altlovesbooks
"We are cursed to be the sum of our deeds, black as they may be. They are like an arrow: once the shot is made, there is no escaping the consequences."
Girton and his master are back in town, ostensibly to find sanctuary from pursuers and a healer for his master, but they learn quite quickly that 5 years is a long time for a kingdom. Things aren't as they were, and the two of them are pulled into a fight for the crown between Girton's old tormentor Tomas, Girton's old friend Rufra, and Girton's old target Aydor. Compounding things is a murder in Rufra's camp that Girton gets pulled into investigating, and the ever-present suspicion that a spy lingers in camp. It's a twisty thing to unravel, and Girton's not altogether sure he can before the spy threatens his friend.
It's a darker story than the first one, for better or worse. Everyone's (supposedly) 5 years older, the stakes are a bit higher, and these are now adults having adult problems rather than older boys figuring out practice yard problems. I liked that. I also liked that the story uses essentially a medieval murder mystery as its central plot, allowing Girton the freedom to move around and introduce himself (and us) to central players on this new field. There's also quite a bit of character progression here in the characters from the first book......
.....EXCEPT GIRTON. Hearing him whinge so much about all his perceived slights against him from people he thought were his friends was painful. I couldn't tell any time at all had passed for how he acted, especially against his own master. It really took me out of the story.
But the story and actions scenes were great, and as soon as the story reached that tipping point of chasing down the culprit, I had a hard time putting the book down. That's something, at least.
"We are cursed to be the sum of our deeds, black as they may be. They are like an arrow: once the shot is made, there is no escaping the consequences."
Girton and his master are back in town, ostensibly to find sanctuary from pursuers and a healer for his master, but they learn quite quickly that 5 years is a long time for a kingdom. Things aren't as they were, and the two of them are pulled into a fight for the crown between Girton's old tormentor Tomas, Girton's old friend Rufra, and Girton's old target Aydor. Compounding things is a murder in Rufra's camp that Girton gets pulled into investigating, and the ever-present suspicion that a spy lingers in camp. It's a twisty thing to unravel, and Girton's not altogether sure he can before the spy threatens his friend.
It's a darker story than the first one, for better or worse. Everyone's (supposedly) 5 years older, the stakes are a bit higher, and these are now adults having adult problems rather than older boys figuring out practice yard problems. I liked that. I also liked that the story uses essentially a medieval murder mystery as its central plot, allowing Girton the freedom to move around and introduce himself (and us) to central players on this new field. There's also quite a bit of character progression here in the characters from the first book......
.....EXCEPT GIRTON. Hearing him whinge so much about all his perceived slights against him from people he thought were his friends was painful. I couldn't tell any time at all had passed for how he acted, especially against his own master. It really took me out of the story.
But the story and actions scenes were great, and as soon as the story reached that tipping point of chasing down the culprit, I had a hard time putting the book down. That's something, at least.