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Kingdom of Oak and Steel #2
The Shadow Queen
Not yet published
Expected 1 Dec 26'A wonderful tale set within a well-drawn fantastical world. I loved it' John Gwynne on The Last Vigilant
The Shadow Queen is the utterly gripping sequel to The Last Vigilant where an out-of-practice wizard and an outcast soldier must solve an impossible murder to have any hope of protecting their kingdom's fragile peace.
In the crown city of Helmspire, the Last True Vigilant, Enelda Drake, has returned. Enelda and her loyal guard Hawley are tasked with solving all manner of crime in the kingdom's capital. From missing jewels to lying nobles, she has solved it all. The realm's young king is delighted. His mother, perhaps the true power behind the throne, has her doubts.
But, after three years of simple cases, Enelda faces the impossible. An important noble has been strangled to death in a windowless vault. The only door was locked from the inside. Guards monitored the doors at all times. No weapons were left behind; nothing was stolen. And yet, the noble is dead.
As Enelda and Hawley barely begin to put together the pieces, there is another murder. Again, under shockingly impossible circumstances.
With two wealthy nobles slain, panic spreads quickly among the elite who have gathered in the city for a major festival. But they are not the only ones converging on allies, enemies, and the threat of ancient magic come knocking at Enelda's door.
With pressure mounting from the king, and the list of suspects growing daily, Enelda will need to prove herself, or reckon with the fact that maybe she's not the True Vigilant she claims to be.
Praise for the series
'A page-turning mix of mystery and epic fantasy' Anthony Ryan
'Latham is an adept at creating sympathetic characters and reinventing fantasy in a way that will have influence on many books after The Last Vigilant' Booklist (starred review)
Kingdom of Oak and Steel
The Last Vigilant
The Shadow Queen
The Shadow Queen is the utterly gripping sequel to The Last Vigilant where an out-of-practice wizard and an outcast soldier must solve an impossible murder to have any hope of protecting their kingdom's fragile peace.
In the crown city of Helmspire, the Last True Vigilant, Enelda Drake, has returned. Enelda and her loyal guard Hawley are tasked with solving all manner of crime in the kingdom's capital. From missing jewels to lying nobles, she has solved it all. The realm's young king is delighted. His mother, perhaps the true power behind the throne, has her doubts.
But, after three years of simple cases, Enelda faces the impossible. An important noble has been strangled to death in a windowless vault. The only door was locked from the inside. Guards monitored the doors at all times. No weapons were left behind; nothing was stolen. And yet, the noble is dead.
As Enelda and Hawley barely begin to put together the pieces, there is another murder. Again, under shockingly impossible circumstances.
With two wealthy nobles slain, panic spreads quickly among the elite who have gathered in the city for a major festival. But they are not the only ones converging on allies, enemies, and the threat of ancient magic come knocking at Enelda's door.
With pressure mounting from the king, and the list of suspects growing daily, Enelda will need to prove herself, or reckon with the fact that maybe she's not the True Vigilant she claims to be.
Praise for the series
'A page-turning mix of mystery and epic fantasy' Anthony Ryan
'Latham is an adept at creating sympathetic characters and reinventing fantasy in a way that will have influence on many books after The Last Vigilant' Booklist (starred review)
Kingdom of Oak and Steel
The Last Vigilant
The Shadow Queen
- GenresFantasy
597 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication December 1, 2026
About the author
Mark A. Latham
34 books183 followersMark A. Latham is a writer, editor, history nerd, proud dogfather, frustrated grunge singer and amateur baker from Staffordshire, UK. An immigrant to rural Nottinghamshire, he lives in a very old house (sadly not haunted), and is still regarded in the village as a foreigner.
Formerly the editor of Games Workshop’s White Dwarf magazine, Mark designs tabletop games, and is an author of strange, fantastical and macabre tales.
Formerly the editor of Games Workshop’s White Dwarf magazine, Mark designs tabletop games, and is an author of strange, fantastical and macabre tales.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Similar to the first book in ways: slow-paced, but slow-burn. The ending had everything click together.
There were differences between "The Shadow Queen", and the first book, "The Last Vigilant". One important aspect was that the overall politics of the kingdom becomes revealed to the reader, how the King functions, how the royal court relates (side note- I appreciated the reference that the author had after the text, giving a clear explanation of the functions of the kingdom). In the in-book context though, it was Hawley who learned more of the royalty structure through Enelda for the most part.
Speaking of Hawley and Enelda, their teamwork and cooperation continues throughout the book, with both of them learning more of each other (Hawley learning some top-secret stuff about the Vigilant Order). Iveta makes her return as well, juggling her dual role as Lady of Scarfell and also figurehead of the Order of Oak. As the reader, I wished that I could have seen more character development from Iveta (like what we saw in the first book). She was quite active in this book, especially helpful when cooperating with Hawley and Enelda, but her character remained largely the same. I could say the same thing with Hawley regarding my preference for more personal development, where in the first book, we learned of his past and his disgraced reputation. There were two scenes in this book though involving Hawley that I really liked- one of which involved a familiar face prominently from last book, and another with him making a personal choice and gauging the reaction of the person making the offer. (If you read through the whole book, you'll know what two scenes I am talking about).
The plot was slow burn, as I mentioned earlier, but the ending scene was quite worthwhile. I'm not too huge on slow-paced books (it usually isn't my preference), but this is a interesting series, so I'll be awaiting the upcoming book, which I believe might be the finale of this series. Based on how the ending has gone, including the intriguing Epilogue, I think that I have an idea how the next book is going to start with. From there...well, we'll see what bag of tricks the author has in mind.
I'm pleased to have learned about this series. I may not have it in my top grouping, but it's a solid series that has me wanting to keep reading for sure.
Lastly- I do want to give a shoutout to the side characters in this series. Every single character seems to have their purpose relative to the plot. Not many authors manage to pull this off.
(I received an ARC through Orbit and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
There were differences between "The Shadow Queen", and the first book, "The Last Vigilant". One important aspect was that the overall politics of the kingdom becomes revealed to the reader, how the King functions, how the royal court relates (side note- I appreciated the reference that the author had after the text, giving a clear explanation of the functions of the kingdom). In the in-book context though, it was Hawley who learned more of the royalty structure through Enelda for the most part.
Speaking of Hawley and Enelda, their teamwork and cooperation continues throughout the book, with both of them learning more of each other (Hawley learning some top-secret stuff about the Vigilant Order). Iveta makes her return as well, juggling her dual role as Lady of Scarfell and also figurehead of the Order of Oak. As the reader, I wished that I could have seen more character development from Iveta (like what we saw in the first book). She was quite active in this book, especially helpful when cooperating with Hawley and Enelda, but her character remained largely the same. I could say the same thing with Hawley regarding my preference for more personal development, where in the first book, we learned of his past and his disgraced reputation. There were two scenes in this book though involving Hawley that I really liked- one of which involved a familiar face prominently from last book, and another with him making a personal choice and gauging the reaction of the person making the offer. (If you read through the whole book, you'll know what two scenes I am talking about).
The plot was slow burn, as I mentioned earlier, but the ending scene was quite worthwhile. I'm not too huge on slow-paced books (it usually isn't my preference), but this is a interesting series, so I'll be awaiting the upcoming book, which I believe might be the finale of this series. Based on how the ending has gone, including the intriguing Epilogue, I think that I have an idea how the next book is going to start with. From there...well, we'll see what bag of tricks the author has in mind.
I'm pleased to have learned about this series. I may not have it in my top grouping, but it's a solid series that has me wanting to keep reading for sure.
Lastly- I do want to give a shoutout to the side characters in this series. Every single character seems to have their purpose relative to the plot. Not many authors manage to pull this off.
(I received an ARC through Orbit and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review)
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The mystery solving duo that is the last vigilant, Enelda Drake, and her protector, Hawley, have their next case (well they have apparently had many cases in the in-between but none noteworthy enough to merit an entry into this series). This book is a little more story-focused, though we still get additional world-building. We jump into plot from the start since Hawley and Enelda have already met and the basics were established in the first book of the Kingdom of Oak and Steel series. We also get a few other entertaining characters returning from the first book. Although the mystery is the focus of the plot, the grander story of politics and powerplays steer this story and it is clear that the larger series-wide plot is the greater mystery and we are collecting the crumbs to find the bigger picture too. The case of the murder of important nobles may be solved in this book but I feel the pull to the next one already, the pull to see more of the world and what is really going on. I enjoyed the first book and liked this one even more for its mystery, friendships, and more political intrigues. Extra kudos for the story so far section that was cleverly incorporated as an officer's letter to their liege summarizing the pertinent details of the previous book, I truly appreciate when I don't have to do a series re-read for every book published.
I received access to this eARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Orbit Books) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.
I received access to this eARC thru NetGalley (for which I want to thank NetGalley and the publisher, Orbit Books) for an honest review. The opinion expressed here is my own.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
I really love this series. I look forward to learning whatever dark historical secrets are eventually going to come out. There are a number of hints as to what they are going to be.
And yes, Iveta and Redbaer both show up in this one.
And yes, Iveta and Redbaer both show up in this one.
September 18, 2026
4.75 stars
This was a great sequel. There is so much going on in this book. I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen next. There were some slow moments which is why it’s not a fully 5 star book. This is one of those books that you do have to pay attention to not a bad thing just to note. It was nice getting to know more about the characters. That was something that was missing in Book 1. The characters are well written. Hawley and Enelda Drake are just great characters. The way the epilogue went makes me think Book 3 is going to be even more exciting than this book. I have so many questions that I can’t wait to read about in the next book. I would highly recommend this series! I can't wait for the audiobook.
Thank you to NetGalley, Mark A. Latham, and Orbit for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This was a great sequel. There is so much going on in this book. I couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen next. There were some slow moments which is why it’s not a fully 5 star book. This is one of those books that you do have to pay attention to not a bad thing just to note. It was nice getting to know more about the characters. That was something that was missing in Book 1. The characters are well written. Hawley and Enelda Drake are just great characters. The way the epilogue went makes me think Book 3 is going to be even more exciting than this book. I have so many questions that I can’t wait to read about in the next book. I would highly recommend this series! I can't wait for the audiobook.
Thank you to NetGalley, Mark A. Latham, and Orbit for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews