The second book in the Legend of Tal series continues exactly where the first one left off, promising another part to an adventure journey – and a fair amount of challenges.
After the final skirmish of the first book and a brief respite in Garin’s home village, the group prepares to travel to the elven lands. The purpose is not only to train him in combat but to also deal with the voice in his mind.
However, the journey itself is difficult. The troubadour group accompanies them and their lifestyle slows the journey down. Tal struggles with guilt considering the injuries that left his friend – and the leader of the troubadours – without one of his arms. Garin keeps his distance from Tal after having learned that Tal had, in the past, killed his father; and also from Gwen as he fears the creature in his mind could use his feelings for her against both of them.
As if that wasn’t enough, the group comes under attack before they reach their destination, which is only a hint of worse problems: the elven kingdom, long considered above the problems of other races, is divided. Conflict between the two major sides are escalating and it only seems that a catastrophe is an accident away. Tal also needs to deal with his past feelings – the woman he had once dallied with is now married and a mother to her son, while also breaking some traditions as for the typical gender roles in the elven society.
Ultimately, it’s revealed that what’s coming is related to Tal’s past deeds in the area and that not everything was resolved as much as he hoped. Now, the past is catching with him and the people involved, stronger than before.
Things then quickly spiral out of control for the finale which gets action-packed and makes many of the characters face difficult choices.
Read date: 27.7. – 10.8.2024
Published: 26.10.2020
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,24/4,5
My rating: 85%
Length: 458 pages
My highlights
The story is quite entertaining and has a decent pacing with a decent character cast each with their own struggles. It shows there’s more to worldbuilding and backstory for the next book.
Tomas - the wandering dreamer 