Review: Shadow Baron

Shadow Baron by Davinia Evans
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A fantastically fun follow up to the first book.

WARNING: This review may contain spoilers for the first book, Notorious Sorcerer

I really love this world and its characters. The three stars of the series - Siyon, Zagiri and Anahid - have their own things to deal with yet they lean easily on one another, allowing their stories to intertwine without losing any drama. Siyon is dealing with his new role of Alchemist, Zagiri is trying to change policy to make Bezim a more equal city and Anahid finds herself dealing with a role she never expected to have.

Anahid really shone for me, this time around. Her story was fantastic and I really enjoyed seeing her develop more and more courage to be her own person. It's done really cleverly; nice and subtle. There was still plenty of drama to keep things interesting, but it was also fun just seeing her take on all these new challenges.

Siyon disappointed a little, but it's not entirely his fault. He freely admits he has no idea what he's doing, but it does mean his storyline is a bit of a confusing mess. Bits and pieces of magic without any decent explanation of what's going on. So I did at times find it a little pale a story in comparison to Anahid's, but it was still interesting to learn a little more about the magic/alchemy of this world and even meet some new characters (and creatures) through Siyon.

Zagiri is such a fantastic character, and even her political scheming couldn't bore me. She has pure intentions and the politics frustrated me on her behalf, making things a little more tricky. I wasn't too entertained by the rebellion talk, but it was great to see Zagiri developing, too, from who she was in the first book.

The storytelling is casual and easy, progressing things in an entertaining manner. There's a nice balance of viewpoints, and always something interesting happening. Some great moments, and a fantastic ending that's got me hanging out for the next one!

Really loved this book. Didn't enrapture me quite as much as the first - likely because I knew what level of entertainment to expect, this time around - but it was plenty of fun and a worthy follow up. I'm looking forward to what happens next.

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