between action and explication felt “off” to me as I read, children who are really interested in this sort of thing might not mind or even notice. It takes a long time to get to the climax of the plot, and then all the political stuff is hurriedly explained and within two chapters, resolved. Lina and Ozben develop a good strong friendship, but Lina’s mentor has a rather lame excuse for her neglect of her ward. If this sort of book interests you, I would suggest The Mark of the Dragonfly first because I think it’s the better book. Then, if you like that one, you might like this one, too.