The Book of Ti’Ana by Rand Miller and David Wingrove is the second book in the Myst trilogy. It has always surprised me that while I had absolutely loved The Book of Atrus, I didn’t find myself continuing with the series all those many years ago. Now that I have, I can finally say that The Book of Ti’Ana may have surpassed that of Atrus. While obviously both stories have their own charms, I find that the stories of Atrus’s grandmother and grandfather are much more engaging overall. Here, we get to learn how things came to be with Anna living in the cleft above the surface with Atrus in the first book. We get to learn and witness the fall of the D’ni empire.

The story here starts off a bit slow, but it slowly but surely picks up speed once Anna discovers the D’ni empire beneath the surface. The majority of the focus will be on Atrus’s grandfather Aitrus (Gehn’s father) and grandmother Anna (Gehn’s mother). The important part revolves around learning how the D’ni empire functions via the guilds and their strict rules to live by within society. We also learn of the friendship between Aitrus and Veovis, one of the two men responsible for the destruction of the empire, along with Anna’s part in it as well.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Anna’s father & Gehn’s grandfather

I think I personally like this second book over the first because it involves a bit more characters and political structure than the first. While Atrus and Gehn’s relationship was a strained one, it’s good to finally see just how little Gehn was influenced by the events of his childhood and what he lost to better explain his actions and motivations later in life. The obvious question readers will find themselves asking is whether they agree with Anna’s actions or not in her role in D’ni’s downfall.

The rock was predictable. It had its moods, yet it could be read, its actions foreseen. But who could say as much of a man? – Aitrus

I can’t wait to immediately start the last book in the trilogy, The Book of D’ni. What new characters will be introduced to conclude this amazing story and world?