This was a second book in a trilogy and expands on the Empire of Salt, we are introduced to the city of Shiang to the east, very much with an asiatic sphere of reference and cultural feel. We meet Taeshin and Hondo warriors of this proud nation and a number of incidents unfold which lead then both on a quest to Darien, one for the honor or his master the other seeking glory after undergoing a test of Frankenstein proportions.

Meanwhile in Darien, Tallius and Lady Sallet experience a fore telling of the destruction of their home, will they have sufficient time to expand their defences against the ocean that is heading to break down their great city?

Whether reading in small sections or large the writing of C F Iggulden is an absolute pleasure, the world building and character development and introduction come from a true craftsman, having only read this series I will now be more inclined to read his historical fiction.

The only downside I feel is that he does not utilise the possibility and strength of the female character, if anything I hope in future he will take into account the warrior nature of women and not just have a token figure within his stories.

These comments aside this was a more than progressive second novel in a trilogy and both managed to expand on the world and my interest in its conclusion, I look forward to experiencing The Sword Saint.

Thank you net galley for the opportunity to read and review this book for Penguin.

Sadly not as enjoyable as the first in the series. a tad too graphically violent for my particular tastes. I am sure though that those with stronger stomachs will actually love this as it is richly drawn with a complex character structure and a vivid world to inhabit

I was sent a copy of Shiang Empire of Salt Book II by C. F. Iggulden to read and review by NetGalley.
Another little masterpiece from the pen of Mr Iggulden! Shiang is the second book in the Empire of Salt trilogy aimed and teens and young adults. Don’t be put off by the target audience as this novel, along with its predecessor, is a well written intelligent read. The quality of the writing is, as It were, music to my ears – with so much mediocre and sloppy writing around this book was a joy! Fast paced, full of action, intrigue and plenty of magic, the author has once again managed to capture the essence of his historical fiction and meld it with fantasy – in my opinion a perfect match!

Set in a different city than the first book in the series this book is set in the incredible snow caped city of Shiang.

I loved the interconnection between the two books and yet the different atmospheres between the two cities. I also enjoyed the mix up of characters, some old, some new.

The battle scenes were action-packed and fast-paced. the characters were very easy to connect to and the plot was wonderfully inventive.

A great paced adult read.

"Shiang is set in the same land as Darien, but I really struggled at the start of the book to link it back. This may be in part from the time between reading the two books, it may also be the different POVs. However, soon recognisable characters do appear and pull the two stories together in a comprehensible way.

Although I do understand the need to introduce the new characters and places at the start. Iggulden's past with historical fiction is a key part of this writing decision. Whilst it was confusing, I wouldn't say it's a breaking point, and I still enjoyed the book. Shiang was also a great additional location (and culture) which expanded the world.

Once we got into the thick of the book, the plotlines converged and the city of Darien became a focus yet again, the book improved for me. The pace quickened and the story itself became a lot more exciting to read.

As I briefly mentioned before, the world building is well written. I enjoyed the world just as much as I did in Darien. Plus the addition of Shiang and the strange 'after life' style world brought in increased magic that was welcome.

However Shiang's strength really lie with the world itself, rather than its characters. I'm writing this review late, and I can't remember their names which to me shows that I didn't really care much. If you're a reader who enjoys in-depth characters then this may not be for you. Even though I personally don't mind this aspect.

The magical artefacts throughout both stories truly intrigue me, as there's little explanation of them. They are just 'there' and have seemed to crowd in Darien. But is this a coincidence or not? I'm excited to see if there's any more that will be introduced in the final book.

I'm truly excited to read the third and final book by Iggulden, as I hope it goes straight back into the world and storyline created. "

I loved Darien, the first book so was excited to pick this up and continue on with the story. The same big bad is still there to be battled, but there are some new characters, and this is the beauty of the book - learning about the new people. Its a well written book, and pulls you back in, and I cant wait for the third book!

I wont go into detail about the story as i dont want to spoil the book, but i will say that I wouldn't normally read this kind of book but I fancied a change of genre and i can honastly say this surprised me. I enjoyed the story and i felt connected with the characters. Pleaseantly surprised and brilliantly written, a must read for sure. This is part of a series so I would recommend reading the first one too as this will add to the story. Conn Iggulden is one of the leading historical fiction authors and his step to the sci-fi genre here does not disappoint.

Shiang is the follow up to Darien in C.F.Iggulden's Empire of Salt series. Shiang is Darien's neighbouring city although there are so many miles between them the current generation doesn't fully believe in each other's existence. Where Darien has a European, medieval aesthetic, Shiang is a city of the East valuing honour and discipline amongst its people and rulers. Mazer warriors are the elite protectors of the city and magic does not exist save for a single stone whose properties are not understood until it is too late.
I thought this was a solid sequel to Darien and introduced some new and interesting characters to the mix. As a bookseller I would recommend this series as an introduction to the fantasy genre. Having read some of the epic series myself there isn't enough meat on the bones of this series so far for me, although I love Conn's writing style and am a fan of his historical fiction.
Thanks net galley for my advance copy. I really enjoyed the escape.

5/10

A disappointing follow up to what was a decent enough opening novel to the series. Admittedly, I didn’t remember a great deal from the first book, Darien, but I remember enjoying it enough to request this one as soon as I saw it. This one didn’t grab my attention at all and was weak in comparison.

The layout in style was similar, differing viewpoints per chapter with enough characters in shades of grey to make you not trust anyone at face value. There were some interesting ideas but the execution didn’t work. One of the most interesting ideas was underdeveloped too which would have been an interesting concept on its own. Similar to the last novel, there was a lot of build up to a final battle but it felt overdrawn and repetitive without any real care for the main characters I wasn’t bothered whether they lived or died.

I know that in a couple of weeks this novel will have completely faded from my memory and I wasn’t bothered for the majority of it anyway so, whereas previously I would have, I won’t be carrying on with the series.

Shiang is the second of a fantasy trilogy by C F Iggulden. It doesn't carry on immediately from the events of the first book, at least not with the same characters. Rather than beginning with the city of Darien, we start in the city of Shiang, with swordsmen, strange magic and betrayal. In fact it takes about a third of the book to find familiar characters again. For me, it made it rather hard to get into the book. I kept picking it up and reading a page here, a page there, and barely holding the characters together in my mind.

Saying that, once I got to that third in, the story began to get hold of me. I began to see a clearer picture of the plot - the people of Darien waking up an emerging threat, the 'good' heroes from Shiang coming to get Tellius, the 'bad' almost supernatural soldiers travelling in search of powerful stones and willing to do anything to get them.

There were no great surprises and I did wish the slave girl Marias had more agency or more to do in the book - I kept waiting for her moment. But overall I enjoyed it and will pick up the last book, particularly to find out what the overarching plot is. For example Gabriel mentioned Rome and Spain - so does that mean it's set in our world or was that just a throwaway line? Will we find out why the stones are so powerful and what will happen to the forever-boy king?

Loved this story. Few authors take the risk of investing in the protagonist to dispose of them mid point of the tale. Really impressed. I’ve read a few of his books and they’re always a pleasure to read.

I found it difficult initially to engage with this book as I wanted to know about the characters from Darien and was disappointed to be reading about a city and characters which seemed to be unconnected with the events of the first book. But I stuck with it and I am glad that I did for it enlarges and develops the world of the Empire of Salt.
With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me have an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another fine book from the master story teller. Two worlds Collide in this epic war where magical stones hold the power and corruption of souls.

Another fantasy in another city-state in the Empire of Salt series

Shiang was another city, thousands of miles away from Darien (from the first book). It was ruled by a young king, named Yung-Choji. One day, a young swordsman, Taeshin, woke up very sick with the bandages on his arm looking very black with pus. Against the advice of his slave, Marias, he got up and went to work at the King’s Court. He collapsed in front of him and his colleagues and Lord Ran took him downstairs.

In the basement, the experiment with the magic stone to cure Taeshin and three other men from diseases and disabilities went wrong. Their spirits were swapped with “demons” from another dimension. The series of the unfortunate events affected the whole city at a terrible price.

Before those disastrous events at Shiang, Honda the legendary swordsman, Bosin the large beast-like swordsman and the young twin swordsmen left for Darien, to bring the King’s uncle, Tellius, back home. They arrived at Darien having experienced difficulties on their long journey. They heard that a very important royal relic from their home city was in possession of someone else apart from their king. That vile person was looking for more stones to increase his supernatural power.

This book is simpler than the Lord of the Rings trilogy and never ceases to amaze me!

Caesar XIII

Breakaway Reviewers received the copy of the book to review

In Shiang, the young king rules without dissent until the balance of centuries is undone in the sudden spill of blood - and something terrible returns…. The sword saint and his companions have crossed a continent to bring an old man home for punishment.
As the second book in the serious, whilst it starts in Darien (as in the first book), the characters, to begin with, are different, giving it a diverse but nonetheless excellent feel. Given the scope and what is contained in the book, it is still extremely engaging all the way through. It does take quite a while before the characters from the first book feature, and you begin to recall the first book more readily. Until that point I had found myself repeatedly trying to pull from my head what had previously transpired, evidently without success! There is great plotting and intrigue with strong characterisation throughout, so it hooks you right in. There is plenty of fighting and brutal battle scenes. Essentially 4 characters are brought back from the dead possessing a variety of magical powers. It is essentially a war of 2 opposing sides with very high levels of suspicion and the want to out manoeuvre the other. To this end there is almost too much within it to review without leaking spoilers. Suffice to say that Iggulden’s writing is being pitted as a must for Abercrombie, David Gummer and Game of Thrones fans. It offers an excellent, intelligent fantasy read with more to come.

This is the second instalment in the kingdom fantasy series, Empire of Salt.

Shiang is Darien's neighbouring city, despite lying thousands of miles across snow-swept landscape and bearing no connection bar one. This one is a figure who has grown from ruling a gang of thieving vagabonds to becoming consort to the lady of one of the twelve ruling houses. But it seems the barren landscape between the two cities is not enough to separate him from his past. Nor is it enough to save them all from the black sea that is rising and is determined that all will succumb to its black hold.

Initially I struggled to connect with this story and paused in my reading of it for almost three weeks. I wasn't expecting the perspective shift and the story-line did not seem to connect to the previous one. Without the characters I had grown to love, and was eager to return to, I felt some disconnect with the story. In itself it was great, but just different to what I was expecting.

Thankfully, I continued and at just over a third of the way through the two story-lines, from this book and the one prior, started to interconnect. From here the pace also accelerated until I was swept along on the tide of relentless action. I was completely unable to put the book down and scorned myself for allowing the book to linger on my shelves for so long, partially read.

This is the second in the 'Empire of Salt' series and like the first in the series, it's taken me by surprise because it's unlike the sort of book I would normally read but I found it just kept me enthralled!. The only character from the last book who also figures prominently in this one is Tellius, (who we learn a little more about ) who seems to have grown in stature and importance since the last book, The reader is also introduced to a new City, Shiang, and a new group of people, notably Hondo the master swordsman, and Taeshin/Gabriel. The book is fast paced, and intriguing and eminently readable - I hope Arthur returns in the next one though!

Really great read. It takes you on a really great journey of different emotions. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Gripping - I loved this, the second in the Empire of Salt series.
Shiang is set 2 years on from Darien, the first book. Darien is shoring up its defences following the last war but also in response to a foretold threat from the East and Shiang’s new young king is sending his best swordsmen to Darien to bring his elderly Uncle back to face trial for transgressions long since past. And so sets the scene.

Shiang sees a host of new characters, alongside some of the old favourites from Darien, in particular Tellius and Lady Sallet (Win). The plot is less convoluted than Darien but I didn’t feel that detracted at all, the battles were still immense and bloody affairs and the story telling first rate. I can’t wait for the next instalment.

Thank-you to Netgalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say that having enjoyed the first book so much, and having anticipated this second book with great excitement, I was a little disappointed! It started with great promise, but in my personal and very humble opinion, became repetitive, and...dare I say it...in parts, even boring! The ending saved my rating a little, because there is no doubt that it is very visual for anyone with imagination and has great cinematic appeal. On the whole however, 'Shiang,' for me, was disappointing.