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4.14 AVERAGE
4.14 AVERAGE
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The first book of The Darkwater Legacy, The Ember Blade was one of my favorite reads of 2021. To refresh my memory, I recently reread it and loved it just as much which made me very excited to start the next book. The Shadow Casket follows the Dawnwardens three years after the events of the first book. Aren has seized the Ember Blade, however there has been little movement in the fight against the Krodans. The Dawnwardens need to come up with a plan to convince people to reclaim their land.
This was such a good sequel and I don’t think it suffered from “middle book syndrome” at all. Chris Wooding’s writing is immersive and descriptive without being flowery, and he did a great job balancing so many characters and perspectives. Each of the Dawnwardens were given satisfying arcs that still left room for further exploration and growth in the next book. I’m not a huge fan of the chosen one trope and after the first book that seemed to be where Aren was headed. However this book sort of deconstructed that idea and I was pleasantly surprised by Aren’s arc. He struggled with the pressure of being called Vika’s “champion”, his place in the revolution, and his relationships but by the end he has a better sense of direction in all aspects. There were some characters I didn’t like in the first book who I loved in this book and vice versa which was really fun. Wooding’s world-building is really well done and I like how it didn’t distract me from the plot or character development. Despite the length, the book was well-paced overall. There were a some moments that I wanted to move on from but they were infrequent. The plot was intricate but easy to understand with several twists throughout and the stakes were high. I loved how none of the Dawnwardens were safe, especially during the final battle which was a great action sequence.
Overall, this book exceeded my expectations and I liked it just as much as The Ember Blade. I’m very excited for the next book in the series and I’ll definitely reread the first two before then. I would give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
This was such a good sequel and I don’t think it suffered from “middle book syndrome” at all. Chris Wooding’s writing is immersive and descriptive without being flowery, and he did a great job balancing so many characters and perspectives. Each of the Dawnwardens were given satisfying arcs that still left room for further exploration and growth in the next book. I’m not a huge fan of the chosen one trope and after the first book that seemed to be where Aren was headed. However this book sort of deconstructed that idea and I was pleasantly surprised by Aren’s arc. He struggled with the pressure of being called Vika’s “champion”, his place in the revolution, and his relationships but by the end he has a better sense of direction in all aspects. There were some characters I didn’t like in the first book who I loved in this book and vice versa which was really fun. Wooding’s world-building is really well done and I like how it didn’t distract me from the plot or character development. Despite the length, the book was well-paced overall. There were a some moments that I wanted to move on from but they were infrequent. The plot was intricate but easy to understand with several twists throughout and the stakes were high. I loved how none of the Dawnwardens were safe, especially during the final battle which was a great action sequence.
Overall, this book exceeded my expectations and I liked it just as much as The Ember Blade. I’m very excited for the next book in the series and I’ll definitely reread the first two before then. I would give this book a rating of 5 out of 5 stars.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a worthy sequel to The Ember Blade. One of my favourite things in this installment is the expansion of the world. We move beyond Ossia and see other countries as well as learn more about the other peoples of the world.
There were twists and turns aplenty here and I honestly did not see them all coming. It made for very engaging scenes.
Characterisation is also fantastically done in this series. Every single character has nuance and is fully realised. Even Grub has serious character growth and I wasn't sure that was possible lol.
While this book didn't hit quite as hard as book one, it was still a fantastic read that quite literally kept me up all night as I couldn't put it down. I hope we get the finale (I think this is a trilogy?) relatively soon as I am fully invested in this world and characters and I need to know how it all ends!
There were twists and turns aplenty here and I honestly did not see them all coming. It made for very engaging scenes.
Characterisation is also fantastically done in this series. Every single character has nuance and is fully realised. Even Grub has serious character growth and I wasn't sure that was possible lol.
While this book didn't hit quite as hard as book one, it was still a fantastic read that quite literally kept me up all night as I couldn't put it down. I hope we get the finale (I think this is a trilogy?) relatively soon as I am fully invested in this world and characters and I need to know how it all ends!
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I had a bit of a battle getting into this one. At first I thought it was because I read an ARC of the previous book, The Ember Blade, before it was released in 2018, so I'd forgotten a lot of what happened, and there's not a lot of recap here (which could be a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective). But it also felt a bit meandering: there's a lot of battles, meeting new people, advancing the cause of the Dawnwardens, learning about the Dreadknights... where was the titular 'Shadow Casket'? When was the plot going to start?
In hindsight, after the excellent, climactic final battle including some great, well-plotted twists and turns, I realised that this book wasn't about the Shadow Casket at all. Sure, there is a bit of a quest to find it, but it felt like a minor vignette within the epic story of Aren and co. trying to initiate the revolution proper. I spent 500+ pages distracted by the title, which I don't think has ever happened to me before - but because The Ember Blade was a classic adventure a la Sword of Shannara with a modern flavour, I think it's natural to assume that if the second book is named after another magical macguffin (Wishtones of Shannara?) it'll have a similar quest feel. So, while I thought I was reading a framing narrative and the plot was just taking a long time to get going, everything that was happening was a key plot point in the Dawnwardens gathering allies and finding their own roles for a coming-together of good vs. evil at the end of the book - more like a David Gemmell Drenai novel.
If I hadn't gone into the narrative with completely the wrong expectations, I think I would have enjoyed the first half a lot more. There's all of the usual great character building Wooding gives us. There's plenty of unexpected twists, tragedies, difficult choices, dark events, heroic moments, and delving into the unique, imaginative fantasy world. Wooding's world-building always delivers, too, combining traditional Western fantasy with anime/JRPG-inspirations like pseudo-industrialised empires, nigh-on unbeatable demonic knights with unique abilities and weapons, and a team of clearly differentiated heroes with specific skills and motivations. The action is great, the tactics are clever, and the banter between characters serves to ease the tense atmosphere which could become cloying.
I would warn that the book is pretty heavy - I'm not sure if this is going to be a trilogy, but it certainly had an 'Empire Strikes Back' feeling to it. It was pretty tough to get through 1000 pages of things going wrong for our heroes between minor victories. But I am looking forward to whatever happens next.
In hindsight, after the excellent, climactic final battle including some great, well-plotted twists and turns, I realised that this book wasn't about the Shadow Casket at all. Sure, there is a bit of a quest to find it, but it felt like a minor vignette within the epic story of Aren and co. trying to initiate the revolution proper. I spent 500+ pages distracted by the title, which I don't think has ever happened to me before - but because The Ember Blade was a classic adventure a la Sword of Shannara with a modern flavour, I think it's natural to assume that if the second book is named after another magical macguffin (Wishtones of Shannara?) it'll have a similar quest feel. So, while I thought I was reading a framing narrative and the plot was just taking a long time to get going, everything that was happening was a key plot point in the Dawnwardens gathering allies and finding their own roles for a coming-together of good vs. evil at the end of the book - more like a David Gemmell Drenai novel.
If I hadn't gone into the narrative with completely the wrong expectations, I think I would have enjoyed the first half a lot more. There's all of the usual great character building Wooding gives us. There's plenty of unexpected twists, tragedies, difficult choices, dark events, heroic moments, and delving into the unique, imaginative fantasy world. Wooding's world-building always delivers, too, combining traditional Western fantasy with anime/JRPG-inspirations like pseudo-industrialised empires, nigh-on unbeatable demonic knights with unique abilities and weapons, and a team of clearly differentiated heroes with specific skills and motivations. The action is great, the tactics are clever, and the banter between characters serves to ease the tense atmosphere which could become cloying.
I would warn that the book is pretty heavy - I'm not sure if this is going to be a trilogy, but it certainly had an 'Empire Strikes Back' feeling to it. It was pretty tough to get through 1000 pages of things going wrong for our heroes between minor victories. But I am looking forward to whatever happens next.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes