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BOOK TOUR/REVIEW: A Shade of Madness (The Ashes of Avarin #2) by Thiago Abdalla

January 27, 2023 by Sean Leave a Comment

Rating: 9.5/10

BLURB

Avarin tumbles into madness through the shattered ruin of a centuries-old peace.

As griffin riders clash against airships above and hordes of madmen below, Lynn finds herself surrounded by enemies. Ones that will test the limits of her faith. To defeat them, she must risk everything… including her sanity.

Adrian has lost the Legion, but new magics on foreign shores might be the answer he needs to rebuild his army. His return to the Domain will bring vengeance, and the hope that he will finally prove himself to his father.

Nasha’s curse has taken on a new, terrifying shape. She dreads it could be just what the dead goddess needs to escape from Her prison within the Silent Earth. Will she be strong enough to resist, or will Nasha’s curse give rise to the monster she fears to become?

Madness is spreading and it cares not for the borders of men.

A Shade of Madness is the second book in the Ashes of Avarin series, picking up straight after the exciting conclusion of A Touch of Light.

REVIEW

A special thank you to Thiago Abdalla for sending me a review copy and Escapist Book Tours for putting this whole thing together. All thoughts and opinions are honest and my own.

Kicking things off moments after the ending of A Touch of Light, Thiago Abdalla doesn’t waste any time, throwing the reader right back into the chaos. We re-join our protagonists in the aftermath of their exciting conclusions from the previous book and learn how they intend to pick of the pieces.

Abdalla does a wonderful job of raising the stakes, both with the characters and the plot. We get answers that beg more questions in the best way and strengthen the trust between reader and author.

Once again, the characters are the crux of the narrative and their decisions are the driving force. We have some familiar faces and meet some new ones as well, all of which are incredibly well defined and realistic. The new POV character might just be my favorite one yet! While some of their decisions may be surprising, it’s never out of character and always entertaining.

I love the questions this series is able to ask with the way the cultures are defined. With the skill of some of the greats, Abdalla has crafted realistic and believable cultures that feel like they could really exist. The way they clash is gripping and terrifying, especially when the characters you love fall on opposing sides.

A Shade of Madness is more that equal to A Touch of Light and Thiago Adballa ups his game to create a worthy and exceptional sequel. I have complete trust in him to bring the story to an amazing conclusion and I can’t wait for what he has in store for us next.

Filed Under: Book Tour, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Military Fantasy, Reviews Tagged With: A Shade of Madness, Book Review, Escapist Book Tours, Fantasy, Griffins, Self Published, The Ashes of Avarin, Thiago Abdalla

About Sean

Sean Conley (not Connery) aka Seanchalant is an proud father of three little nerds, AnaMaurin Victoria, Landyn Lawrence, and Raylan Aviendha Mae. He is a stay at home dad while his hardworking and wonderful fiancée,
Gabriella Oropeza brings home the bacon and he always has a book on his person. On the autism spectrum, he has a tendency to become an encyclopedia on things he enjoys. Raised on horror films (The Evil Dead series is #1) and Stephen King, his love of fantasy was born from Army of Darkness and Tad Williams; cultivated by John Gwynne and Mark Lawrence. He enjoys everything from epic fantasy to urban fantasy, grimdark to high fantasy. His favorite bands are The Beatles, Wu-Tang Clan and Built to Spill.

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