With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange of a fair review.

Yet another extremely well written title by MVS, where world building, character development and the story itself combine to make for an immersive, thoroughly enjoyable reader experience.

In this title we see Shyla establishing her leadership of the Invisible Swords, expanding their operations and continuing in her quest to free the people of the city of Zirdai from its corrupt rulers.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

What a wild ride! That was quite a sequel I must admit and so much better than The Eyes of Tamburah. Although this book was much slower than the first one, it was totally worth it in the end with an ending like that!

The book follows the events of its predecessor where we see Shyla take on the responsibility of being the leader of the Invisible Sword. We see her developing her powers and fighting for justice and the freedom of her people. For the first 300-or-so pages I found that these scenes where we learn more about Shyla's capabilities with the eyes to be very dragged out. Sure we do see a lot of betrayal, a lot of loyalties shown and some new friendships but I just wanted the real action to begin. That action didn't come until much later in the story but it was definitely worth the wait.

I thought there was more character development in general and Shyla seemed to be less power-hungry than the was alluded to in The Eyes of Tamburah. Although I understood the fact that she was trying to save her people, the eye stabbing in the first book (while important to the narrative) did make me believe she was doing it for power rather than to save her world. In City of Zirdai that scene was mentioned a lot but Shyla seemed to be less power-driven and proven herself more as a leader.

In terms of romance, I still wasn't fully convinced on the relationship between Shyla and Rendor (especially since I was shipping her with Jayden the whole time). I reckon that with due time I might like him but maybe with another book he might grow on me indefinitely. I just need a bit more convincing.

With the whole story structure, I found that (as mentioned previously) it was pretty slow to begin with and I wasn't entirely invested in the story at that point. Past page 350 it started to become more fast paced and I started enjoying myself a whole lot more as the plot was coming together. I was very happy with how it all tied up and thought it was a pretty good conclusion to a great duology.

All in all, I enjoyed this book. It was so much better than The Eyes of Tamburah and I found myself really enjoying how the story came together at the end.

ACTUAL RATING: 3 STARS

CITY OF ZIRDAI: https://www.amazon.com.au/City-Zirdai-Archives-Invisible-Sword-ebook/dp/B083G7481X

The City of Zirdai continues on from The Eyes of Tamburah and will be released on the 16th of June. It follows Shyla in her battle for good against corrupt leaders.
Wow. Like the first book this gripped me and didn't let go. It draws you in and spits you out the other side longing for more.
The world built in the first book is just as vivid, with more and more details coming through and helping to build up more of the picture.
The characters remain likeable and lifelike. There are moments where I could guess there was more going on that Shyla realised, and I wanted to shout at her. The story is so vivid it feels like i lived it
This book broke my heart and lifted it up again. It is the story of a strong woman growing into her self and her power. It is a story of corruption, deceit, and a battle of good versus evil. I loved it and cant wait for the next installment. 5 stars. Highly recommended.

Shyla Sun-Kissed is back, and is just as bad-assed 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, however, had a bunch 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 backseated 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- 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 absored 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 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, book two of three in the series, is full of action and is definitely not a release to be missed this year!

Rating: 4.5/5

(Review will be live on my blog on 22nd July, 2 weeks prior to the new August 5 release date!)

The City of Zirdai picks up soon after the first book, with Shyla rebuilding the Invisible Swords. I enjoyed the first book, and enjoyed this just as much. Going back down into Zirdai, the Invisible Swords need to make themselves as independent as they can, from the city and from the monks, lest they put them in danger.

I thought for the most part, it was well done. I enjoyed seeing how Shyla would resolve the problems facing her, both as an individual and as the leader of a secret organisation.

My one main issue with this would be that the pacing was fairly rapid, essentially meaning that the story doesn't lull as much as others can. While this would usually be a good things, a lot is happening constantly here, and the story tends to jump from one plot line to the other in quick succession. In doing so, I felt that some of the plot elements that were being developed, specifically in regards to rebuilding the Invisible Swords, didn't actually eventuate, and were to a degree unnecessary. It's not that they needed to be removed necessarily, more that they could have been introduced and developed in a different way, so that they were more points of interest rather than plot points.

Without giving too much away, it was in regards to the relocation and reconstruction of the Invisible Swords base, with ideas being developed, but not actually being actioned, which fair the story is in a limited time. But I feel construction could have at least been started, since time was taken to explore solutions.

In saying that though, I really enjoyed this, and look forward to reading more. If you have read the first one, definitely continue on with the series. If you have read and enjoyed anything else Maria V. Snyder has written, it's worth picking up this series as well.

ARC copy received

Many thanks for this arc! Overall this was a very action packed sequel, that once again is filled with a lot of sand and politics. Shylah is still the very epitome of Maria V Snyder female protagonists - she's determined to get things done and she'll do it her way. I do like the first book better, but this one was just as good, even though the ending felt like a satisfactory ending rather than leading onto the next book - which, yay! there will be one more!

this series from Maria just keeps getting better and better. Am really looking forward to book #3 in the series.