Mira que me gustó The Gutter Prayer, pero creo que con The Shadow Saint Hanrahan se ha superado a sí mismo.

La historia continúa unos meses después de cuando acabó la anterior, pero el foco cambia de personajes. Seguiremos viendo a Cari, Spar y a Rat, o aquello en lo que se han convertido, pero pasan a ser secundarios mientras que Eladora y otros dos nuevos personajes cobran un protagonismo importante.
Lo primero que llama la atención es el maravilloso tratamiento de un espía que es capaz de compartimentar los papeles que desempeña algo que podría parecer un trastorno de personalidad múltiple, como en Legión. Pero es mucho más que eso. Es la capacidad de representar un papel u otro a voluntad, como ese momento en que Christopher Reeve cambia de Clark Kent a Superman. Algo imprescindible para ser espía y me apasiona como Hanrahan lo ha plasmado. Y esto es solo un ejemplo de la complejidad de los personajes que vemos a lo largo de The Shadow Saint.
También es digno de encomio el trabajo de creación del mundo del autor. En la primera entrega conocíamos a fondo Guerdon y aunque en esta segunda novela la mayoría de la acción también se desarrolla en el mismo escenario, con una pocas descripciones y pinceladas nos hace ver un mundo mucho más vasto del que conocíamos. Podemos ver cómo en el imperio Haith la muerte no es una barrera, ya que la mayoría de sus habitantes volverán a levantarse tras morir para seguir sirviendo a una Corona que posee todas las almas de los ancestros que ocuparon antes el trono. ¿Os imagináis el conocimiento que puede haber acumulado en todas esas vidas? O tal vez sea una fuente de problemas, toda vez que la sangre nueva no acaba de llegar a unas estructuras anquilosadas desde hace siglos. Y esta es solo una de las fuerzas en liza en la guerra de los Dioses. No sé si es debido a su pasado (y presente) como escritor de módulos de rol, pero se nota que el escenario en el que suceden los acontecimientos es complejo y se sostiene por sí mismo, no es solo un andamiaje para ocultar lo que hay entre bambalinas.
Es un libro bastante largo y complejo y es cierto que en algunos momentos el ritmo se pierde, sobre todo cuando hay que dar paso a las intrigas políticas que sustentarán los pactos en los que se basa el gobierno de la ciudad de Guerdon.
Me gusta también la interpretación de los dioses como constructos de creencia sin inteligencia de por sí, empeñados en seguir actuando de la misma forma que durante siglos sin tener en cuenta que los caminos de sus seguidores pueden haber variado. Cada dios recibe su poder de sus seguidores, así que son los que más fervorosos sean los que pueden inclinar la balanza. Este poder está muy bien representado en la constante creación de santos que obran milagros, pero también está representado el pago que hay que realizar cuando vemos la evolución de la madre de Eleadora o el estado en que se encuentran los tocados por los dioses que acuden al centro de rehabilitación. Y claro, la evolución y sofisticación de la tecnología también impacta contra este arcaico modelo.
Un libro brillante, del que además se ha sabido hace poco que se publicará en español.
Me gustaría agradecer a Gareth Hanrahan el útil resumen de The Gutter Prayer que colgó en su web, que ha facilitado mucho la lectura de este segundo volumen, porque había detalles y personajes que había olvidado pero que así son más fáciles de seguir.

So. The Shadow Saint. It’s good. Like, really, really good. It’s the sequel to Gareth Hanrahan’s The Gutter Prayer, which I also thought was, er, really, really good. Before digging into it a little more, I may be able to save you some time by saying that if you read and enjoyed The Gutter Prayer, you’ll be wanting to pick up the sequel. You won’t be disappointed.
There’s a lot going on this time, as the text examines big issues – religion, politics, identity – through a personal and fantastic lens. It does this with some top-notch characterisation, and by extending the vividly detailed worldbuilding of the previous instalment.

There are three central characters to the story: Eladora, Terevant, and The Spy. Eladora was a member of the supporting cast in the previous book, and it’s great to see her get room to grow here. She’s clever, razor-sharp, a little ambitious, and trying to do the right thing. A the story begins, she’s finding a vocation as a political operative, trying to shape the direction of the city of Guerdon, recently reshaped by magical fiat. There’s a fair amount of politics in this story, centred around an upcoming election. Eladora is the pivot, a woman trying to speak to and for the dispossessed, the disenfranchised, and those otherwise unable to have a voice of their own. Eladora is fierce. Flawed, yes. Mistaken, from time to time. But driven to succeed, and putting the best interests of people and city before her own personal needs. I might not describe her as a woman of action, but a compelling, convincing heroine nonetheless.

While Eladora is out causing trouble in the city, we also spend some time with Terevant. He’s the scion of a noble family, from a country where the dead have a tendency to hang around after their demise and offer advice and post-generational disappointment in equal measure. More of the latter for Terevant, if I’m honest. The juniour scion of a great family, and survivor of a supernatural war, he’s not really up to much when the story begins. That said, he is both a pitch-perfect portrayal of a younger son, and a great point of view into both Guerdon (as an outsider) and into a contracting empire where the dead-but-walking-around outnumber the living. I won’t dig into his role too much, or fear of spoilers – but Terevant is keenly observed and compellingly written. I’d say his narrative strand is melancholy, investigative and intriguing – as he starts digging around in the dark corners of Guerdon society, neither he or we know what he’ll find. Though it might be explosive once dug up.

And then there’s The Spy. Too much spoiler potential here. But The Spy puts on faces like the rest of us wear shoes. They switch personalities, they drift in and out of view. They’re never quite who you expect. And each time The Spy is someone knew, their writing changes; they become, to us as well as themselves, the person they portray. I found the multiple perspectives with an underlying agenda to be a frightfully clever piece of writing, and was gripped by the dilemma’s and struggles of The Spy’s various personae, even while trying to work out what it was they were up to.

All three are strutting their stuff against the backdrop of Guerdon, the city rebuilt at the close of The Gutter Prayer. This is a new world. But it’s as multi-faceted and lovingly described as it was before. Each twisted alleyway. Each marble tower populated by squatters. Each ship of refugees crossing the thrashing waters to enter a neutral port in a world wracked by conflict. They all feel real. This is a world which lives and breathes, and invites you to inhabit it. Of course, there is a war on. And that is as lovingly, horrifyingly, lavishly described as the city which serves as a shelter from it. This is a war of mad gods, an epic struggle that seems likely to end only in annihilation, where worshippers are less than chaff between the toes of the gods, and the gods are less divine than they are broken, screaming monstrosities. The war will stop your heart, and Guerdon, an oasis of sanity in a world obviously insane, will take you into its own.

The story I won’t get into, for fear of spoilers. That said, it’s good stuff. There are crosses, double crosses, betrayals and unmaskings aplenty. There’s some truly epic magic, if that’s your thing – warring divinities don’t tend to play nice, and definitely get messy. In amongst this chaos there are beautiful moments of personal tenderness, hardship, heartbreak, friendship, and hope. There are people. There are emotional stakes which will wrench at your heart, and Big Damn Explosions which will threaten to displace that same heart into another country via your ribcage. There’s wry humour and a dash of romance. What there is most though, is a sense that all of these things matter, to the world and to the people we see within it. This is a story which will get its hooks into you. This is a story which won’t let go. This is a story you’ll find yourself staying up until 4am to finish. This is a story you’ll want to read.

So why wait? Go on, get reading.

Another brilliant new fantasy. The imagination that goes into these books is breath taking. I can’t wait to read another.

https://lynns-books.com/2020/01/13/the-shadow-saint-the-black-iron-legacy-2-by-gareth-ryder-hanrahan/
4 of 5 stars
The Shadow Saint is a solid instalment in the Black Iron Legacy series. No suffering from the dreaded ‘middle book syndrome’ to be found amongst these pages, and although this was a read that took a little time to fully grab my attention it really is another very impressive book.

Firstly, I would point out that as this is a review for the second book in a series you might want to be aware that potential spoilers may be lurking, I do try to avoid these but sometimes they’re determined to break out regardless of my intentions. Also, without doubt, if you’re planning on picking up Shadow Saint you need to have read Gutter Prayer first. This book is quite different in a couple of ways from the first book. The main characters are mostly new although some of the previous cast do make appearances, and although there was plenty of world building in the first book, given the ending, it feels like we’re learning about the place all over again. Conversely, given those two elements, you would think you’d be able to pick this one up as a standalone but I would strongly advise against doing so.

What both books have in common is a need to read at a pace that allows thought and reflection. There is no blasting through these pages just as there wasn’t with the first book. This is, dare I say, a convoluted read. Guerdon is in the throes of political upheaval and there is much posturing and party political hobnobbing not to mention the potential threat of war increases the tension dramatically. In fairness I wasn’t really a fan of all the campaigning and matters of state and this aspect of the story, coupled with the new characters slowed me down quite a bit at first until I became more involved in the story and started to understand what was really happening.

Similar to my review of Gutter Prayer, I’m not going to elaborate on the plot. There will be plenty of other descriptions out there not to mention the cover blurb and given the covert nature of a lot of the story I’d sooner not go there.

In terms of the characters this time we have two new faces, a spy with many identifies and a Haith noble who seems to be somewhat disgraced in the eyes of his family. We also follow Eladora who appeared in the first book and is Cari’s cousin. All of them are easy to read about and feel fully fleshed out but I admit it took me a while to really get on board with them and that’s probably my own fault. I think I naturally assumed, or wanted, more of the old faces from The Gutter Prayer and so these changes at first made me feel a little resentful and I had to get over that before I could really start to care about the fates of any of them. Cari was my favourite and that’s probably because I enjoyed where her story led to in more ways than the other two.

Once again the writing is just excellent and the imagination is, frankly, superb. I really enjoyed the elements of the story surrounding Cari and the creative ways that she managed to elude capture and traverse the city. It’s really difficult to say anything more about that aspect because it would involve spoilers but I really loved it whenever she made an appearance.

In terms of criticisms. Well, as already mentioned, this certainly isn’t a fast paced read. There are political machinations and lots of double dealing and back stabbing and, as with any story with more twists and turns than a busted corkscrew, it can sometimes feel like walking up a sand dune or trying to run in water but, at the same time, I have to say, stick with it. I think my own impatience got the better of me at times but that’s an ‘it’s me not you’ thing really. Sometimes you just need to slow down and enjoy the book, stop worrying about deadlines and the like and let yourself become fully immersed. It may have taken me a while but I eventually got there.

In conclusion, I probably didn’t love Shadow Saint as much as Gutter Prayer but it was still, without doubt, a very good read with some fantastic elements that I absolutely loved. I wasn’t as keen on the politics of the piece but the dark undertones, the tension and the world building were really good.

I received a copy through Netgalley courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.

This is the second book in Gareth Hanrahan’s Black Iron Legacy. I read The Gutter Prayer, his first book, in January last year, and it is easily one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. I obviously went into The Shadow Saint with high expectations and also a little trepidation. The curse of the second book, would it be as good? Would I love it just as much?

I don’t do spoilers but I will be referring to events that happened in The Gutter Prayer. Read no further if you haven’t read that yet – and if you haven’t you are missing a treat!

The Story

We start this story right in the heart of the Godswar, introduced to God’s we haven’t yet encountered. It’s a full-on start, no easing into this story. We meet Sanhada Baradhin a spy being sent to Gurdeon, along with Emlin, a saint for Fate Spider, to find out what happened to the God Bombs after The Crisis.
We’re entering Gurdeon 10 months after The Crisis. The new city that sprang up after Spa sacrificed himself is a place of safety for many escaping the Godwars. It is also over run with people taking full advantage of the chaos. As with his first book Gareth’s vivid descriptions really bring the place to life. The scents, sounds, dangers all come to life on the page.

The political game playing in this book is masterful. Everyone is after something, has an angle to play or is just out for their own ends. The theme running through the book is the impending election that has been called. It is time to reform Parliament. Everyone wants to win the New City, but something stalks it, something they are calling the Saint of Knives.

There are so many story threads running through this book that I cannot possibly go into them all. What I can say is they weave together beautifully and you will be enthralled by them all.

I did find this book quite difficult to get into. Unlike with The Gutter Prayer I didn’t gel instantly with the new characters. They were hard to get to know, I struggled with the different lines of the story and I was a little lost with where we were in the timeline. However, at around 30% (I read this on my kindle) everything started to click into place. Old characters made a reappearance and it all started making sense.

I would strongly urge you to keep going if you find the beginning a little bumpy. It will come together. I took over a week to read it and I felt I needed that time to fully digest everything that was going on.

Final Thoughts

Gareth has grown the world in this book and you see far more than just the city. There is a big focus on Haith and their society. They fascinated me and I loved reading about how it all worked and the land in which they live. Oh and there may be dragons! Yet again the world building is some of the best I have ever read.
This is an outstanding follow up, yes it took me a while to settle in, but once I did I was in it, hook, line and sinker. The World building is exquisite and Gareth’s imagination is out of this world. He writes in such a way that you can feel the tension, it pulls you through the pages and actually made my heart pound. I cannot wait to see what he does next.

My thanks to the publishers for a copy, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

„The dead of Haith might stand vigilant in their endless ranks until the end of time, but the living folk of Guerdon don’t have time to wait. There’s always another deal to be made.”

“The Shadow Saint” is the continuation of “The Black Gods Legacy” series. I really enjoyed the first book, so I was very excited to dig into the sequel. Thank you NetGalley and Orbit for the review copy!
The action is picking up a few months after perilous events of “the Gutter Prayer”, called now the Crisis. There is a new city that grows out of nowhere, and no one seems to know what to do with it or how to treat it. Eladora Duttin is working as an aide to Efro Kelkin, and her main task is surveying this unexpected new construct. But while Guerdon is trying to bring back peace and order to its streets, the other factions are plotting how to topple its neutrality in the never-ending God’s War. Because deep beneath the city, there are hidden alchemist secrets, which can change the conflict forever.
I think it is the author style, that the book is starting with an intriguing prologue, then a slow start to get the snowballing effect getting more action and tension towards the end. I must admit I was sort of forcing my way through the first hundred pages. There is only Eladora kept as the main character from the last book, while the two other main protagonists, Ishmere spy and Haith nobleman are new. You will need a bit of time to get used to the original setting and finding out how the newcomers are connected to the main plot. The Gutter Prayer was one of these books I can recall easily, because of its original world and unusual ideas. That’s why I trusted the author will deliver this time too. And I was right.
There is a lot of politics in this book. And I mean, A LOT. Kelkin is trying to seize power over Guerdon, but the opposing party and church of Kept Gods are not making it easy for him. And while the city is struggling with its own crisis, the Gods’ War is coming. I wanted to see more about the conflict, and in this book, we have just that. We have a little bit of insight into Ishmere side, where the mad Gods are trying to conquer the rest of the world. I love how the author created the concept of saints. It’s not just power and might for them. Their mortal bodies are not made for divinity, and so the more God’s interventions they got, the more miracles they perform, the more broken and insane they become. And the Gods don’t care, they use mortals, and when they’re no longer useful, they discard them and choose another one.
We do get a glimpse of characters from “The Gutter Prayer”, Cari, Rat and Spar, but they are on the sidelines this time. Eladora made an enormous leap from the last book. She no longer is a terrified student, but one of the most influential players in Guerdon political scene. And she’s getting more and more confident. We also meet Terevant, the second son of Erevesic house, who has always lived in a shadow of his perfect brother. He also gets quite of a journey throughout a book, from being willingly manipulated by everyone to taking responsibility for his own actions and standing up to what he believes. There is also a very intriguing character of Ishmere’s spy. He is literally living his covers, becoming someone else every time he needs it. And even though he is hired by most dangerous faction, he still fulfilling his own, dark agenda.
Overall, I wasn’t sure how many stars should I give this book. I did struggle a bit at the beginning, and I’m pretty sure some people will find it hard to read. But the world-building itself is what I love, and the author is doing that brilliantly. That’s why I’m giving it 4 stars with a clear conscience. The ideas of mad Gods, their keepers, soul-eating ghouls and god’s bombs still amaze me, and I want to read more of it!

The Shadow Saint is the second book in The Black Iron Legacy trilogy, but I would recommend reading The Gutter Prayer prior to this as it doesn't stand well on its own and the events will make so much more sense having completed the series opener. I must say that I found this even more engrossing than TGP which I certainly wasn't expecting and much of the confusion over the Godswar was clarified leaving you with a much deeper understanding of where the story is heading. The fact that Hanrahan has brought in new and interesting characters is a stroke of genius and ensures that the plot evolves and moves in several fascinating and previously unexplored directions; whether you end up enjoying this second instalment will depend largely on whether you connect to the new cast of characters or not.

Although this particular Hanrahan series is all but done and dusted I eagerly await his next majestic story and richly-imagined world. And you can always wholeheartedly trust and rely on him to produce an original, complex plot, descriptive prose, powerful characters and breathtaking worldbuilding. If you enjoy novels with a potent mixture of all of those stunning aspects this will appeal to you. It very much had me partaking in the literary equivalent of angel v devil on the shoulder, with one telling me to keep devouring it and another telling me to savour it more, just like the during previous instalments except the closer we get to the climax of the series the more intensely and rapidly the consuming was that I did. Definitely a testament to Hanrahan's story weaving. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Orbit for an ARC.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review is spoiler-free, but may contain spoilers for The Gutter Prayer.

The Gutter Prayer tied for my #1 book of 2019, alongside The Bone Ships, and I was eagerly awaiting the release of The Shadow Saint. I was worried that the second book wouldn’t live up to Hanrahan’s incredible debut, however I should have had more faith! The Shadow Saint is a very different, but equally brilliant book.

The Shadow Saint takes place a few months after the events of The Gutter Prayer, and the city is still reeling from the Gutter Miracle. The Shadow Saint doesn't feel like a traditional sequel for a number of reason -- it is a little more dense than the first book and we follow new themes and story lines. Most prominently, however, we do not follow the three point of view characters -- Cari, Rat, and Spar -- from the first book. Instead, the story is told mainly from the perspective of a spy with many names and identities, a washed-up younger son of the Haith nobility, and former historian Eladora Duttin -- a side character from the first book and one of my favourite fantasy characters ever. At first, their stories seem disconnected from the plot of the first book and I was wondering if I had mistaken a companion novel for a sequel, however the points of view eventually begin to intertwine and each character's motivations become more and more clear. In this way, The Shadow Saint is a direct sequel that manages to feel like it has grown well beyond the first book.

While The Gutter Prayer gave the reader an intensive look into the city of Guerdon as a setting, The Shadow Saint spreads beyond Guerdon’s walls. We get to see and learn much more of the wider world, especially in the context of the ongoing God’s War. The book still primarily takes place in Guerdon, however The Spy has connections to foreign saints and Terevant's begins the story in Haith and his culture and traditions play an important role in his actions and thought processes. Eladora, while a resident of Guerdon, also adds a layer of rich context to the story with her connection to the Gods and the Keepers. Each of these characters is so wildly different and intriguing that I had no issue shifting between their points of view. Once their storylines begin to merge, The Shadow Saint kicks into high gear and is a masterpiece. The way that Hanrahan builds upon the world in the first book is wonderful and so characteristically unique.

I went into this book knowing very little and it was an absolute pleasure to unpick the layers of Hanrahan’s story. Beautifully written and expertly plotted, The Shadow Saint is a magnificent sequel and an absolute joy to read. If you liked the first book, you'll love the sequel.

The Gutter Prayer had been constantly lauded as one of the best debuts of 2019. Hanrahan's imaginative and extraordinary dark fantasy worldbuilding, as well as his unique voice, continued to impress in its sequel, The Shadow Saint.

The city of Guerdon itself remained the highlight of the story to me. Again, Hanharan imbued his writing with such an vivid and evocative imagery of Guerdon that it felt like a living, breathing thing. If you've read The Gutter Prayer, you would've known that Guerdon has undergone a marvellous transformation arising from the climactic ending of that book. New City has arisen on top of the old - beautiful, white and pearly marble towers, spires and bridges covered half of the slums of the Wash. And New City continues to shift and change as necessity arises.

I believe it is also important to highlight that although The Shadow Saint followed fairly closely after the events in the previous book, the main characters are not the same. Two of the three are completely new to the readers, being characters from different parts of the world. One is an unnamed spy who has an agenda which remained opaque for a large part of the story. The other, Terevant, is the second-in-line heir to the House Erevesic of the Haith who worshipped a death-god; death is not wholly permanent for these people. One the previous supporting cast, Eladora, who is the cousin to Carillion, is now a main POV character. The key cast of Cari, Spar and Rat from the previous book did not appear until about one third into the book. Similar to The Gutter Prayer, it took me quite a while to feel invested in the new characters. Fortunately, the narrative involving the spy and Terevant kept me intrigued as it gave me new information about the gods; the power of the Houses of Haith is so fascinating.

The key plot of this book is about the impending Godswar that is due to arrive on the shores of Guerdon, who is now also on the brink of a political upheaval. I was torn between these two dominant storylines. I loved all the worldbuilding around the gods and saints. Very much less so with the political intrigue. However, testament to Hanrahan's writing and plotting skill, the story kept transforming as it progresses - getting better and better - as both major plotlines coalesce seamlessly when the paths of our three main characters finally collide. It was about slightly halfway into the book where it became really engaging and interesting for me. The climactic finale was exhilarating and explosive to say the least.

The Shadow Saint is an intriguing and fantastic continuation of The Black Iron Legacy trilogy. As all sequels should do, it built upon the world, escalated the tension and increased the stakes. It's purely my lack of interest in any politics-heavy narrative that made me enjoy this instalment less than its predecessor.

DNF @10%

★ I am going to be honest here, It is my fault that I requested an ARC of this, I take full responsibility for that. The truth is that almost all my friends loved book 1 and I requested this while barely reading a few pages of book 1. I wanted the motivation to read the book and having book 2 always help me to do that.

★ But the truth is that I found that book 1 is good but the writing style is not for me, I think it is a bit dense (subjectively speaking) and this is really an unpopular opinion. I have to concentrate very much to understand what I am reading and when I do that I enjoy it but I can't do that for more than a few paragraphs. I think that defeats the purpose because it makes it more like a chore than fun for me.

★ The book started with an awesome prologue and I decided that I will give it a chance, but soon it was my experience with book 1 all over again. I decided that I am not going to continue this series for now and I wish nothing but the best for the author as he seems like a very nice person.

★ I am not going to give this a rating because I don't want to negatively rate a book for a mistake that I made!!! I think you should take this review with a grain of salt and focus on the positive reviews because there are way more of those! If you read this or book 1, I really hope you like them and happy reading :D

I really loved the Gutter Prayer, book 1 in this series, and was so looking forward to this one. Sadly though, it fell far short of my expectations, and i really struggled to plough through this one.

I think what threw me most was the new main cast of characters, i loved the main trio in the previous book, yet couldnt quite get along with the new major players.

The darkness and opression of the first book, which really captivated me, just wasnt there this time around.

Its still a well written book, with a story that moves along at a decent enough pace, but just not as good as book 1.

Lets hope book 3 picks back up again, because im not sure i could then do book 4.

I definitely recommend reading The Gutter Prayer before you embark on reading this book, there's a little bit of explanation as to what is happening but you are certainly thrown in the fire (as it were). I definitely think you'll have a better reading experience if you have a working knowledge of the events of book one. 

That being said, this book - while it takes place just after the end of book one - does not have the feel of a direct sequel. Where The Gutter Prayer followed the story of Cari, Rat and Spar, this book focusses on three different characters. One of these characters will be familiar to readers of book one, Eladora is now working for one of the candidates for government and much of the book follows her life. In addition to that, we get a noble and a spy. I thought that this made for a nice mix of continuity and fresh content, along with more familiar faces that pop up throughout the book. While this doesn't feel like a sequel, it gives you a broadening perspective of this world, which is what I think a sequel ought to do. 

One of the things I adored about the first book in this series was the worldbuilding. I was captivated by the gruesome idea of the Tallowmen and the ghouls living under the city. I did feel as though this book didn't quite hit as hard as the first book did, there is a lot more politics (unsurprisingly) and everything felt a tad more human and less fantastical. That's not to say that the politics and intrigue aren't interesting and powerful - I just missed some of the things that got me hooked initially. 

The plot of this book is quite sprawling (at least in my opinion) and you definitely need to keep focused if you're going to remember who is who and what everyone is trying to do. I enjoyed the fact that events varied from huge apocalyptic moments to tiny personal disagreements. A lot of books that tackle war with Gods things feel huge all the time, I liked that this book explored some of the smaller problems, the idea of people trying to get on with things despite everything exploding (metaphorically and literally) all around them. 

Overall, I think this is a series worth reading, I'm hugely excited about the next book(s) in this series where hopefully more of those spooky elements will feature alongside the politics and intrigue!

My rating: 4/5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own. 

The Shadow Saint Publishes January 9th!

This is an extraordinary second act in The Black Iron Legacy, with the Godswar crashing down on a transformed Guerdon with an absolute fury. The post-Crisis/Gutter Miracle city is spun askew from the one we saw in Gutter Prayer, and Hanrahan captures this pivot by shifting his POV characters around, expanding the role of Eladora from book one and bringing in other new central characters; chief amongst them the chameleon-like and mesmeric Spy.

The Spy, in a variety of guises and personas, is not just an unreliable narrator, rather he manifests the shifting truths of the war and the warring factions as they hunt for a weapon rumoured to be hidden in the reshaped city. He’s a challenging character, but the payoff for letting him lead you is fantastic. The heroes of the first book do make welcome returns as well, but the wider world benefits from the wider perspectives of the new cast.

The writing is truly visceral - the war is strewn with miraculous refugees, stuck in impossible spaces- and the pace always perfectly measured, right up to the breathtaking finale. And the twists are well-timed and genuinely satisfying. Hanrahan’s voice is unique and his world really couldn’t be richer. A welcome gear shift from a recent glut of grimdark, this has more than a pinch of Taika Waititi’s Thor in its soul, but loses none of its terrible impact for it.

I absolutely loved this book and I’m really looking forward to the third instalment.

ARC provided by the publisher—Orbit—in exchange for an honest review.

4.5/5 stars

The Shadow Saint, the sequel to my favorite debut of 2019, is here and it successfully met my high expectations with so much energy.

Firstly, a shout out to one of my favorite artists, Richard Anderson, for creating another gorgeous cover art. Remember what I said at the beginning of my review of The Gutter Prayer? I tend to find the content of an SFF book with Anderson’s cover art to be as good as the cover, and this statement holds incredibly well once again. Secondly, if it's been a while since you've read the first book, please remember that the author has a detailed recap (thank god!) of the previous book on his website. I finished reading The Gutter Prayer almost exactly a year ago. Back then, despite the book being released this year, I made a bold claim that The Gutter Prayer would be my favorite debut published in 2019, and seeing there are only five weeks left in 2019, I don’t see any possibility of this claim being proven wrong. I loved The Gutter Prayer so much, and with that in mind, The Shadow Saint managed to not only live up to my high expectation but also, once again, become one of my favorite reads of the year.

The Shadow Saint is the second book in The Black Iron Legacy series by Gareth Hanrahan. Some of you may remember that The Black Iron Legacy was planned to be a duology, as it turns out, that’s longer the case because there will be a third book. The story in The Shadow Saint begins months after The Gutter Miracle/The Crisis that changed the landscape of Guerdon that occurred at the end of the first book. Rumors of a new weapon being hidden inside the New City have spread, and now the two most powerful factions in the upcoming Godswar are sending their agents respectively to retrieve the destructive weapon.

“The way the Godswar is going, the whole world will be consumed sooner or later, every living soul devoured in the hungers of the mad deities.”

I think it will be beneficial for many readers to know—I definitely would’ve preferred knowing about this—that the majority of the events in The Shadow Saint are told from the perspectives of Eladora and two new characters, especially in the first half of the book. The Gutter Prayer ended in a completely standalone fashion that the The Shadow Saint, in a way, felt like a standalone sequel that follows a new set of characters with a new storyline to explore. A side character from the previous book—Eladora—do take the central stage here, and her development was superb, but it did take me a while to find myself invested in the new characters; throughout the first 30% I was genuinely scared that I won’t meet any of the main characters from the previous book here because I want to know more about what happened to them. The Shadow Saint is a book that progressively gets better and better, and thankfully, the new characters gradually became more interesting, more fascinating, and empathizing as the story progressed.

Hanrahan did a terrific job in developing Eladoras and the new main characters: Terevant and The Spy. The Spy, in particular, was an incredibly fascinating character to read due to his capability to shift into a different persona at his own will. No one knows his real name and identity; being inside his head as he changed his persona repeatedly made his perspective super intriguing to read. For example, The Spy goes by the name/character of Alic, Sanhada Baradhin, or X84, to name a few; all of them have different personalities and backgrounds despite being essentially the same character. I feel like this is such a great take on a character with the role of a spy, and the moral dilemmas the character had due to being in that role was complex and believable. However, as enamored I was with Eladoras, Terevant, and The Spy, I must admit that I have a soft spot for the main characters from the previous book. I do personally think that the majority of the top highlights of the novel involved the appearances of the main characters from The Gutter Prayer. I am a sucker for well-told characterizations and character development, I love that the feeling I get when I look back to the beginning of a series and I’m able to see how much has changed for the characters, that’s what I get with the returning characters in this book. When I think about the beginning of The Gutter Prayer compared to the ongoing chaotic events in The Shadow Saint, it truly felt like so many pivotal moments have happened and changed the characters—both mentally and physically—that was there since the beginning; this situation can be applied to Eladoras as well, and I’m happier for it.

Speaking of characters, I’ve mentioned how the setting, the City of Guerdon, has become a character with proper development and personality on its own before; I can vouch that the same circumstances are still applicable in The Shadow Saint. Honestly speaking, when it comes to world-building and visualizations, not many authors can describe scenes and settings as vivid, dark, and good as Hanrahan. Hanrahan has an imagination, that when put on a page, gives a breath of fresh air to the fantasy genre. Here’s a small example of his writing:

“The New City rises above them, a sheer cliff of unlikely architecture… Fractal shapes frozen in stone, great plazas that end in abrupt cliffs, towers like fingers on the hand of a petrified giant, all growing from the same root structure.”

He did the same thing in the first book, describing and comparing architecture to body parts, and it just worked so damn well for me somehow; I could easily imagine myself seeing the same things that the characters see from his writing. Here’s another example that adds more immersion to the visualization and reading experience:

“In Jaleh’s house, Alic and his son share a room with a man who wakes up screaming every night, and another who has roots and branches growing from his flesh. There are other prodigies in other rooms; a dying man whose innards are turning to gold, a woman whose skin blisters when she speaks the name of any god but the one who’s claimed her, a child who laughs and dances on the ceiling. It’s a refuge for those damaged by the war.”

Just within one paragraph, the atmosphere, the sound, the setting, were set with immediate effectiveness that ended up escalating the sense of immersion in the specific chapter. It’s efficient, it’s powerfully vivid, and it’s darkly delightful to read.

“Alchemical weapons inflicted terrible casualties on the armies of Ishmere. Saints dying in agony, their bones transmuted to lead, their lungs seared by poisonous gas. Phlogiston fires that cannot be quenched still burn on the battlefield.”

I loved reading Hanrahan’s prose; the choices and structure of words he constructed clicked with me remarkably well, and this is most evident when I’m reading his action sequences that are full of blasting devastations. Following the previous book’s tradition, the final quarter of this book was bloody magnificent and heart-pounding, Hanrahan’s depicted a gathering of madness where humans, divinities, machinery, sorcery, and monstrosities all clashed diabolically for supremacy or survival. The Shadow Saint did sacrifice the appearances of some alchemical hell from the previous book in exchange for more tempestuous fury brought by the gods and humans. For instance, this gigantic spider:

“Eight legs arch from horizon to horizon, arching higher than the sky. Eight eyes like moons blaze with madness and hatred. Mandibles quiver as they taste the secret thoughts of every living soul in the city, and fangs drop godly venom that splashes on the southern wall of the fort, melting the stones. The sun does not set – it flees the master of shadows, the lord of whispers.”

The feeling of doom birthed from the gargantuan desolation was amplified by the gloom and color of the sky that’s filled with vengeful gods; the battling Gods and Saints—an avatar of Gods—under the cloud of darkness conjured destructive lightning and a maelstrom of horror. In the face of a blazing burning sword and an indestructible holy armor, it’s safe to say that when the gods meddle, the mortals tremble. In the words of Saint Aleena: “Fucking fuckers are trying to fuck us.”

“Victory means a slow and bloody grind: kill every worshipper, tear down every temple, break every relic, dispel every miracle – and do it all again, over and over, until the god’s a forgotten shadow, shrieking in the void.”

I’m going to end my review here; it’s 1.5k words already and this review has taken me four hours to write. The Shadow Saint is an unconventional, unpredictable, and undeniably brilliant sequel to the best fantasy debut of 2019. Count on Hanrahan to deliver an imaginative, refreshing, and explosive reading experience and he shall distribute it to you mercilessly. Same as The Gutter Prayer, the stellar and intelligently crafted nature of The Shadow Saint left a mind-blowing impression on me. With The Shadow Saint, Hanrahan cemented his spot as one of the most inventive storytellers in the genre. I honestly don’t know where the story will go from here, but I’m definitely excited to find out as soon as possible.

Official release date: 9th January 2020 (UK) and 7th January 2020 (US)

You can pre-order the book from: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository (Free shipping)

The quotes in this review were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions

Wow. I could stop there and it would encapsulate everything but I suppose that wouldn’t be much of a review! I loved The Gutter Prayer even though I found the pace a bit wobbly, but this is even better. A lot about the Godswar is clarified. Favourite characters develop on their journeys in new and unexpected ways. New characters emerge and shift the plot in interesting directions. I need to cogitate on this a bit so a fuller review when I have but I highly recommend this series. Utter brilliance.