Reign of Madness

I’ll assume you’ve read Book 1, because what monster would start a perfectly good fantasy series at Book 2, right? I’ll avoid spoilers as best I can but there are some aspects of Book 1 that I’ll no doubt give away. So, what to say about Reign of Madness. Well, if you liked Free the Darkness, you’re going to love this one. As I said in my review for Free the Darkness, I’m fairly sure that originally these two books were supposed to be a single long novel, and that the publishers drove a hatchet down the middle to spare the reader such a substantial read on a series’ first volume. That said, Book 2 would have been the half that had the climatic finally that Free the Darkness was painfully lacking, but its improvements go far beyond just that.

The thing that has kept me gripped to Rezkin’s story thus far was the brilliant, diabolical logic with which he either physically or mentally dissects his adversaries, and in Reign of Madness that delightful characteristic is turned up to 11. This time Rez is able to come out of the shadows somewhat more than before and flaunt his abilities to beat down a selection of opponents in a very public stage as well as finally confiding in a few people about some of the labyrinthine aspects of his polygon of personalities, and damn me if it wasn’t a joy to listen to. More than this, both his character and those of his friends are fleshed out a lot more, made far more human than the somewhat empty trope-tastic vessels that seemed to float around our leading lad in Book 1. They start to become far less of the vapid hangers-on that haunted Rezkin’s story and begin to gestate into their own beings, something that was desperately needed. This is epitomised in the arc of one specific character who I went from hating to loving. It really shows a writer’s skill if they can flip the opinion switch like that on a character in a organic manner.

Again, this book is just laden with satisfaction. Every time someone even comes close to turning the tables of Rezkin, he’s already ten steps ahead of them hiding in a shadow with both swords ready to artfully dissect his adversaries. The plot of this book thickens significantly, but I will admit to there still being some of those simple things that Rezkin is ‘supposed’ to not know about that still annoy me. Yes, they highlight the fact that he was raised in seclusion and all, but come on, you’ve written a character who is effectively a god amongst men who has been trained to mimic any person from any strata of society, and yet there are still basic things that he doesn’t know which could all be learnt from an afternoon of asking surreptitious and innocuous question to his friends. That aside, the book was an action-packed ride that beautifully builds upon the world of Free the Darkness and adds to it in bundles. I couldn’t stop listening to it even when I tried, which in my opinion is a sign of masterful prose.

As for the narrator, Nick Pedehl’s performance is what really knocks this series out of the park. The plethora of additional characters we are introduced to in this book continue to have their own individual voices which simply brings the words to life. He is quickly racing up my list of favourite narrators, and frankly, I might just listen to a couple other books that he’s done just for the pleasure of hearing him read.

Personal rating: 4.5 stars

Professional rating: 4.25 stars