The Shadow Casket (The Darkwater Legacy) Paperback – 20 July 2023

Really enjoyed it and can’t wait for the concluding book in the trilogy

Chris Wooding's long-awaited sequel to The Amber Blade was a mixed bag for me. A hardback, at eight hundred plus pages it is a whopper of a novel and I have to say it took me much longer to read because of the impossibility of carrying it out and about. Having read 400 pages I gave in and bought the kindle version.The story picks up immediately after book 1. It was easy to get into as we are exposed to new factions, twists, duplicities and characters. The strengths of the earlier part of the book is that we see characters develop and mature. I found the most interesting of these evolutions was Klyssen, who becomes both more human and more determined. What I found weak in this earlier part is that it was a bit dull. Albeit there are high points where Wooding steps up the action (his trademark I think) and gives us a great scene or two. Aren and Cade are still front and centre as our protagonists, each having their own trials and challenges.The pace steps up in the last quarter of the book as we are faced with a confrontation between Ossian forces and Krodans with their Deathknights. All of whom are different and suitably horrible. The end of the book is very enjoyable and leads us to a pause before book three, not before a few great action sequences, twists and revelations take place. I believe this will be a trilogy and I am looking forward to the concluding volumes.Thank you to Gollancz for a copy, but I bought it too :-)

Second volume in fantasy series 'The Darkwater Legacy.' This follows on from 'The Ember Blade.' It's not a jumping on point. There's nothing to bring new readers up to speed or remind regular ones what went before. So new readers start with book one. Regulars read on.This one runs for eight hundred and thirty four pages. It has ninety four chapters. There's some maps of the setting at the start. No cast of characters or any appendices though.The level of violence in here is such at times that I would say it's best suited for grown up readers only.It takes place three years after the end of book one. The hoped for rebellion hasn't quite materialised. The Empire is cracking down. Aren still misses Cade. What do our heroes do now? In the meantime Klyssen is not the man he was. But there's something he still wants very badly.....A certain powerful artefact might be what everyone needs.This is a big book. It does take it's time to get where it goes. Right from the off what it does with Klyssen as a character is really good and hugely compelling, and I was left wanting to know what he did next. It does jump between him and several other viewpoint characters, not least Aren. Not all the plot strands grabbed me as much as a few particular ones did. So some scenes weren't holding me quite so much. Others though are in a similar vein to the opening Klyssen bit for being compelling, so it was worth it for those.Can't say too much more about the plot without spoilers. Because surprises are to be had. Which leads to more very strong characterisation and it moves things up to a level that does keep you hooked.Ultimately you do discover that this book knows where it's going. A real direction becomes clear. It's not a standard second book. One that just sets up a finale. It really does manage to move the story along organically and naturally. Ultimately this culminates in a long final section which is very exciting and a real page turner. But this point, I was utterly hooked.The ending does in some ways act as an end for the story, but also leave the door open for more to come. I do hope there is more, because this turned into a very good read indeed. So I really want to know what comes next. Any book that makes me feel that way is worth five stars.

Spoiler-Free The Shadow Casket Book ReviewI loved The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding, and was so excited to received an advanced copy of the sequel, The Shadow Casket from Gollancz for an honest review.Strong Character WorkThe Shadow Casket picks up where The Ember Blade left off with its great character work! There is a three-year gap between the events in this book and the first one, and Chris Wooding shows this well through how the characters have adapted to their new situation.The individual characters feel so distinct, with their own complexities, desires and motivations, likes and dislikes. It can be easy to allow your characters to all feel similar to each other and to remain stagnant in development over time, but this is certainly not the case in The Shadow Casket.The Plot & WorldOnce again, I struggled to put this book down! Why oh why am I never allowed to sleep when in the midst of reading one of these books?!The twists and turns, the climaxes and even when we’re just travelling, I feel compelled to read the next page. I think it is to do with the excellent pacing of the novel, with familiar story beats to follow.I love the worldbuilding in this series! I think book 1 is definitely due a reread sometime so I can soak it all in again from the beginning. The scope of the sprawling landscapes, the diverse cultures and characters throughout… so much to soak up and enjoy!Final ThoughtsThe Shadow Casket is a breathtaking sequel to The Ember Blade and a must-read for all fantasy fans.

I'm a big fan of Chris Wooding, but this book was a slog to read at points. It felt very unfocused, with an aborted love triangle, characters suddenly changing behaviour then back again, and weird side plots. Still entertaining, but no where near as good as previous books.

A Great read and I can't wait for the next chapter of the series.Epic fantasy at it's best.Thanks

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. There are a lot of moving parts and twists. Great character and plot development. A worthwhile read.

Each character got his own interesting story arc, every time the author returned to one of his protagonists I was happy to finally learn more about him. There was not one part of the story that I didn’t like, and that doesn’t happen often. Really well done!

The service just great

I read The Ember Blade back at the end of 2021 and had a great time so this was a pretty highly anticipated release. One concern I had being that I had read the first book over 2 years ago was remembering the finer details of the story and characters. This book offers no recap or dramatis personae either in the book nor online. I just decided to jump in anyway, and I did think lacking that context made the beginning a bit more of a struggle than it should have been. I can't imagine what readers who read TEB upon release 5 years ago would feel like if there memory is like mine. So suggestion to all authors, put a recap somewhere for your readers especially if you're going to release books in a series this infrequently. That being said, as I continued the author does put some gentle reminders in the narrative that eventually I was able to get immersed.As for what I liked here I would say first of all, despite its length, this book reads very fast. It has short chapters, digestible but solid prose, and something is always happening to keep you interested. I wish more fantasy books were like this. Second, I love a story with a good crew banding together to accomplish something with some found family vibes. You get that here just like in book 1 and I'm here for it. Grub is probably one of my favorite characters in fantasy. Anytime he's on the page it's a good time. Third, I'm a sucker for books about a revolution and underdogs sticking it to an Empire. It's done well here. Finally, and this is difficult to talk about without spoiling, but there are some chapters here that exceed my expectations for what you normally see in fantasy in terms of how it mixes plot, character, and emotional moments by A LOT. The type of thing where you have to put the book down for a minute and think, "Damn, did that really just happen like that? What did I just read." Those parts shine like diamonds in what at other times kind of feel like more pedestrian fare. Let's get into that.I think this book has more flaws than The Ember Blade, or maybe I set my expectations higher for book 2. Either way I don't think it quite gets there. Early on the author chooses to add kind of a cringe romance subplot that hints at going full blown Degrassi Jr High bullshit complete with live triangle. It's mostly averted but what's there adds nothing and is a net negative especially for one POV who seemed to do very little but think about romantic interests and later another development I won't go into. It hurt my enjoyment because it made that character and perspective one dimensional. Luckily the page time for that was pretty limited. Secondly, while something is always happening to keep the pages turning, at points it starts to feel repetitive with little forward plot movement for the overall story. This is the kind.of pedestrian fantasy thing I was talking about. Like oh were going to a new location where the enemy won't find us. Ope betrayal guess we have to run again. Lastly, for a book named The Shadow Casket I wish it had been more important to this book and to the story. It might be important to the overall series eventually in 10 years or whatever when this is finished, but will I even care by then? The sections (few though they are) are really cool and interesting, but I needed and wanted more.Overall still really enjoyed this book and series. One thing I do need to give it credit for is having a really good complex and layered villain POV. Those chapters added a lot to this book and kept it in 4 star territory at parts when it was flagging a bit. Those chapters also added horror elements which were great and unexpected. Add to that the last 150.pages or so being absolute gasoline in terms of a climax I'm definitely going to be coming back for more. Let's just maybe get the next one a bit sooner eh Chris Wooding?