Fantasy Hardships

This review assumes you read Shadow of the Candle.

An excellent continuation of the first book. The cast is joined by two more point of view characters who each bring another unique personality to the cast.

Things that I like in specific:

The mystery is being unraveled slowly. As the story progresses, you do learn more and more about the original event that triggered the first book. However, as is proper for an epic story, the answers just lead to bigger questions so you are never left hanging with a sudden reveal and no payoff (there could be no payoff in future books, but I considering how tight the plotting is so far, I doubt it). Basically, it's tight plotting.

The story also ends. Not as in a series ending, but a story ending. The characters all get some form of closure at the end of this book, leaving only the 'epic' plotline, concerning the lost element, open. Doing this prevents characters from fanning out all over the place, which is in line with the tight plotting I mentioned earlier. It also doesn't leave readers high and dry while waiting for the next book in the series, and this looks like it's going to be a long one.

Final verdict:

My first five star. I don't hand these out lightly and I must note that the theme and style of this book are exactly to my taste. Yet I really can't see how anyone who enjoys reading serious fantasy can not like these novels.