A Tide of Black Steel kicks of with groups of seemingly unconnected characters and events taking place. This sets up plot points all over the place that you know somewhere must connect and A Tide of Black Steel delights from the start in dropping little nuggets around that will keep you guessing as to how the plots and characters connect. This adds a aura of great puzzlement from the start as you try to leap ahead and work out how everything slots together! The story picks up plot points from the previous book but at the same time is set in a different area so it will keep you guessing as to to what ties in or not.

As the story progresses you get to be introduced to the various characters from Thera Blackspear who works with the Sister Queens and is their Vellihr of Justice, her brother Felnir who has been declared a exile. Needless to point out they don not get along though both are absolutely convinced they are in the right, Elvine, who happens to be the daughter of the Ascarlian librarian Berine Jurest who gets pushed into helping out the Sister Queens, Ruhlin who get taken from his village but has fire blood in him that transforms him when he loses it into a being that is almost impossible to stop unless you have a tranquillizers and/or handy magic to hand amongst a constant stream of new characters that you always find yourself wondering how they are going to fit into what is going on! As we get to learn their backstories and why they are doing what they are doing the connections that they have to each other and events start to become clearer. This is neatly handled as we as we start to see things coming together. This forms a complex mesh of motivations and alliances that you do not realise straight away exist further adding to the mysteries that are going on. At the same time though the plot has more lots upon plots and as it is revealed and the commonalities between the characters are revealed things are really take in directions that you would not expect making you check for any name drops or information that may shed light on things.

The Sister Queens are cleverly portrayed though you are immediately suspicious of their motivations. Sister Lore and her mysterious origins immediately makes her suspect but the others seem to always be playing a game close to their chests as well so even though you get vibes off them you do not know at the start exactly what they are up to in term of their plans. There are nuggets spread throughout though from the outset that are dropped in that certainly give you clues as to what is initially up though and this seeding of information is cleverly handled and keeps you guessing from the start. There are number of signs that things may not be as stable in their reign as you would expect. At the same time the exiled characters clearly have a part to play and the revelation regarding them are brilliantly handled and come with right turns to their character arks that you will not see coming. A Tide of Black Steel cleverly deals with older plot lines but at the same time neatly sets up news ones that are like a can of worms and you are never sure from the outset which way the plots are going to take. Ryan loves to put his characters through the wringer and this shows on every page. Whenever a characters gets comfortable they are off into a different direction to what they expect. This keeps you on you toes trying to guess where every thing is going to go.

Felnir and Sygna and their encounters with Wohtin while on the questing this one being for the Vault of the Altvar where there may be treasure and this takes things in a completely different direct than what you are expecting. The epic world building drips off the page really surprising you in where the book is taking the characters. Felnir right turn in cleverly handled as is Sygna’s reaction to it. This puts Felnir and Sygna on a different footing and in direction opposition to the Sister Queens. How Felnir and Sygna deal with this is neatly handled and at the same time sets their questing on a different level. This makes perfect sense though with the character and keeps the book expanding. The revival of an ancient empire is neatly handled and really deals with old plots and sets up new ones. We also have Wohtin’s story expanded on with glimpses as to what he is. At the same time the character of Ruhlin is also getting a band together and you get the distinct impression of things coming together. At the same time it is very apparent that Aleida is going to be a large part in up coming events. The two of them clearly make a great team. The gang that Ruhlin and Aleida have got themselves is clearly the making of an army. Given the invasion coming Nihvalrians, who are a bunch of fanatics from across the ocean, it is clear that the Nihvalrians are on the hop as things are taken n a totally different and whole new direction to what they were expecting. They are most certainly going to be facing something that they were certainly not expecting from the rear of their lines. Really cleverly set up! These are all cleverly handled set up that you spot but you do not know which way things are going to go. Ancient lands and discoveries abound and A Tide of Black Steel keep things coming thick and fast. This is all handled cleverly while still tying into old plots setting up new ones. Whole lands keep getting added which really propels the plot forward and keeps you guessing as anything can happen on every page.

A Tide of Black Steel neatly sets up events as well as introducing us to new characters we are also shown epic world building as more unknown empires are revealed as they come into contact with each other. We have the classic situation of a people who reckon they are superior ostentatiously encountering people they call savages. This though in keeping with the twists sharp turning plot points is set to up nicely to reverse this situation as the book delight is throwing things on their head from the beginning.

A Tide of Black Steel by Anthony Ryan Review will keep you up late seeing which way things are going. It is full of creatively luring the reader into guessing what is going to happen to have things thrown up in the air leaving you guess where everything is going to land. A Tide of Black Steel from the start will keep you guessing as to which way things are going to from the three-dimensional characters, who definitely have their own motivations, to the epic world building that brings in new lands and peoples, the constant revelations that put the characters in new contexts hat also plays into the humour that also that permeates the book as different characters have to learn to get along which provides some cleverly insights on all of them! From the outset there is the relentless adventure that flows constantly from the beginning that never lets the A Tide of Black Steel let up keeping you on your toes that neatly works with the visceral action.

A Tide of Black Steel delight in keeping you guessing from the very beginning! The epic event never let up keeping you on your toes from the start. The interconnectivity under everything is cleverly handled as well as you have to work out the connections between everything that need to be worked out but things in a different light indeed. A Tide of Black Steel work brilliantly keeping the mystery and plot revelations coming. It is full of plot twists that you won’t see coming plot twists taking thing in unexpected direction, full of unbridled heroics and morally variable characters, epic world building from the start, constant adventure as we explore new place and unrelenting action from the start. Get it when you can!