Shyla Sun-Kissed is back, and is just as bad-ass as ever in The City of Zirdai. Starting off where The Eyes of Tamburah finished, this sequel from Maria V. Snyder is not something to be missed! I had super high expectations for this sequel, given that I absolutely loved (and devoured, honestly) Tamburah, and I wasn’t let down at all. Full of the action, magic, and Snyder’s style I know and love, it firmly has a place in my 2020 favourites, for sure!
In this sequel, Shyla barters with both the Invisible Sword, as well as the monks and the communes to help her protect the seemingly precious ‘Eyes of Tamburah’ from the likes of the Water Prince and the Heliacal Priestess.
This quest often leads to Shyla and her merry band of bandits to resort to mischievously use magic (of sorts) to hide from the Priestess’ Archdeacons as well as the overbearing Captain Yates. Each of these encounters were super fast paced, but it had plenty of detail which made the scene super three dimensional! Whilst a lot of fantasy books I’ve read of late heavily feature romance, I enjoyed that this one took a rather backseat approach, allowing for the action to drive the story forward, which felt like exactly what I wanted from this book. I loved how despite Rendor’s absence, Shyla could still be focused and carry on towards her goals, just as if he was right there. To me, this feels much more like a genuine relationship, and I’m keen to see if it develops in the final book in this trilogy.
What I loved about this sequel is that we got more page time for the monks, which helped make me understand a whole lot more about why they were keen to help Shyla, as well as exposing some of their somewhat well-kept secrets. I also really enjoyed seeing the relationship between Hanif and Shyla in a little more depth than in Tamburah, which I found was a really nice touch when the action appeared to not be there.
The tunnel that the Invisible Sword starts to dig really reminded me of the Indiana Jones movies, and I can’t understand why, but drawing that parallel is pretty cool given that tunnels often lead to uncovering big secrets. I loved how this goal to have a hidden base connected to Zirdai by tunnel appeared to strengthen the resolve of the group, despite every setback they encountered. Further to this, I loved seeing the character development of Jayden, Rendor (despite Rendor not getting much page time in the book), and many of the relatively minor characters, with many of them feeling totally fleshed out and not at all just there for the sake of being there. Also, I still dislike the Water Prince as he’s still a bit of a jerk, which isn’t so surprising given how he was in The Eyes of Tamburah!
The pace of this book felt just right for me, seemingly fast-paced enough to keep me absorbed in the action scenes, and slow enough in the parts meant for plot and character development. Whilst these weren’t in perfect halves, I enjoyed the changes in pace just as much as I loved seeing Shyla trudge on!
If you’re looking for a novel that is reminiscent of Tomb Raider with a dash of Indiana Jones mixed with underground sand cities and scorching heat, The Archives of the Invisible Sword series is likely to be right up your alley!
The City of Zirdai is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of June 1st 2021.
Will you be picking up The City of Zirdai? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
With her indomitable style, New York Times bestselling author Maria V. Snyder returns with an electric new fantasy series that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Through her courage and tenacity, Shyla Sun-Kissed has awoken the power of The Eyes of Tamburah. But this feat only marks the beginning of the challenges that the magical order, the Invisible Sword, faces to free the underground city of Zirdai.
Though they have allies among the monks and splinter cells inside the city, Shyla knows the Invisible Sword doesn’t have the strength to win. With the group fracturing due to the strain of losses from their latest ordeal, thinly veiled suspicions and endless disagreements, it’s up to Shyla to forge a new united order.
When both the draconian Water Prince and brutal Heliacal Priestess learn of Shyla’s new powers, life becomes even more complicated as they will stop at nothing to capture Shyla and take the magic of The Eyes for themselves. Hunted at every turn and unable to hide, Shyla and the Invisible Sword must use every resource at their command – and unearth new ones – in their race to save the city from destruction. But their enemies always seem to be one step ahead. And the cost to win the battle may be more than Shyla would ever be willing to pay…
