Second Rebel sees the characters from the first book mostly scattered and on the run. First Sister has a name now, Astrid, and she's aiming at becoming the Mother, the spiritual head of the Gaen nation. Lito and Hiro are working with separate groups of spaceborne Asters, striking back against their corrupt leadership. And Lito's sister Luce is a new viewpoint, as her idealistic artist gets wrapped up in the deadly intrigues.

There's lot of drama here, big emotions same as the first novel, and a little better sense of intrigue and setting. I missed the audiolog revelations from Hiro, which provided a unity of focus that this novel lacked. Four points of view were one too many, and the conflict, playing out in the outer belt between Asters, Icarii, and the Synthetics who have locked humanity in the inner system. Second Rebel is stronger than the first book in some ways, with a more assured setting, but weaker in terms of mystery and that satisfying unity of an ending.

Still, I don't read much new speculative fiction these days, and a light novel or terrible revenge is just the thing.