Knight's Shadow

Even more torture and more luck.

Fun(?) fact: I started reading this book first by accident. After many references to previous events, I finally stopped and went back to the first one before finishing this one.

The torture is not bad, it just felt like an aside to the book. Like, lets stop our main story for a moment while I describe all the ways the protagonist will suffer. And after the torture, instead of a long and hard recovery with many consequences, he just shrugs it off and goes on to save the world.

This book is of same quality as the previous one. We get to see our 4th Greatcoat, and the heroes are hard pressed to step down from their high horses and be pragmatic every now and then in order to get things done. That includes an association with a dubiously moral ally. The protagonist is is still a self righteous ass, but still a likeable one.

We get to learn more about the fate of some of the disbanded Greatcoats, and the King's last tasks for them. We also get to see the consequences of some of the actions taken in the previous book. There is also some magic!

There were still more luck then I would have liked, but the author does try to make things convincing. I did hate how Falcio was able to overcome impossible odds more then one time, with nothing more then his “sheer will”.