Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima

Shadowcaster by Cinda Williams Chima
Series: Shattered Realms #2
Publisher: HarperTeen, Trade Paperback, 576 pages

Alyssa, Lyss, ana’Raisa has a lot to live up to as the heir to the Gray Wolf throne and she plans to make her mark by doing things differently to change the course of the war efforts. Meanwhile Halston, Hal, Matelon has been assigned a dangerous new assignment that will take his unit into the north where they will fight in their enemies turf. When things take a turn for the worst, Hal learns that what he’s been told to believe about northerners may not be entirely accurate.

Shadowcaster lived up to the expectations that Flamecaster set, without question. This was another total win for me. Once again the writing, the characters, the story all sucked me in. There is some overlap in the timeline with book one, however the main characters in Shadowcaster are different than Flamecaster so we are seeing some different perspectives in this one. Though we do revisit some perspectives from the first book.

What I really liked about this book is that it stood on its own even though we already knew about some of the things that happened throughout the story. We are getting more information about these events, what led up to them, and what the consequences were. There are also new kinds of magic and more about the political minefield that is being traversed which kept my attention all the way through. Some of the pieces of the overarching story line are revealed here as well, though I still have some questions about what the last two books will bring.

Admittedly, there were a couple of things that were predictable in Shadowcaster as well, but again I was too busy enjoying the story to be bothered by the predictable bits. This was a great second installment in the Shattered Realms series and I look forward to reading on. 5/5 stars.

Shattered Realms Series:
1. Flamecaster
2. Shadowcaster
3. Stormcaster
4. Deathcaster