When word reaches the Emperor of Shiang that the revered Mazer sword techniques are being taught in far off Darien, he realises that his traitorous uncle might be behind it. Gathering four of the greatest swordsmen, he tasks them with bringing the renegade back for punishment. Elsewhere in the city, a lesser but still brilliant swordsman is slowly dying of a plague. When his care is handed over to the viperous Lord Ran, neither party can predict the outcome of the ‘healing’ experiments…

And over the other side of the mountains, Darien prepares for a war foreseen in a vision granted by one of the city’s twelve magical stones, each held by one of the ruling families. The two cities seem destined to clash, but who will win the day?

I thoroughly enjoyed the first in this series, Darien, the first venture into fantasy by historical writer Conn Iggulden, so I was thrilled to see the sequel available on NetGalley. Like its predecessor, the book is named after a city in this strange, magical world. I was momentarily a little discombobulated (heh) to start off in a new location, but the two soon draw together, and it’s interesting to see a contrasting view to Darien. Also intriguing is mention of Rome… is this our world, in some strange way?

We don’t get an answer to that here, or quite frankly enough about events from the first book, but I’m hopeful for more in the series. What we do get is high fantasy tinged with dark magics, an East-meets-West clash of cultures, and an epic adventure done in one volume rather than the ‘usual’ sixteen… 😉

There’s still an awful lot to find out about this world. Where do the stones come from, what is their power really, and what else is out beyond the walls of Darien? More, please!

My thanks to Michael Joseph and Netgalley for the copy of this ebook in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
A couple of points to note:
1) I do not do spoilers or dwell on the plot and story. If you want these I suggest you read the publisher's blurb and other reviews - my interest is in the author and her/his craft.
2) I am an avid fan of the Fantasy Sage series including of course RR Tolkien, G RR Martin (more anon) and too many numerous authors of my long gone youth.

I was fortunate to read Darien as a review copy and was immediately smitten. I was bored with waiting for the finale of GoT and irritated by GRR Martin's attitude to his readers - so, Empire of Salt came at a good time and it hasn't disappointed. This second volume lives up to the first and the author, being very experienced and superbly gifted has spread the saga introducing new characters and carrying some of the earlier protagonists.
I do suggest if you haven't already read Darien do so before Shiang iit will add to your enjoyment. I now of course have to wait for the new episode - the cross we readers' bear :-)

Second in the Empire of Salt series. Dead warriors are returned to life by the power of a stone and usurp the throne of the city of Shiang. They realise that the power they have received is limited and expendable so travel to Darien to find more stones to augment their power. It is an epic journey to get there and then a massive fight against the forces of Darien.
It's a barely credible fantasy but quite entertaining and readable.

Having read Darien, Iggulden’s first foray into fantasy, last year, I’ve been looking forward to getting my hands on its sequel, Shiang.

Ordinarily, I would try to incorporate a spoiler-free summary of the book here but I’m find it really difficult for this book.

Shiang is set two years after the happenings in Darien. However, while this is the second book in the Empire of Salt series, it’s not until about quarter of the way through that we see some of the characters from Darien. In fact, there are some characters that we do not see at all in this second book. To be honest, this kind of threw me off a bit as it wasn’t what I was expecting. However I did enjoy getting to know the city and culture of Shiang.

We do return to the city of Darien in this book, but in all honesty this could almost be a stand-alone novel rather than a ‘sequel’.

Strangely, I wasn’t a fan of Iggulden’s characterisations in this book. Where in the past I’ve enjoyed this element of his writing, for some reason I didn’t feel connected to the characters – even those recurring from Darien.

I think, for me, this book was rather predictable in parts. I enjoyed the action, the world itself and some of the intricacies, but I found that once we got going with the plot, the overall story was quite easy to predict.

I did enjoy Shiang, and I do like this world in which Empire of Salt is set, but this is far from my favourite of Iggulden’s work. Perhaps I went into it with my expectations set too high because of his other work that I’m familiar with, but I just didn’t connect with Shiang in the way I had hoped.

I’m intrigued as to how book three will go and if it will be a more direct ‘sequel’. I guess we could find ourselves in another city in this ‘Empire of Salt’. Personally, I just hope that in the next book I feel more connection with the characters.

Once again, a fantasy novel that truly satisfies.

I have read all of Iggulden's history novels and was only drawn to this series because of his name - I am not usually a fantasy fan. His excellent storytelling weaves its usual magic though, making for a very satisfying experience.

Mixing familiar history with fantasy, Iggulden gives us heroes and villains of the best and worst kind, yet in each one we find a shimmer of light to which we can attribute some emotion we recognise. Quite unexpectedly, it's possible to almost sympathise with the most violent and, from a distance, sociopathic, villains. Even our heroes are flawed, which is refreshing.

A great read, but start with book one!

I would first like to say how much I enjoyed Darien. Sadly I cannot say the same about Shiang. Although well written it was too graphic for me and I did not enjoy it and I am afraid I did not finish it.

My apologies.

Second part of fantasy series with loads of bloodshed - interesting

Following on from “Darien”, this novel deals with 4 characters brought back from the dead and possessing a variety of magical powers. Other strong characters are introduced and the story moves along at a steady pace. There is a lot of confrontations, killing, fighting etc.. with a high body count. Because of that, I preferred the first volume which was more fun (from what I remember – it was a while ago!) and I miss the main characters from “Darien”. I look forward to seeing where the series goes next. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

And Conn Iggulden, king of the historical novel, has done it again with his second foray into the fantasy genre under the name C. F. Iggulden.

Following on from the excellent first book Darien, Shiang carries on the story in the wonderful world, the Empire Of Salt. This time we begin away from the Darien in the faraway and distant city of Shiang, a more Asian inspired place and a complete contrast from Darien, although eventually we find do find ourselves back within the walls of Darien itself. There are a lot of new characters introduced from Shiang but yet we do get to meet more than a few of standout characters from before and in particular we get to learn an awful lot about Tellius, the Mazer master, this time around.

It's a different feeling book to the last one but shares it's brilliance nonetheless and is a truly dramatic, bloodthirtsy and yet totally convincing installment in Iggulden's new world.

I was very excited to get my hands on this book after thoroughly enjoying Darien.

The book is once again a very enjoyable read; however it didn’t seem to match up to the magnitude of the first book. I suppose with the first book everything was new and exciting, with multiple threads interloping with one another, whereas this book seemed a little more one dimensional to me.

All in all it was a great edition to the series.

Shiang is an interesting sequel to Darien that leaves me eager to see where Iggulden takes this world in the next book.

We start, as we did in Darien, with a number of disparate characters who eventually come together. They are fewer in number this time, with the soldiers Taeshin and Gabriel, sword-saint Hondo, the slave Marias, and old Tellius returning from the first book. Much of the book follows Taeshin, Hondo, and Tellius with minimal support from others, which was a shame as I loved the wider cast of characters in Darien. Still, it was good to see Tellius in a new role, and there was a lot happening with the others so I was certainly never bored!

The plot sort of carries on from the ending of Darien, only two years later. Darien is changing as a result of the violence of the first book, a welcome change for Tellius, but you can see the nerves of the nobles as they gear up against an unspecified threat from the east. That threat is from Shiang, and it's fairly terrifying to witness the rise to power of an adversary who has nothing to lose.

The plot follows a similar structure to the first book, once again culminating in an all-out battle in Darien, though of very different proportions. Once again, Iggulden has managed to write an enormous battle in an engaging way, giving viewpoints from multiple angles to allow the reader to know exactly what's happening. It's an approach I really enjoy, which is saying a lot because I generally get bored reading battles.

Once again, Darien's magical artifacts are wheeled out in this battle, to spectacular effect. We see the ones missing from the first book in this, and I wasn't disappointed. It's these artifacts and the accompanying stones that are the real story in the Empire of Salt books. What the heck are they??? Where did they come from? Why are they so powerful? This book gives us more information but still leaves so many questions I really want to know the answer to!

The only shortcoming with this book is that is isn't quite as clever as its predecessor (which was rather clever, so it's not that big a deal). The plot was far more linear and fairly unsurprising, though still satisfying.

If <i>Darien</i> is filled with cunning characters, <i>Shiang</i> is filled with determined characters and that's fine by me. I suspect the next book will bring them both together and hopefully bring us some answers on what magics lie behind these two cities and ultimately what dangers they present. I'm looking forward to it!

Thanks to the good folks at NetGalley and Penguin UK for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

My thoughts on book 2 of Conn Iggulden's first foray into fantasy mirror what I thought of book 1.

Shiang is a very easy, readable book. The plot moves along at a very fast pace, with quick dialogue and a fast prose. There is no wasted space in this book. However, because of this I still feel strangely detached from the series and this new fantasy world. There is no world building whatsoever. We’re given tantalising snippets about an interesting magic system, and what looks to be a future version of our own world. I wonder if we wont fully understand the scope of this world until book 3.

Because of this lack of depth, I just feel like there isn’t much of a plot here. Don’t get me wrong, as a book, it’s a very good read. However now its finished, I find I care very little for it, and I cant say im jumping at the bit to read the final book of the trilogy.

However I know I’ll pick it up because its Iggulden and I enjoy his writing. A strange situation to be in, I know.

So this is the second in this series of books by Conn Iggulden. Shiang and Darien are ancient cities separated by many miles of rough, mountainous landscapes. So why anyone would want to make the journey across the mountains, especially in winter, must be for something important.

There are two groups making this journey, Hondo and his group are journeying to bring back a traitor, a man who disgraced the royal family in Darien, he now resides in Shiang. The other group is led by Gabriel and they are a more fearsome band, they are drawn to Shiang seeking power.

This is very much an action and well paced story, there are descriptions and histories that are filled in as the story unfolds. The journeys made by the two groups are interesting and the reasons for the trek was one that intrigued me. 

This book gave me a chance to learn more about the ruling families and also how they rule. Also the way they use the power they share and how it can be used. 

Even though I did enjoy this story I found I was a bit at a loss to find the links I would have expected between the first and second book. It did confuse me as I didn't seem to have any memory of any of the key characters, once I kind of shrugged that off and decided to read it in the mindset of being more of a stand alone novel then I could enjoy the story. It was quite a long way in before I came across a character I could remember, he only makes a fleeting appearance. 

So this book leaves me in a bit of a quandary, as part of a series I kind of expect characters to come back to me in the few chapters at least, but this wasn't the case, this essentially left it as a book that had more of a stand alone feel. 

I did enjoy the story and found it descriptive, it is full of action, a fair bit of blood, death and destruction, it also has magic, swordsmanship, warriors and honour. It is a book that I would recommend and I am looking forward to the next in the series.

Having read the first book in this series, I was looking forward to this one. It didn’t disappoint although the bloodshed and gore is a little hard to stomach at times.
I’m assuming that there will be more books and hope it won’t be too long before number 3 arrives.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy.

I already rated Conn Iggulden extremely highly for his historical novels, but who would have thought he would display equal, if not greater, mastery of the fantasy genre? Strong characters and plotting, combined with world-building skills on a par with Brandon Sanderson's - what's not to like? I've read the first two volumes in this series, and can't wait to read the third! VERY highly recommended!

An excellent follow-up to Darien, Shiang begins in the named city; a city of precision, control and discipline. A young king calls for a traitor's return, sending out four of his best. Meanwhile, four very different beings are brought forth and are the greatest threat of all.

I enjoy Tellius and Win Sallett's relationship and it was enjoyable to revisit them. The other, new, characters added very little, but it was a good means of exploring more of the Twelve Families, and of Shiang itself. A lot of death and destruction, but still a solid fantasy novel.

This was a fascinating story, showing great imagination. Sword masters, magic stones, warriors brought back from the dead and two cities a thousand miles apart which are the home bases of the protagonists.. What a great read.

Shiang - This city is a place of quiet and slow dignity, like a man eating rice with a razor pressed against his throat...
Wow, what a follow up to Darien. A fast paced, high action fantasy from start to finish. I loved this. Can't wait for book 3.

Shiang is an interesting book, I can't deny it. Having failed to find anything that has truly captured my attention for many months now, Shiang has only taken me a week to finish. That is both good and bad, for at points I can't deny I was reading it because I was a bit perplexed by the whole thing.
In a way I'm not a huge fan off, Shiang is a sequel, but one that doesn't mention any of the characters from Book 1 until about 25% through. This confused me - and I had to go back and re-read the blurb a few times trying to work out what was going on, and why I didn't recognise anything from Book 1 . Perhaps I should have read the blurb first, but when a book's a sequel I don't expect it to be too wildly different to Book 1.
That said, the events of the first 25% of the book were interesting enough to just about hold my attention - the character of Taeshin is engaging although I think the purpose is more to understand the city of Shiang itself, and its culture, than Taeshin.
At this point, quite fortuitously, we are taken back to Darien and it's this part of the story that works best for me, even if we only meet a few characters from Book 1. However, it's not quite as simple as the next 25% of the book taking place in Darien, as the narrative does tend to swing quite erratically from Darien to Shiang, and because I was reading an ebook, the change wasn't always that clear.
The storyline is quite predictable, and I think my overwhelming feeling about it is that a lot seems to happen in a very short book, but at the same time, not very much happens, and much of it is telegraphed from quite some distance away. The idea behind it was intriguing - the clash of two great cities -but there are too many distractions along the way. I'm not sure the book needed all the many characters it had, and I think too much time was wasted describing the long journey - quite a few little incidentals that I don't think added to the story - and yet some of the character development was great and subtle!
Overall I would say an intriguing read but one that doesn't feel quite finished enough. I await Book 3 with interest and promise to read the blurb before I start it!

Continuing his Empire of Salt Trilogy, Igguldon gives an unusual starting point in book two which continues the story from book one but also reads more like an episode in the chronicles of that world. You read Igguldon primarily for his excellent characterisation (or I do at least) so initially it seemed odd to get introduced to a whole new cast for this book while the MCs of the last book moved back a couple of tiers. That said, the characters in this book were just as engaging and the story soon swept me along. While it’s part of a series you could easily read it as a standalone if you missed Darien, the first book. The ending was satisfying and wrapped up this episode in the series well – though if you’ve come to this book because you are a fan of the author’s historical fiction, the obvious fantasy elements might be a bit jarring for you

C. F. Iggulden continues the story he began in Darien, although as a trilogy, the book does not pick up where one might expect. In fact, many of the characters featured in book one are missing while others take a back seat to a new cast. Like the first book, “Shiang” can be read as a standalone.

Truthfully, this is a difficult book to review. There is so much going on that it would take pages to give even a brief overview, and Mr. Iggulden takes us on a journey that involves many characters (although not so many that the reader becomes lost in a sea of names). Tellius returns from book one, although in a much different role. Vic Deeds appears in a cameo role, and some of the heads of the Darien houses also play a part.

The stories in this book, however, follow a different path. Gabriel and his men, soldiers-turned-mages, head from Shiang to Darien, bent on subjecting the world to their wills. A second group also takes the same road, though revenge is the force behind their orders. Other characters have their roles to play, leading everyone to Darien for a fateful climax.

I enjoyed all the new characters, and the plot was inventive and thus fun to read. For me, the ending seemed obvious and perhaps took too many steps into the realm of the fantastic. Even so, I could forgive this as the characters made the book entertaining, and the final battle scene was extremely well-written and exciting. Four stars.