Veil of Shadows by Shiloh Walker

ISBN: 978-0425236352

I was given this book by the author.

I read this book back to back with Through the Veil, the first in the series, so I’ll be comparing the two. Here’s my Through the Veil review. And also this review will contain spoilers for the first book.

Veil of Shadows is the second book in Walker’s Veil series, which focuses on the world Ishtan, a realm sandwiched between Earth and the demon realm of Anqar. The Warlords of Anqar, a dying race, have been raiding Ishtan for female breeding stock for centuries, unleashing the native demons and monsters of Anqar on Istan, both on purpose and accident.

Walker’s world building is absolutely killer in this book, hitting the perfect notes between character focus, showing readers the larger conflict of the land, yet not letting anything be black and white. This book’s focus is on a small military outpost, nearly abandoned by the rest of the world who believes themselves to be safe now that the gates between worlds have fallen. But last book’s heroes, Kalen, Elina, Lee and more, are still in the wilds of Ishtan fighting the pocket populations of demons, wyrms, not to mention the Warlords who were left behind when the gates fell. They stand between the recovering world and disaster and the recovering world is only too glad to pretend the threat is all over.

Enter Syn and Xan, two warriors in Kalen’s army. Syn is his captain, a witch completely unsure of herself now the the Ishtan magic was shattered in the backlash of the gate’s fall. Xan is a drifter, a battle-hardened warrior who signs on to Kalen’s fight, but whose past is a mystery. While the romance between the two is an important part of the story it’s not all of the story and there are frequent point of view breaks to display the larger story of Walker’s world.

Also my complaints about the first book are completely invalid for this one. Syn is a more sympathetic character than Lee, and since she’s native to both the fight and Ishtan she’s more in tune to the world setting (and therefore her point of view contributes better to the world building) than Lee was. Also Walker doesn’t shy away from conflicts and fight scenes in this book, while still making them not the most important part of the story.

The pacing is better, and the story fleshier, making Veil of Shadows a fabulous read. It will especially appeal to fans of Anne Bishop or fantasy readers who enjoy a touch of romance and a touch of darkness with their epic fantasy.