Enjoyed!
A Lords of Davenia Novel
Auraq Greystone, once a military officer with a promising future, exists on the fringe of society. Accused of murder, Auraq is on the run from the ax—until two fugitives crash into his solitary life. One is a young man named Kane. The glowing marks on his arm pulse with an otherworldly power, and they have made him the target of a sinister organization called the Order of the Jackal. When the old man protecting Kane dies in an ambush, Auraq swears an oath to take his place.
But the runes are far more significant than they realize. They are a message from the shadow realm, a dark memory of the past—one holding evidence of a bloody massacre and its savage architect; one that will shake the kingdom to its foundation. Risking arrest and execution, Auraq fights to get Kane to the capital city where the cryptic marking can be unlocked. And with assassins close on their trail, Auraq might never get the chance to show Kane what’s in his heart—or the way their journey together has changed him.
The Shadow Mark is an epic tale of magic, murder, conspiracy, betrayal, and—for the two men tasked with unraveling the mystery—love and redemption.
Review,
Dear Mason Thomas, I liked the first book in this series (no idea if any other books are scheduled) and reviewed it here at DA. I also had some issues with “Lord Mouse” and I am happy to report that I thought that the second book did not have those issues for me. The copy editing is an exception. Unfortunately I will have to warn you that since I specifically noted the copy editing issues in the first book, I cannot tell you whether copy editing of this one was much better or stayed the same. I tend to miss these issues often enough even if I remember to check and double check and here I was too engrossed in the story to notice much of it if anything.
This book can definitely be read as a stand – alone. The only connection between two stories was the same world both books set in and the certain deadly political intrigue which (if I remember correctly) was mentioned in the first book but from the different angle so to speak – basically certain events of the first book which were important, but not front and center and mentioned only briefly are kind of clarified in this book.
Also this political intrigue holds the answer to serious problem the main characters face in the second book. I am sorry for being so vague, but I really do not feel I can say anything more specific – the blurb does not say a word and I did not have any issues with this storyline, so I do not think I have any justification whatsoever to reveal any spoilers.
I actually thought the blurb was excellent and described the set up very well without important spoilers. Former military, Auraq is on the run from them when we meet him at the beginning of the story and at the very beginning during the cold night two men ask him to share the fire he made with them. While initially hesitant and suspicious Auraq cannot turn away the old man and his apprentice and lets them sit at the fire. They share food and stories as much as Auraq willing to talk anyway, which is not so much. While Auraq liked his guests almost against his initial suspicion, very quickly he realized that they also hold their secrets. Auraq decided that he would go with the two men at least for the part of their journey to protect them, but their journey together was not to be because unknown assassins attacked them almost right away. They fought hard, but old man who was Kane’s master and protector died in the ambush as blurb tells you.
Auraq promised that he would help Kane to reach the end of his journey safely and for Kane that meant figuring out the mystery of his mark, mark he did not ask for and hopefully somebody would help him to get rid of the mark.
So basically large part of the story (not all of the story) is a road trip – Auraq and Kane trying to get to their destination (Auraq decides to bring Kane to the city he was born in and lived for some time), but it was a *very* exciting road trip. They had to fight people and beasts and both people and beasts were very dangerous adversaries. When they made it to the city danger did not let them go at all, and I was really interested in see how the things will work out and what was even more surprising I really wanted to know who was behind the mark on Kane’s hand and why the mark was placed on him. I was surprised because initially the mystery seemed trivial and even kind of boring to me, but the more I learned (and I really liked how the information was revealed in pieces throughout the story, the more intrigued I became.
Romance was there, but on the background – which made perfect sense to me since both guys were really busy throughout the book. Basically all that happens is an attempt at the kiss which does not go well and when both of them are in agreement that they want to have a shot at the future together, we have another kiss and “I love you” thing. So this is basically – we were in mortal danger and the events that brought us together helped us realize that we are in love with each other. If this is not enough for you, you probably should stay away from this book.
I was very satisfied when the book ended.
Grade: B/B+
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