Review: The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina J. Lostetter

The Cage of Dark Hours by Marina J. Lostetter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.  Full disclosure, after after having listened to the first book I did purchase the e-book which I found helpful to have available when listening.  The e-book also has some graphics that I found useful.  This is a long audiobook (20+ hours) and it has a ton of characters and the world is complex.  It is nice to have the print version to refer to when needed.  The audiobook is really enjoyable, I really enjoyed the three piece narration.  Each of the narrators did a good job with their specific characters and chapters.  I appreciated having 3 narrators, one for each of the character perspectives.  It really helps to keep focus on which part of the plot is the focus and which part of the timeline you are in depending on which character is telling the story.

This follows three characters, Krona who we met in book 1, Mandip a noble and new character, and Thalo child an acolyte in a strange religion and also a new character.  We also get to see many characters that we met in the first book and Krona is grieving the loss of her older sister and still coming to grips with the information learned in the previous book.  I would not recommend reading this as a standalone, though if you do start here the author does do a  good job giving recaps of necessary information. I read book 1 recently so the information was still fresh, but they were published about 2 years apart.  Through Krona, Mandip and Thalo Child we come to understand that there is a war brewing and there are many unknown factors at play and many of the players have their own agendas.  This installment delves deeper into the magic system, the religion of the Thalo, and the gods that are worshipped in the universe the book takes place in.  We also come to understand how all three characters are tied together and how the events that occurred in the previous book link everyone together.

This isn't as violent and bloody as book 1 but it is dark and does have violent moments.  There are a few battles and the Thalo are not kind to their charges.  Much like the first book, there is a bit of a horror, mystery, mixed into this fantasy.  I love a good genre mashup, and this delivers.  

As with the first book, I can't believe more people aren't talking about this series.  The covers are stunning and the storyline is action packed.  I do feel that this book like the last one was a bit on the long side and there are a lot of things to keep track of, but that is to be expected with an epic fantasy.  I haven't been able to find any release information for the next book, but a quick look at her blog indicates that she is working on edits for book 3.  I am so exited to find out what happens next!

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