The first book in the Kingshield Knights series left me with mixed feelings, but I went on with the second book to see if it improves. Let’s have a look…

The first book ended with the group barely avoiding a fight against a vastly larger force by using a circle of stones to portal away. Now, with some lead before their enemies, their first stops were to gear up the two young heroes for what’s to come. Aranloth leads them towards an ancient tomb, and while they avoided the King’s army, there’s a strange shadow that pursues them, something even Aranloth seems to have little idea what it could be.

Braving the tombs and the traps within – a test of resolve and willpower – takes a while, and their escape from that place isn’t easy either – both the mysterious shadow and the spirits of the place putting them to a test.

After the escape, Aranloth leads them towards a secluded cabin where he’s to train Faran and Feral for what’s to come, while they also have to take care of feeding themselves. Thus, they hunt and train. Once again, it shows that Ferla is better with the blade while Faran has a better grasp on magic, but their skills (despite Aranloth’s very direct help) are growing quite slowly.

Eventually, the shadow catches up to them – and turns out to be a manifestation of Aranloth’s darker side. With the help of the others, it’s defeated.

Then, after months of relatively peaceful and idyllic time at the chalet, Lindercroft catches up to them again, with an army. Still outnumbered, the group is on the run again…

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Read date: 17.-20.6.2023
Published: 20.6.2023
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,29/4,4
My rating: 70%
Length: 205 pages
My highlights

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The series read well when it comes to the flow of writing, but the fact two books in (and they’re short books at 200 pages) there’s not much happening is making me put the series aside. By book two, I’d have expected the main characters to be able to do more than practice matches, and their relationship to also evolve in some way, but that’s not the case. Maybe the former is caused by the relatively small cast of characters so they have nothing to really test their growing (I hope) skills against, but that’s another flaw to me, not a justification.