Veil of the Deserters - Jeff Salyards

Veil of the Deserters
Book 2 of the "Bloodsounder's Arc"

Read about the first book HERE

ISBN - 9781597804905
FIRST PUBLISHED - 2014
PAGES - 464
GENRE - Fantasy
PUBLISHER - Night Shade Publishers

AUTHOR - Jeff Salyards

SYNOPSIS - History, Family and Memory… these are the seeds of destruction.

Bloodsounder's Arc continues as Captain Braylar Killcoin and his retinue continue to sow chaos amongst the political elite of Alespell. Braylar is still poisoned by the memories of those slain by his unholy flail Bloodsounder, and attempts to counter this sickness have proven ineffectual.

The Syldoonian Emperor Cynead has solidified his power base in unprecedented ways, and demands loyalty from all operatives. Braylar and company are recalled to the capital to swear fealty. Braylar must decide if he can trust his sister, Soffjian, with the secret that is killing him. She has powerful memory magics that might be able to save him from Bloodsounder’s effects, but she has political allegiances that are not his own. Arki and others in the company try to get Soffjian and Braylar to trust one another, but politics in the capital prove to be far more complicated and dangerous than even Killcoin could predict.

Deposed emperor Thumarr plots to remove the repressive Cynead, and Braylar and his sister Soffjian lie at the heart of his plans. The distance between "favored shadow agent of the emperor" and "exiled traitor" is an unsurprisingly short road. But it is a road filled with blind twists and unexpected turns. Before the journey is over, Arki will chronicle the true intentions of Emperor Cynead and Soffjian. And old enemies in Alespell may prove to be surprising allies in a conflict no one could have foreseen.

QUOTES - 

“Rumor's the slut you bend over a chair and never see again. Truth's the lady you wed.”

“There always seems to be an 'until'. That is one of life's harsh lessons.”

“It is a ripper. I would be disappointed if it simply nuzzled them and showed its belly for a good rub.”

FL Speak - Book 1 of Bloodsounder's Arc was a gem. It led nowhere, didn't bank on promises to fail and had a cast of ruthless killers you wouldn't want to be stuck with. Without a sound plot, it stood tall as first of the trilogy or even as a standalone.

Book 2, however, doesn't. Whatever sense of lull you were accustomed to (although less truly), this book picks up the pace in action and story line at a break neck speed. To rehash, we have a young scribe, unsullied in warmongering who has been hired to chronicle the deeds of a certain Slydoon company. If book 1 was his trial of fire, book 2 leads him straight to the depths of fiery hell.

The Slydoon have returned to their homes. Homes that are familiar and filled with political betrayals and memory magic. Wars, lots of it, on almost every page to satisfy your thirsting pangs of action and swear words. Veil of the Deserters will take you on a ride to the unknown, literally unknown places that you have not encountered in book 1. Political intrigue, treachery and good ol' betrayal at its finest. I must say the good Captain Killcoin and his Syldoon has grown on me. Arki, not so much, despite his lack for not trying.

An empire awaits. The Syldoon wait. And the schemes and plots twist and turn.

RATING - 5/5