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.