Book Reviews

Book Blurb

After achieving the impossible and releasing their people from the Varas slavers, Anan and Terja, a spellweaver and spellspinner, start the arduous journey back to their homeland. A winter trek across the grasslands is dangerous enough, but the traitor, Xain, is tasked with recapturing the slaves, and failure will mean his death. As added insurance, the Varas High Regent hires a Triad of legendary Ubica assassins and assigns a full regiment of his personal guards, along with their captain, to the task. Their mission is clear: recapture the escaped Talac slaves destined for the Varas pleasure houses—and the bed of the High Regent—at any cost.

The newly freed Talac travel toward their homelands with the full knowledge they are likely being pursued. The flight westward is fraught with new and unexpected dangers as Anan and Terja struggle to save their tribe. The battle for shelter, food, and a way to defend themselves becomes an all-consuming task, but they are reminded by the avatars of their gods that all is not as it appears.

Book Review

The fantasy world of the ‘Obsidian’ series just keeps growing more fantastic in this second story. ‘Obsidian Sun’ introduced me to the Talac clan of the Kuri with their spellspinners and spellweavers, the Varas slavers who almost killed all of them, and a few very creative ways to look at magic. In this sequel, and please read the first book before this one or you’ll miss a lot of the background for this to make sense, the stakes grow even higher.

There are the Kuri, many of them wounded and all of them exhausted, who have to reach their winter camp before freezing temperatures finish what the Varas started. They are led by Terja, a spellspinner, and Anan, a spellweaver, who are twined despite tradition not favoring such a pairing. Then there are the Varas who have not given up and decide to send an entire army after the Kuri. They have got a triad of Ubica assassins with them – a fascinating new culture that is as focused on working with iron as the Kuri are on threads and weaving. And, unfortunately, the Talac traitor, Xain, who made everyone’s life impossible before, managed to survive and is part of the Varas/Ubica force of revenge. This multilayered and complex background made all the personal struggles for survival even more interesting!
 
Terja and Anan have settled into their twining – and I love the fact that Jon Keys has created a whole language around the way their culture looks at life. They are as determined as ever to get their people to safety, but it isn’t easy. They are two stubborn men who have their struggles as a couple, but considering the dangers they face, that connection only grows stronger. I loved the creative ways they come up with solutions to their ever-increasing problems.

Many of the secondary characters from book one are back and get storylines of their own. And then there are new characters as well – such as the three men in the Ubica Triad. Even though they are Terja and Anan’s enemies, they have a whole fascinating code of honor of their own, and that made their actions not just dangerous, but also understandable and exciting. They are formidable enemies and a lot scarier than the Varas.

If you like magic and fantasy and strange new worlds with slowly unfolding mysteries, if you want to find out how Terja and Anan are doing, and if you’re looking for a suspenseful action/adventure full of drama, an epic struggle for survival and more than one brutal battle between sworn enemies, then you will probably like this novel. This second book ends on another cliff-hanger – and I can’t wait to find out what the next stage in Terja and Anan’s story looks like.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 220 pages/74217 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	12-September-2016
Price	$6.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback, $14.99 bundle
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/obsidian-moons-by-jon-keys-7503-b