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A review by graculus
Shadow Baron by Davinia Evans
4.0
Second books of a trilogy are always a bit of a dicey proposition - they might work just as well or the first or, more often in my experience, prove a bit of a disappointment. Sometimes their main role is to set things up for the big finale and can leave you feeling a bit flat. I'm really glad to say that Shadow Baron was one of the former, as it did some excellent work in developing some of the supporting characters from Notorious Sorcerer, as well as propelling the overall story-line forward.
The book starts pretty much as the previous volume finished, with our protagonist (Siyon) trying to find his feet in his new role as the Alchemist, not helped by his grief over the sudden loss of his new-found relationship. Things seem to have stabilised for a while, till one of the nobility's garden parties is invaded by creatures from another realm and magic appears to be waking up all over Bezim. Alongside this, one of the supporting characters from the previous book (Anahid) finds herself the owner of a pleasure house after a gambling excursion unexpectedly works out and has to deal with the underworld for the first time.
Overall, Shadow Baron does a really good job of building on the events of the first book but also not completely letting a focus on Siyon overpower everything else. In some ways, it's his relationships with other characters (and vice versa) that are on display here - Anahid is juggling social responsibilities and her desire to have something for herself but she's always completely certain that Siyon (and others) will have her back. The same goes for Siyon, when he needs help, just from his former crew but also from his newer friends.
All in all, I enjoyed this very much and am really looking forward to the final book of the trilogy, with hopefully a resolution of the situation around Siyon's love life. This was nicely handled here, with Siyon affected but not completely overwhelmed by what happened in book 1, but I would really like to see a good outcome in the final book!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.
The book starts pretty much as the previous volume finished, with our protagonist (Siyon) trying to find his feet in his new role as the Alchemist, not helped by his grief over the sudden loss of his new-found relationship. Things seem to have stabilised for a while, till one of the nobility's garden parties is invaded by creatures from another realm and magic appears to be waking up all over Bezim. Alongside this, one of the supporting characters from the previous book (Anahid) finds herself the owner of a pleasure house after a gambling excursion unexpectedly works out and has to deal with the underworld for the first time.
Overall, Shadow Baron does a really good job of building on the events of the first book but also not completely letting a focus on Siyon overpower everything else. In some ways, it's his relationships with other characters (and vice versa) that are on display here - Anahid is juggling social responsibilities and her desire to have something for herself but she's always completely certain that Siyon (and others) will have her back. The same goes for Siyon, when he needs help, just from his former crew but also from his newer friends.
All in all, I enjoyed this very much and am really looking forward to the final book of the trilogy, with hopefully a resolution of the situation around Siyon's love life. This was nicely handled here, with Siyon affected but not completely overwhelmed by what happened in book 1, but I would really like to see a good outcome in the final book!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, via Netgalley. This is my honest review of the book in question.