Cold Sanctuary

LoveReading Says

Available from Halsgrove.com.

We return to Thera and the bloody interpersonal conflicts taking place in the shadow of a deadly unavoidable threat. Prince Magnus gave Game of Thrones’ Jeoffrey a run for his money in the first book, and he’s still in relentless pursuit of Jake, Emilya and Alicya. His ferocity is replaced as other storylines take the fore, with the nauseating Brother Cyrus and Obadiah, the ruthless Calidius putting his plans into action and Drax living from fight to fight in a Gladiator-esque storyline that delivers bloody and fierce battle sequences to sink your teeth into.

Meanwhile there’s plenty of action to be found elsewhere, as Will continues on his adventures and Davy leaves the mines for new work. 

I would recommend that you begin this series with book one The Strains of Malice, in order to keep up with the multiple characters threads. The style of this series reminds me of A Song of Ice and Fire in its scope and detail - the way it follows multiple characters that are in their own fully fleshed out story, while something larger is in play. However, I have more hope in this series being completed.

Cold Sanctuary manages to allow you to follow the storylines of the characters I was connected to in book one, while also allowing the storylines of other characters to be developed. The book flows at a steady pace so you have a decent amount of time to immerse yourself in each story before moving on.

Some narratives, like Drax’s, burst to the foreground and demand your attention. Others, like Madeleina and Alicya’s, simmer in the background, still moving forward but I think these narratives could yet build to something more. Looming over it all is the threat of the Nessemi - will plans come to fruition in time?

Will loved ones be reunited and peril overcome? Will it all matter in the end? I’m keen to read the rest of the series to find out. This book ends on a series of horrifying scenes then a whopper of a revelation, timed perfectly to leave you with questions and eager for the next instalment.

Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading Ambassador

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