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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Divided, hunted and short on resources, the surviving members of the Relic Guild are in real trouble. Their old enemy the Genii and their resurrected master have infiltrated Labrys Town and taken over the city.
So the Relic Guild must flee their home on a dangerous journey across the worlds of the Aelfir. One that will lead them to a weapon which might destroy the Genii. Or the whole universe …
And forty years before all this, the war which led to the fall of the Genii continues. And what happened to the Relic Guild then will change the course of their desperate future flight.
Sam, Van Bam and Clara have been transported by the portal shown to them by the mysterious avatar at the end of THE RELIC GUILD into the Great Labyrinth. There they discover a secret portal, one that leads them to the realms of the Aelfir where they must somehow find a way to bring down the Genii who now control Labrys Town or at least find a way to alert any remaining Thaumaturgists who could help them. Meanwhile Hamir has emerged from his portal into the realm of Lady Amilee, the Skywatcher in search of answers to his own questions, questions that mean revealing secrets he’s been hiding from the other Relic Guild agents. Throughout all this, Fabian Moor and his fellow Genii are consolidating their hold on Labrys Town as they comb through Marney’s memories in search of Oldest Place so that they can release Lord Spiral and take control of the Aelfir realms once and for all ...
The second in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy shows off more of his imaginative, well-structured world with another action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the current fight against the Genii and the war against Lord Spiral held 40 years ago). There is more character development here for Van Bam, Hamir (who has fast become my favourite), Denton and Marney and Sam is given new layers, which continue to hold my interest. I also found Fabian Moor to have more depth in this story, particularly in a scene where his faith in his plan is severely shaken, but his fellow Genii remain stock characters at best, and two-dimensional evil doers at worse. The time shifts worked better for me as Cox starts to draw out how the events from 40 years ago have shaped those happening today – I particularly enjoyed the slow reveal of Denton and Marney’s mission and the effect this has on them although Van Bam’s earlier adventure has a telegraphed reveal (despite the welcome introduction of new players, the Nephilim) – and I enjoyed seeing the return of side characters from those old missions in the Relic Guild’s current flight. Once again, Cox opts to finish the novel with another cliff hanger (a personal bug bear of mine) but the complexity of the plot lines coupled with the development of a number of the characters guarantees that I will check out the last book.
The Verdict:
The second in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy shows off more of his imaginative, well-structured world with another action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the current fight against the Genii and the war against Lord Spiral held 40 years ago). There is more character development here for Van Bam, Hamir (who has fast become my favourite), Denton and Marney and Sam is given new layers, which continue to hold my interest. I also found Fabian Moor to have more depth in this story, particularly in a scene where his faith in his plan is severely shaken, but his fellow Genii remain stock characters at best, and two-dimensional evil doers at worse. The time shifts worked better for me as Cox starts to draw out how the events from 40 years ago have shaped those happening today – I particularly enjoyed the slow reveal of Denton and Marney’s mission and the effect this has on them although Van Bam’s earlier adventure has a telegraphed reveal (despite the welcome introduction of new players, the Nephilim) – and I enjoyed seeing the return of side characters from those old missions in the Relic Guild’s current flight. Once again, Cox opts to finish the novel with another cliff hanger (a personal bug bear of mine) but the complexity of the plot lines coupled with the development of a number of the characters guarantees that I will check out the last book.
Thanks to Amazon Vine for the review copy of this book.
Divided, hunted and short on resources, the surviving members of the Relic Guild are in real trouble. Their old enemy the Genii and their resurrected master have infiltrated Labrys Town and taken over the city.
So the Relic Guild must flee their home on a dangerous journey across the worlds of the Aelfir. One that will lead them to a weapon which might destroy the Genii. Or the whole universe …
And forty years before all this, the war which led to the fall of the Genii continues. And what happened to the Relic Guild then will change the course of their desperate future flight.
Sam, Van Bam and Clara have been transported by the portal shown to them by the mysterious avatar at the end of THE RELIC GUILD into the Great Labyrinth. There they discover a secret portal, one that leads them to the realms of the Aelfir where they must somehow find a way to bring down the Genii who now control Labrys Town or at least find a way to alert any remaining Thaumaturgists who could help them. Meanwhile Hamir has emerged from his portal into the realm of Lady Amilee, the Skywatcher in search of answers to his own questions, questions that mean revealing secrets he’s been hiding from the other Relic Guild agents. Throughout all this, Fabian Moor and his fellow Genii are consolidating their hold on Labrys Town as they comb through Marney’s memories in search of Oldest Place so that they can release Lord Spiral and take control of the Aelfir realms once and for all ...
The second in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy shows off more of his imaginative, well-structured world with another action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the current fight against the Genii and the war against Lord Spiral held 40 years ago). There is more character development here for Van Bam, Hamir (who has fast become my favourite), Denton and Marney and Sam is given new layers, which continue to hold my interest. I also found Fabian Moor to have more depth in this story, particularly in a scene where his faith in his plan is severely shaken, but his fellow Genii remain stock characters at best, and two-dimensional evil doers at worse. The time shifts worked better for me as Cox starts to draw out how the events from 40 years ago have shaped those happening today – I particularly enjoyed the slow reveal of Denton and Marney’s mission and the effect this has on them although Van Bam’s earlier adventure has a telegraphed reveal (despite the welcome introduction of new players, the Nephilim) – and I enjoyed seeing the return of side characters from those old missions in the Relic Guild’s current flight. Once again, Cox opts to finish the novel with another cliff hanger (a personal bug bear of mine) but the complexity of the plot lines coupled with the development of a number of the characters guarantees that I will check out the last book.
The Verdict:
The second in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy shows off more of his imaginative, well-structured world with another action-filled plot divided between two time periods (the current fight against the Genii and the war against Lord Spiral held 40 years ago). There is more character development here for Van Bam, Hamir (who has fast become my favourite), Denton and Marney and Sam is given new layers, which continue to hold my interest. I also found Fabian Moor to have more depth in this story, particularly in a scene where his faith in his plan is severely shaken, but his fellow Genii remain stock characters at best, and two-dimensional evil doers at worse. The time shifts worked better for me as Cox starts to draw out how the events from 40 years ago have shaped those happening today – I particularly enjoyed the slow reveal of Denton and Marney’s mission and the effect this has on them although Van Bam’s earlier adventure has a telegraphed reveal (despite the welcome introduction of new players, the Nephilim) – and I enjoyed seeing the return of side characters from those old missions in the Relic Guild’s current flight. Once again, Cox opts to finish the novel with another cliff hanger (a personal bug bear of mine) but the complexity of the plot lines coupled with the development of a number of the characters guarantees that I will check out the last book.
Thanks to Amazon Vine for the review copy of this book.
