celestialmoon's review
5.0
The King's Champion has been promoted to Master of Investigations thrust head first into a never ending workload; a stolen gold shipment, stolen illegal swords, missing children, dead royal and the threat of assassins. This is what Sir Brannon Kesh and his friends must face in Starlight's children.
This book occurs directly after the first in the series by Darian Smith and right off the bat it's clear that all the characters get a lot of development here. Where Brannon and Ambassador Ylani got most of the attention in book 1, Draeson, Taran and Ula get major character development in this book.
It's clear this book centres mainly on Taran which is for good reason due to his backstory being part of one of the major mystery plots here, his backstory also adds a really interesting world building element that's almost a world of its own.
Ula and Draeson both go through tests of character although that's more Ula in a gripping scene with her 'avatar' self. Draeson still remains his dickish self for the most part but the reader is let in on a few things that give him some more depth.
The second major plot point of the book centres more around Ylani and her relationship between her native country and the country in which she currently lives that ultimately strengthens her ties with our main characters. I loved her in the first book and I love her even more here. She's always extremely multi dimensional and that characterisation only grows.
Due to all of these things I actually miss every character from the Agents of Kalanon series which is no small feat. I hear the third book releases late this year and I will be immensely excited to read it when I get the chance.
The murder plot threads in this book are really gripping particularly when it comes to The Children Of Starlight themselves. Although it's very obvious they're a main plot point considering the book's title and that readers already know a bit about them their 'world' so to speak is very unique driving the plot almost like a Hitchcock film and his suspense techniques with time driven elements that had me on the edge of my seat. It's also has multiple layers, elements combined together that I never saw coming, almost tear inducing.
The second major plot thread relating to Ylani contains massive red herrings and develops mostly in the book's latter half in terms of progression despite being the first mystery we're shown. It's exciting and a definite twist that I'll never spoil.
A common thread among sequels is that they're worse then their predecessor but that simply isn't the case here. Not only does this book build on all its foundations it's left questions regarding the world in which it takes place that I desperately want answers to because Smith's writing is just that good. It's descriptive, addictive and simply an amazing read. If you've read the first book this one is no let down
This book occurs directly after the first in the series by Darian Smith and right off the bat it's clear that all the characters get a lot of development here. Where Brannon and Ambassador Ylani got most of the attention in book 1, Draeson, Taran and Ula get major character development in this book.
It's clear this book centres mainly on Taran which is for good reason due to his backstory being part of one of the major mystery plots here, his backstory also adds a really interesting world building element that's almost a world of its own.
Ula and Draeson both go through tests of character although that's more Ula in a gripping scene with her 'avatar' self. Draeson still remains his dickish self for the most part but the reader is let in on a few things that give him some more depth.
The second major plot point of the book centres more around Ylani and her relationship between her native country and the country in which she currently lives that ultimately strengthens her ties with our main characters. I loved her in the first book and I love her even more here. She's always extremely multi dimensional and that characterisation only grows.
Due to all of these things I actually miss every character from the Agents of Kalanon series which is no small feat. I hear the third book releases late this year and I will be immensely excited to read it when I get the chance.
The murder plot threads in this book are really gripping particularly when it comes to The Children Of Starlight themselves. Although it's very obvious they're a main plot point considering the book's title and that readers already know a bit about them their 'world' so to speak is very unique driving the plot almost like a Hitchcock film and his suspense techniques with time driven elements that had me on the edge of my seat. It's also has multiple layers, elements combined together that I never saw coming, almost tear inducing.
The second major plot thread relating to Ylani contains massive red herrings and develops mostly in the book's latter half in terms of progression despite being the first mystery we're shown. It's exciting and a definite twist that I'll never spoil.
A common thread among sequels is that they're worse then their predecessor but that simply isn't the case here. Not only does this book build on all its foundations it's left questions regarding the world in which it takes place that I desperately want answers to because Smith's writing is just that good. It's descriptive, addictive and simply an amazing read. If you've read the first book this one is no let down
storminette's review
5.0
I enjoyed this book even more than the first! Riveting fantasy mystery that builds on the world and characters in the first. 5 stars meant that I found myself sneaking moments to continue reading even while getting work done or eating!
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