A review by willdr
A Blade of Black Steel by Alex Marshall

3.0

I thought I knew the trajectory that the first book was headed in, but that all changed in the last third of [b:A Crown for Cold Silver|22875083|A Crown for Cold Silver (The Crimson Empire, #1)|Alex Marshall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413558036s/22875083.jpg|42439373]. The events of that book, so obviously a subversion of typical heroic fantasy, left me intrigued to see where Marshall was heading next. Unfortunately, after the large timeframe and geographical variety of the first book, this one felt disappointingly contained. I enjoyed the foregrounding of some of the previous secondary characters - I felt Purna was a particularly strong Point-of-View character - and Zosia is just as compelling as before, but the plot slowed and began to meander. The final third picked up, though, and I'm looking forward to finishing the series.