BLURB
Ravin is an anomaly amongst those who use magic. He refuses to join the Council of Auras and tie his fate to the wizards, and long ago escaped a terrible fate amongst the Enlightened, called the Shadow Council by some. His escape gave him freedom few others with his power enjoy, and he means to keep it, no matter the cost.
Serving as an advisor to the Deluchan queen, Ravin learns a powerful relic is kept deep within the catacombs below the palace. War is on Delucha’s doorstep, brought about by none other than the council he fled from and their Soulless leaders. He resolves to retrieve the relic in order to combat the imminent threat, but collecting the Talisman of Delucha is not without its own danger.
As the Soulless’ army prepares to besiege the Deluchan capitol, Ravin makes one final, desperate attempt to secure the Talisman. The kingdom’s survival depends on his success, but time is not on his side.
REVIEW
The Talisman of Delucha is the excellent sequel to A.J. Calvin’s The Moon’s Eye and the second book in The Relics of War trilogy. Full of action, backstabbing and fascinating lore, Calvin continues to draw me into her wonderfully realized world.
All the surviving characters, I won’t say who, continue on their journeys that were set up on The Moon’s Eye and their relationships deepen, or splinter, in believable and exciting ways. The one character I will mention is Ravin, seeing as he’s mentioned in the blurb. While he was in the first novel, his appearance was late in the story and we only got a taste of what he had to offer. TToD is more his book and he quickly became my favorite character. That’s not to say the others weren’t great as well, which is more than half of what makes me love this series. Never was I dreading to read a POV, every character is interesting, with exciting story to go with them.
The stakes continue to rise, with the threat becoming more clear and some epic battles. I’m pretty sure there was a point for every character where I was worried for their well-being or the outcome of whatever perilous situation they found themselves in. Everything builds up to a thrilling battle that concludes this novel in truly epic fashion.
If you loved The Moon’s Eye, chances are you’re going to love The Talisman of Delucha just as much, if not more. With higher stakes, bigger battles and higher emotions, A.J. Calvin avoids middle-book-syndrome by allowing the story and characters to naturally grow while still maintaining a break neck pace. The Talisman of Delucha truly delivers the EPIC in epic fantasy.
Leave a Reply