Mages By Chance: Birthright #1

I can't award half stars, so I'm giving this a 2, although I think it deserves 2.5. In a lot of respects, this is pretty standard YA fantasy, although Edun has a nice turn of phrase and good worldbuilding skills. Also unusual for a YA series (in my experience), is that the main character is headstrong and opinionated to the point of being very hard to empathise with - and it should be easy to empathise with her, as she comes from what is a pretty rotten society - women are very clearly second-class citizens. This was my first introduction to Terah Edun, and I don't think it's a good starting point, I probably should have started with her main series - the Courtlight books. However, I was misled (by Fantastic Fiction) into believing that this was just a renamed version of the first book she wrote - Red Madrassa - which was released in 2012. After having finished this book, and discovering that it ends on a cliff-hanger, I read some reviews of Red Madrassa, and found that it is a completely different book. Apart from the unsatisfying ending, the first two-thirds of the book are very slow. The first 150-odd pages consists of the main character, Maeryn Darnes, arguing with her sister Ember - told entirely from Mae's point-of-view. I think the amount of character development and worldbuilding contained in that could have been covered in half that number of pages. The last third of the book certainly picks up in pace and action, before the cliff-hanger ending. So, I would have to say my first experience of Terah Edun has not been very satisfying, but I see enough in her writing to give her another chance.

I liked the characters and setting, seems like an interesting story, however I am disappointed the story did not cover more time, it felt very short.

Why is the second book available but not the first?