AUTHOR:- Sebastien De Castell
It's a few months since Kellen left his people behind. Now aged sixteen, Kellen is an outlaw, relying on his wits to keep him alive in the land of the Seven Sands. He misses home, he misses family and more than anything, he misses Nephenia, the girl he left behind.
Then he meets Seneira, a blindfolded girl who isn't blind, and who carries a secret that's all too familiar to Kellen. Kellen and Ferius resolve to help - but the stakes are far higher than they realise. A Shadowblack plague is taking hold - and Kellen can't help but suspect his own people may even be behind it.
Spellslinger
was a great introduction to this series, with an almost immaculate world
building, a complex magical system, and the magical Jan’Tep society, but the
Spellslinger was still contained to that small part of the world. Shadowblack
greatly expands on that world-building of the first book, as we encounter the protagonist of the story, Kellen, way out
of his depth and surviving in the wild and lawless borderlands, an outlaw,
being hunted by his own people,infected by a magical curse that his
grandmother laid upon him that manifests as swirling, undulating black lines
around his eyes, but fortunately, he is not alone in this ordeal, he has Freius,
his self-appointed Argosi mentor, she is as free-spirited, cunning, annoying
and charming as ever, he is also accompanied by his familiar, Oops, his
business partner, the ferocious, sassy, and quippy Squirrel cat, Reichis. He
contributes to about 70% of the sass in the book.
SPOILERS:-
Kellen is fascinated by her, feels a kind of a tragic kinship to her because of the black swirling lines around her eyes, though quite different than his own, doesn’t hurt that she is also beautiful. Although he misses Nephenia he can't help but feel drawn to Seneira.
Drawn to the mystery of Shadowblack that can afflict ordinary people, Kellen and Ferious agree to travel with Rosie and Seneira to Seneira’s hometown, where they have more unpleasant news waiting for them. They meet another Spellslinger who may know a way to cure the Shadowblack and uncover a conspiracy that goes deeper and farther than any of them anticipated.
Shadowblack felt like a start of a long, treacherous, and amazing adventure, while Spellslinger was contained to a small part of the world. Kellen never fit in with his own people, the magical society of the civilized Jan’Tep, and he is way out of his depth in the lawless borderlands as an outcast and an outlaw, relying on his friends, his wits, and a single spell. Ferious is an enigma, Kellen’s self-appointed Argosi Mentor, I feel like her plans go further than just teaching the Argosi ways and helping him find his way in the world when it concerns Kellen. Richis, the Bad-tempered, foul-mouthed squirrelcat with a propensity to steal and an obsession with gauging out people’s(or, as Reichis would eloquently put it, 'SKINBAGS') eyeballs. Kellen still has ways to go and grow, which is inevitable and necessary over the course of this series but I feel like Reichis is a constant we can count on to stay his same, murderous, thieving self.
The book ended with a strong sense of farewell to this part of the world, though I hope we get to see Seneira again. This series feels like the start of a TV show where every episode is a self-contained story but overall makes up a larger story arc.
Overall this was a good experience, Sebastian de Castell knows how to weave a realistic world and I enjoyed every part of it. I'll be devouring the next book as soon as possible.
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