REVIEW: Storm and Steel by Jon Sprunk

Storm and Steel by Jon Sprunk
Publishing information: Paperback; 479 pages
Publisher: Pyr; 2 June 2015
ISBN: 978-1633880108
ASIN: B00NEUI2IU
Series: The Book of the Black Earth #2
Copy: Provided by Publisher
Reviewer: Tyson

Amazon

Synopsis: "An empire at war. Three fates intertwined.

The Magician. Horace has destroyed the Temple of the Sun, but now he finds his slave chains have been replaced by bonds of honor, duty, and love. Caught between two women and two cultures, he must contend with deadly forces from the unseen world.

The Rebel. Jirom has thrown in his lot with the slave uprising, but his road to freedom becomes ever more dangerous as the rebels expand their campaign against the empire. Even worse, he feels his connection with Emanon slipping away with every blow they strike in the name of freedom.

The Spy. Alyra has severed her ties to the underground network that brought her to Akeshia, but she continues the mission on her own. Yet, with Horace’s connection to the queen and the rebellion’s escalation of violence, she finds herself treading a knife’s edge between love and duty.

Dark conspiracies bubble to the surface as war and zealotry spread across the empire. Old alliances are shattered, new vendettas are born, and all peoples—citizen and slave alike—must endure the ravages of storm and steel."

Not long ago I reviewed the first book in the series, Blood and Iron (review here). The second installment, Storm and Steel, has been out for a while and I have finally found time to read it. Storm and Steel takes place not long after the events of the first book and it doesn't take long for things to come to a boil.

Horace is the First Sword to Queen Byleth and over his head. He is attempting to save as many lives of the rebelling slaves but still keep the queen happy and quelling the rebellion. It is a delicate balance that isn't winning him any friends and his friends are few and far between. I really enjoyed the events that feature Horace as he is your average Joe who has been thrust into the limelight and is doing everything he can to keep himself afloat. He is very relatable.

Jirom on the other hand is very comfortable in his role as second in command to his lover, Emanon. However, the troops realize that he is a natural born leader and they tend to gravitate to him. As the rebellion starts to take on a life of its own, Jirom must protect Emanon and himself as they bring in new leaders to help plot the downfall of the queen. There is a scene in the book related to Jirom (I won't spoil it) where Sprunk got me. It doesn't happen very often but when it does an author has earned a higher degree of respect. Sprunk got me in this book.

Alyra is still quite the enigma in this book her love for Horace keeps her chained to the kingdom but her loyalty to the rebellion puts her and Horace in danger. I still don't feel as if she is a fully developed character and still has some tricks up her sleeve that will wow me in the next book.

Storm and Steel is a great edition to the series and while several storylines are wrapped up in this book the true fight is still on the horizon and as the book comes to a close it chooses to end with a bang. I can't wait to see what the third book holds in store. If you read the first one, you will be excited to see what comes next.

Overall 8/10