The Light of Burning Shadows by Chris Evans

Like the picture says, this is book 2 of the Iron Elves series. I was very impressed with the first book, A Darkness Forged in Fire, as a breath of fresh air in the high fantasy genre. I'm trying really hard not to give away any spoilers from the first book but the events are very germane to the plot, so the summary is going to be a little vague.

Book two finds Captain Konowa leading the depleted and cursed ranks of the Iron Elves over the sea to the desert land of Hasshugeb, a restive colony where the original Iron Elves had been exiled. Konowa is anxious to restore the honor of the exiles and also to re-enlist them to fill the ranks of his current (living) Iron Elves, which are mostly human and a dwarf. The Shadow Monarch's power creeps out to touch all of them but Konowa is determined to use it against her. Unfortunately, the desert holds its own dangers and the threat against him and his men grows.

This was a lot darker in tone than the first book. Everyone came away with some damage and it has colored their perceptions a great deal more than their optimistic beginnings. The character development of Private Alwyn is especially marked as he struggles to cope with his depression and hopelessness at what happened to him at the end of the first book. His arc feels very much like a set-up for book three, which is on my shelf waiting to be read.

I was pretty happy to see the love story element mostly jettisoned since it felt a little tacked on in book one, although I would have liked for the female characters to have had more to do this go around. This series tries to balance between several main character clumps and it seems like some of them are just sort of sitting around in the background waiting for their turn as opposed to actively moving the plot along. The party is split up near the end of the book so hopefully book three will give everyone the space to shine on their own.

This is a nice, solid feeling series. Nothing feels glib or too slick and the world seems internally consistent and real with real consequences. The stakes are raised but not absurdly and there's plenty of room to go. If you're in the mood for a meatier fantasy novel that stays with the grunts more than the mages, go ahead and snag this one.

Comments

The Outsourcerer's Apprentice by Tom Holt

I don't know if I would call this a sequel but it is set in the same universe as Doughnut and When It's A Jar so it's definitely related. Benny just wanted to take a break from studying for exams by escaping into YouSpace for a while. Unfortunately, he has lost his doughnut and is trapped as Prince Florizel in a world that is falling apart. The Wizard who controls everything has been outsourcing all the magical labor for his own ends to different dimensions which has begun a ripple effect towards destabilizing the entire plane. Now, Florizel and his reluctant subjects Buttercup, a Red-Riding-Hood sick to death of having to kill talking wolves everyday, and Turquine, a knight suddenly curious about the increase in dragons and what that means for his union, must confront the Outsourcerer once and for all. Tom Holt is probably the next spiritual successor to Terry Pratchett in terms of humor. This series blends quantum mechanics, macroeconomics, and fantasy ...

The Summer Dragon by Todd Lockwood

Let's start with the positives. The illustrations in this book were really well-done. The dragons as they were described seemed realistic, and you can tell that Mr. Lockwood put some time and effort into designing a world that could support them as a species. Maia dreams of one day having a dragon of her very own from her family's breeding grounds but most of the hatchlings are already spoken for by the government to be trained for the war effort. One day, while she is out exploring with her brother, they see an ancient wild dragon supposedly a harbinger for change. Unknowingly, this sighting embroils Maia in not only the ongoing war, creeping ever closer to her home and dragons, but also in an internal religious schism with the potential to be just as deadly. Okay, here's what I didn't like: the story seemed geared towards adolescents, so I think it was mis-shelved from the YA section. Maia is very clearly a teenager trying to nav...

Chasing Embers by James Bennett

I really wanted to like this book. It seemed like it was right up my alley. But it turns out that alley isn't a place I have any interest in going. Red Ben is a mystical creature living under a forced peace with humans. He is content to sit and drink and mourn over the loss of his most recent relationship when an old enemy moves against him. The interruption barely upsets Ben because of the aforementioned peace but the enemy's taunts that Ben no longer enjoys protection because another like him has awakened gets his full attention. Soon he is desperately trying to track down a former goddess hell-bent on revenge while fending off his old enemy and a coven of dangerously powerful witches who have kidnapped his ex-girlfriend. I think the major problem I had while reading this is that there are no real female characters existing on their own merits without being used as props for the male protagonist. Atiya gets treated as a Mcguffin or an object of...

The Literary Lucy

Search This Blog