Written by contributor Graceley Knox
Full disclosure, there are definitely spoilers for Forged in Fire and Stars, which is the first book in the Loresmith series by Andrea Robertson, so if you haven’t read that one yet, A) you should get on that, and B) continue reading only if you’re okay with spoilers. As a note to readers, Andrea Robertson might look familiar as she wrote the Nightshade series as Andrea Cremer.
I give that warning because I’ve been waiting to read Cast in Secrets and Shadow since I finished reading my ARC of the first book back in January 2020.
Diving right in, from the minute I saw the word Loresmith as the series name and then saw all the weapons on the first book’s cover, I knew that I’d be obsessed with this new series from one of my favourite authors and I was not wrong… I’m still completely intrigued by this concept!
Let’s do a slight recap of the first book! We met Ara, our fiercely resilient heroine and she’s descended from a long line of blacksmiths (a.k.a. Loresmiths) who served alongside the royalty of Saetlund, keeping them fully equipped to protect the kingdom. That was before the monarchy fell, of course, so when the lost Princess Nimhea and Prince Eamon straight up Smithnapped (yes, I just made that word up) Ara, her life is turned upside down as she embarks on this epic journey to claim her destiny and help them retake the throne.
Needless to say, nothing ever goes according to plan in any novel ever written, but in her signature style, Robertson kept me guessing. Although I wasn’t teetering on the edge of my seat through the entirety of Cast in Secrets and Shadow like the first book, somehow Robertson amped up the action, and the romance, as well as the secrets and mysteries we still have left to unravel.
One thing I was really hoping for in this book was a list of all the gods and goddesses that were mentioned previously as a sort of glossary to help us remember who’s who, as a lot of the names aren’t super easy to pronounce, or remember with the spelling. With the introduction of even more characters in book two, I’m hoping they pull one together for book three, because by the end of this book, I was starting to forget who was who and what exactly they did, as well as whose side they were on.
That being said, the map is killer and helpful considering the size of the world. But please, for the sake of booklovers everywhere, it would be great to see character names added to the top of each chapter/section so we know whose POV we’re getting. I know this book is written in third person, but sometimes it took me a few paragraphs to realise who it was I was seeing the scene from and it took me out of the story for a few minutes when I had to go back and read it again.
The way the gods and some of the characters are forced to work together was another interesting twist here, even though some of it I wasn’t super sure about because it seemed in book one that most of the gods didn’t tend to converse with humans as though they’re equals. And here, they not only were setting up trials for Ara, but they were visiting those who knew her and demanding to see her, or have them get a message to her, as though they weren’t all powerful gods who could just find her and deliver their message themselves?
I will say that this book had a bit more of an RPG novel kinda feel where the character is stuck inside a video game and has to fight their way out versus the full blown high fantasy feel of book one. Due to this, I felt that some scenes really dragged on when they could have been wrapped up in one or two pages versus the seven or eight they took.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the way Robertson has a way of piecing words together that is both impactful and whimsical but I felt like this book had a good deal of fluff and filler in it, which I don’t think the story needed as the concept is fantastic, plus learning more about the new characters as well as the world’s lore as a whole would have been more interesting.
All in all, Cast in Secrets and Shadow was a solid second novel in the series, but it definitely had that middle of the series book feel to me, so I’m hopeful that book three will round it off with a strong kick to the feels as book one did. Knowing Robertson’s other works though, I have all the confidence in the world that she won’t leave her fans wanting when it comes to revealing all the answers.
Cast in Secrets and Shadow is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
Will you be picking up Cast in Secrets and Shadow? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Game of Thrones meets Shadow and Bone in the second book in this action-packed fantasy from Andrea Robertson, the internationally bestselling author of the Nightshade series.
Ara has taken up her mantle as the Loresmith–but her journey is far from over. After suffering betrayals and losses, Ara, Nimhea, Lahvja, and Teth must try to come together and find the Loreknights across the kingdom. The Loreknights are their only hope in overthrowing the evil Vokkans and putting Nimhea on the throne for good. But their journey will put Ara and her companions in grave danger–from the endless pursuit of the Vokkans to perilous encounters with the gods, and the near impossible trials they face along the way–will they be able to survive long enough to help the rebellion?
And through it all the Vokkans are expanding their reach throughout Saetlund, putting everyone Ara and her friends love at risk. Only Ara can forge a way forward, take up her powers, and fight to change the world–no matter what it costs.
From internationally bestselling author Andrea Roberston comes the second book in a gorgeously written new fantasy series perfect for readers of Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone or Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes series.
