Captain Havovatch is dead, and the rest of his unit is captured. They failed their mission, and now The Black are able to invade Ezazeruth with nothing standing in their way... except Drorkon, that is. The mighty General is sworn to protect his country, and he will try to do so with the help of a cunning Architect, a fearless Hawk, and a vengeful unit mourning the passing of their leader. Will they succeed, or the people of this land are doomed to perish?
"Small trickles of water found their way in, but they could not be seen,dark and black as the Shadow World. There was the loud echo inside from the boat pushing through the waves. No Hawk would know of this, though, for they were all above deck, gazing off o their destinies or looking the other way, wondering if they would ever again see the land they were leaving behind. But back down in the bowels of the ship, where no one needed to venture, was just shadow. Then, two yellow eyes opened."
In his second novel, Gaskin retains the 70s fantasy feel we came to love in the first book, and adds a young adult vibe to it as well, expanding his reader's age and genre range. We are offered a large number of POVs (larger than the first book) but every story ties gracefully to each other, building a beautiful pattern of skilfully intertwined plot arcs.
The new characters will win you over in a matter of pages, with Pausanias and Wrisscrass leading the way. The world building doesn't expand significantly, but we learn more stories of the past which are tying up significant details of the present and therefore proving that the groundwork laid down by Thomas in the previous book was well worth the wait.
All in all, if you find the old-fashioned fantasy appealing, The Knights of Ezazeruth will keep you entertained and I would highly encourage you to give it a read.
