The Shadow of Malignin

I was provided an ARC copy of this book. Its an absolutely incredible followup to book 1. We get more world development of the land of Crearia, we get to learn more about its myths and people, and we get to follow the eternally unlucky Sainte Nore and his old friend Iris. They are also joined by another, a mysterious wealthy benefactor, who nobody really trusts but he pays for everything so they begrudgingly allow him to tag along.

Along the way we also revisit the city of Munich, and its citizens all recovering from the Dark Days of Book 1. Things start to look up and then in proper grim dark fashion, Daniel slaps all those hopes back into their corner where they belong! However, the results of those cornered hopes results in a series of awesome sequences involving the remaining Blades and Munich's neighbors.

Don't miss this book, especially if you love Grim Dark books and fantasy novels. I for one cannot wait for Book 3 to find out whether Sainte learns that headbands are a thing and whether his luck is ever going to improve.