The Gryphon's Lair: 11/17/20

The Gryphon's Lair by Kelley Armstrong is the sequel to A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying (2019). Rowan has settled into her her new role as royal monster hunter and healer. She continues to adopt various monstrous orphans. Her current project is the pregnant gryphon she rescued. When her labor and delivery is sabotaged, Rowan has to rethink how she cares for monsters.

The first half of the book establishes how things have progressed since the close of the first volume. There's tons of interesting world building in terms of monster medicine, new techniques, and of course more monsters to learn about. The appendix includes drawings and info on each of the featured creatures.

The second half is essentially an adventure. It's time to return the gryphon baby to the wild. The logic is that a gryphon mother won't mind one more child. The plan though reveals how little Rowan et al know about gryphons.

In terms of tone and what's revealed I'm reminded fondly of Thursdays with the Crown (2015) minus the foreigner jokes. However the emphasis here is on gryphons as wild animals with complex social structures.

The third book, The Serpent's Fury is scheduled for release in June 2021.

Five stars

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