Knife-Sworn – Tower and Knife #2 – Mazarkis Williams
Release Date: November 13th, 2012
Publisher: Nightshade Books
Age Group: Adult
Pages: 346
Format: e-book
Source: Netgalley
After spending most of his life in captivity, Sarmin now sits upon the Throne of Cerana. But his reign is an uneasy one. And the emperor’s own heart is torn between two very different women: Mesema, a Windreader princess, and Grada, a lowborn untouchable with whom Sarmin shares a unique bond. In times past, a royal assassin known as the Emperor’s Knife served to defend the throne from menace, but the last Knife has perished and his successor has yet to be named. Sarmin must choose his own loyal death-dealer . . . but upon whom can be he bestow the burden of the Knife-Sworn?
Review:
Knife Sworn is, just as its predecessor, an intriguing and fascinating book. The author resolved the problem of the pattern at the end of the first book, but not all is well in Nooria. First all were connected with each other through the pattern, sharing grievances, pain and joy alike, but now everyone’s abruptly alone again. This loneliness haunts the citizens of Nooria and it is referred to as “the Longing”. People take drastic measures to escape this longing (suicide, drugs,…), but out of the desert comes an old faith, banished from Cerana years ago, promising to unite the people once again. But is there truth in this promise? And with people desperate for a new connection with their fellow Unpatterned, is there any way to stop it when there’s something darker beneath the smooth words of the Mogyrk priests?
To top it off, The Longing is not all the Pattern has left behind. At each anchorpoint used by Helmar for his Pattern, a nothingness is consuming everything in its path. What is it, and can it be stopped?
Lots of intrigue and mystery in this second book of the Tower and Knife series, just how I like it. And this time I did connect with some of the characters. Williams gave more dimension to her characters, showing sides that were hidden in the first book and created more depth.
The author sets yet again a scorching pace, with twists and turns every few pages, throwing obstacles on our character’s paths and introducing questions that trouble character as well as reader. Though in the first book the pacing was a bit too fast to my liking, I had no problem with it this time.