Interesting fantasy novel with magic, fast-paced action, secrets, friends on a mission, betrayals, politics and everything else you would expect in a fantasy novel.
Kelbain is trying to become King and raise his dead father from the grave, while others try to unite several houses in order to oppose him. What I liked is that there are several interesting characters and the book focuses on each of their storylines. There is no real good and bad guy here as most are a little bit morally gray which also gives the reader a basic understanding of the antagonists in this novel. In my opinion this gives the plot a little more depth.
In general I liked the premise of these books (it's a series and I read book 1 and 2 back-to-back) the world is interesting enough, the characters and different houses as well, yet the writing style was not for me. It was too simple, for example what could have been an epic fight scene got reduced to maybe 2 sentences. This did not help me as a reader to really get into the story, also the dialogue was stilted and didn't seem to flow naturally.
So I am a bit on the fence about this one, I did enjoy the plot and want to know how the events will turn out, but the writing style issues change my rating from a 4 to 3 stars.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. ***

Like its predecessor Genesis of War this is an ensemble piece that keeps keeps the readers attention by jumping to different characters and the situations they find themselves in. The newly, self crowned King of the West, Kelbain is marching forwards ostensibly to gather allies but ultimately to control and rule. Three young Princes meantime also have missions to perform that will hopefully unite the Kingdom's and topple Kelbain. Kelbain has immense powers but he is not the only powerful Sage and with treachery happening in different places who will survive right now is anyone's guess !
Just as entertaining as the first book but this time the author upped the ante with answers to questions I had and even a touch of Norse mythology. There are new characters to either cheer for or despise depending on your point of view but this was a worthy second in the series and I look forward to reading the next instalment.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair