“You’d better tell me about that lie, Giles," said the old man, massaging his forehead. “From all the sin you keep going on about, I’m sure it’s going to be spectacular.”

Well… when you put it that way.

A year has passed. Jack learns family secrets and has to go on ANOTHER QUEST. I’m actually curious to see if the backstory we get here was planned all along or developed from clues in the first book only when a second was need. It really could go either way.

This time, we see elves (meh) and hobgoblins (lots of fun). Along the way, we end up with another new main character: Pega. Former slave, freed by Jack, and fond of commenting on ‘how it all could be worse’. She’s fine… but not as interesting as Thorgil, personally. (We get both though!)

It’s another adventure through the magical land of alt ~800 AD British Isles. Weaker than the first, but still absolutely solid enough that I enjoyed reading it. Onward to the thrilling (I hope!) conclusion in The Islands of the Blessed!