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The Malorum Gates #2
Blackthorne
In this sweeping sequel to the critically acclaimed Cold Iron—which NPR Books raved, “reminded me, pleasurably, of Robin Hobb’s Assassin’s Apprentice series”—the Kingdom of Eledore has fallen and Nel and Suvi lead a diaspora of their people to safety, but the magic that has kept the demon forces away is dwindling, and they must find a new way to protect themselves.
The Acrasian army has swept through Eledore, nearly massacring the entire race in fear and hatred of the magic they possess. This same magic is all that was keeping the demon incursion at bay, but now the great evil that was banished is seeping into the world. Watchers are formed to warn of any sightings of the demons, but little can be done if one encounters them in shadow or at night.
Meanwhile, Nels leads a precious few hundred survivors of Eledore through the wilds, hoping to find solace and rebuild their civilization while his twin sister, Suvi, seeks allies at sea.
There is hope, born in the ashes of this devastation—a hope that Eledorian magic can grow, but only if they survive.
The Acrasian army has swept through Eledore, nearly massacring the entire race in fear and hatred of the magic they possess. This same magic is all that was keeping the demon incursion at bay, but now the great evil that was banished is seeping into the world. Watchers are formed to warn of any sightings of the demons, but little can be done if one encounters them in shadow or at night.
Meanwhile, Nels leads a precious few hundred survivors of Eledore through the wilds, hoping to find solace and rebuild their civilization while his twin sister, Suvi, seeks allies at sea.
There is hope, born in the ashes of this devastation—a hope that Eledorian magic can grow, but only if they survive.
706 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 2017
21 people are currently reading
507 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
June 14, 2017
I have been friends with Stina for well over 20 years so there is no way my opinions on this book can be taken as objective in any way. I've played in a D&D campaign that she ran based in this world. I've read an early version of this novel something like 10 years ago. There is a minor character in this book named after me. I am biased as all hell.
So anyway, this book is great. I read 100 pages the first night I cracked it open, and read no less than 100 pages a night from that point on. The story is fantastic, the expanded number of character viewpoints makes for extra fun reading, and even characters I don't like (Ilta) are fully fleshed out and seem real. The action sequences flow, the intrigue is gripping, and world-building is solid.
So anyway, this book is great. I read 100 pages the first night I cracked it open, and read no less than 100 pages a night from that point on. The story is fantastic, the expanded number of character viewpoints makes for extra fun reading, and even characters I don't like (Ilta) are fully fleshed out and seem real. The action sequences flow, the intrigue is gripping, and world-building is solid.
January 6, 2018
I really enjoyed the first book Cold Iron. However I found this one a much more difficult read. I felt less connected to the characters and seemed to care less about what happened to them.
For some reason I found the politics and human/not human conflicts more disjointed and confusing than the first book.
I will most likely continue with the series but I am am a bit disappointed with this book.
For some reason I found the politics and human/not human conflicts more disjointed and confusing than the first book.
I will most likely continue with the series but I am am a bit disappointed with this book.
October 9, 2017
Earlier this year, I was looking for a proper fantasy book, and ended up picking up 'Cold Iron'. And I ADORED it. Honestly, I loved the plot, the characters, the writing...
Upon finishing the book, I immediately raced to my nearest bookseller and asked them when the sequel would be out, and, oh my god, it was going to be out in less than a month! Imagine my excitement!
Sadly, lots of stuff happened since then (including moving to two different countries), and even though I got the book the day it came out, I just finished it yesterday.
Every time I start a book with expectations as high as they were, I'm terrified. Because how can this book live up to them? I expected it to be as good as the first one, while (at the same time) it would have to be different from it. So, as you can imagine, I was half-excited, half-terrified.
But, thankfully, there was absolutely no need to worry! I devoured every single page of this gorgeous book, loving every second of reading it. Even though it's massive (thank god for that), for me, it could be twice the size.
The first thing I've got to say is that I love how this book throws you right into the action. There's no slow build-up - immediately, you're immersed. For me, at least, that means a fair bit of confusion during the first couple of chapters, until I've completely sorted out what's going on, but I loved it!
'Blackthorne' follows the three main characters from the first book, in addition to giving you the POVs of a couple of other characters (some from the first book, some completely new). Two plotlines (New Eledore and Acrasia) run in parallel for the first part of the story, before merging in the end. The new characters (and their unknown backstories) add something new to the book, while (ever so often) you return to the familiar faces.
While the first book only brushed the 'malorum gates', the malorum threat becomes more dominant in this story, starting to overshadow the wars between the kingdoms. While the countries are on the brink of a second war, the military focus of the first book isn't as profound in 'Blackthorne' (sadly - I loved that part of book 1), but instead you're getting the slow rebuild of New Eledore and the entirely new POV from the inside of Acrasia. This book manages what all sequels try - being incredible, without being the same as the first book.
Another thing I love about Stina Leicht's writing is the representation. It's a fault of many high fantasy book that they are whitewashed/inherently and unreflectedly racist/straight... Not so here! While problematic behaviours still occur, it's always reflected and commented upon, with struggling characters and great dialogues. This book honestly does it so well - the only comparable example I can think of (in fantasy, at least) is 'All the Birds in the Sky'. So, massive thumbs up!
As you can probably tell, I could talk about this book for AGES, but I'll try to leave it here. 'Blackthorne' is an incredible, well-researched, wonderfully written book with great characters and a plot that will keep you on your toes the entire way through. I definitely cannot wait for the next book!
Upon finishing the book, I immediately raced to my nearest bookseller and asked them when the sequel would be out, and, oh my god, it was going to be out in less than a month! Imagine my excitement!
Sadly, lots of stuff happened since then (including moving to two different countries), and even though I got the book the day it came out, I just finished it yesterday.
Every time I start a book with expectations as high as they were, I'm terrified. Because how can this book live up to them? I expected it to be as good as the first one, while (at the same time) it would have to be different from it. So, as you can imagine, I was half-excited, half-terrified.
But, thankfully, there was absolutely no need to worry! I devoured every single page of this gorgeous book, loving every second of reading it. Even though it's massive (thank god for that), for me, it could be twice the size.
The first thing I've got to say is that I love how this book throws you right into the action. There's no slow build-up - immediately, you're immersed. For me, at least, that means a fair bit of confusion during the first couple of chapters, until I've completely sorted out what's going on, but I loved it!
'Blackthorne' follows the three main characters from the first book, in addition to giving you the POVs of a couple of other characters (some from the first book, some completely new). Two plotlines (New Eledore and Acrasia) run in parallel for the first part of the story, before merging in the end. The new characters (and their unknown backstories) add something new to the book, while (ever so often) you return to the familiar faces.
While the first book only brushed the 'malorum gates', the malorum threat becomes more dominant in this story, starting to overshadow the wars between the kingdoms. While the countries are on the brink of a second war, the military focus of the first book isn't as profound in 'Blackthorne' (sadly - I loved that part of book 1), but instead you're getting the slow rebuild of New Eledore and the entirely new POV from the inside of Acrasia. This book manages what all sequels try - being incredible, without being the same as the first book.
Another thing I love about Stina Leicht's writing is the representation. It's a fault of many high fantasy book that they are whitewashed/inherently and unreflectedly racist/straight... Not so here! While problematic behaviours still occur, it's always reflected and commented upon, with struggling characters and great dialogues. This book honestly does it so well - the only comparable example I can think of (in fantasy, at least) is 'All the Birds in the Sky'. So, massive thumbs up!
As you can probably tell, I could talk about this book for AGES, but I'll try to leave it here. 'Blackthorne' is an incredible, well-researched, wonderfully written book with great characters and a plot that will keep you on your toes the entire way through. I definitely cannot wait for the next book!
May 12, 2020
It's a great book about a bunch of people sitting around with their thumbs in their asses vaguely alluding to how bad things are and how much their personal lives suck. The only redeeming quality of the previous book that inspired hope in me was the banter and overall chemistry between Viktor and Nels, both of whom have devolved into an extremely boring iteration of themselves, surrounded by a bunch of equally meandering characters who do nothing and say nothing of value. Stina has the technicals of writing down, but she needs to make her characters more engaging. They might even be interesting if they actually did something, but this book is just shy of seven hundred pages of self-indulgent fart-sniffing where characters talk about how grave/important things are when the plot never demonstrates that. The first book rushes us through the collapse of an entire kingdom while this book crawls at the pace of a snail around a bunch of people squatting in a mountain village sipping tea and getting drunk. What the hell is this? The first book was a guttering flame that promised to be something. This book is a slow burn where the only source of heat is the tiny, infinitesimally small tip of a candle wick that's still smoldering. I torture myself with genuinely awful books frequently because, quite frankly, there is something to be amused by. Here was not the case. It was so inescapably boring that I would rather watch paint dry to pass the time. I nearly DNF'd this it was so dull, the only thing that kept me going was the promise that I'd understand the true depths of it's awfulness. And now I do. And therefore, so do you. And neither of our lives are better because of it.
November 6, 2023
Absolutely loved this book. Much more than the first book, which was already excellent. The subversion of expectations that goes on by remapping the POV characters is exceptional. . There are a bunch of POV characters and Leicht lays out all sorts of breadcrumbs on how their paths are going to collide and yet We expect these beats because that is how stories work but better storytelling is to show how often these roads do not terminate where expected. Blackthorne is just an incredible character. In some ways, reminds me of Fitz from Robin Hobb's novels, with how broken his past has made him. But still with that heart of compassion underneath all the pain.
February 19, 2023
Whereas the first book took me about 11 nights to read, this one took nearly a full month. That is a bit of an issue, since I'm trying to read 36 books this year. Some nights when I went to bed I couldn't even bring myself to pick it up and just went to sleep. Other nights I managed thirty minutes of reading.
I think most of it comes down to this story being a lot more disjointed because it may have been trying to do too much. You've got story lines for Blackthorn, Nels, Ilta, Suvi, Dylan, and a few others all trying to make headway into the main plot. The author is using this book to open up the world building even more and build towards what seems like an obvious third book. This one is almost entirely set up for pay off in the next installment. As such, it seems like very little actually gets accomplished here. Lots of threads are open, things are getting bleak, and Acrasia is a pretty shit place to live but so is everywhere.
Personally, it could have used a stronger narrative to tie it all together to feel like all the plot lines drove towards one end here. The pivotal mission at the end didn't really drive the plot and really felt more like "They got on a boat, went here, and did this thing." Anticlimactic, really.
Heavy on the world building and setup, light on the cohesive plot. Very few payoffs here.
I think most of it comes down to this story being a lot more disjointed because it may have been trying to do too much. You've got story lines for Blackthorn, Nels, Ilta, Suvi, Dylan, and a few others all trying to make headway into the main plot. The author is using this book to open up the world building even more and build towards what seems like an obvious third book. This one is almost entirely set up for pay off in the next installment. As such, it seems like very little actually gets accomplished here. Lots of threads are open, things are getting bleak, and Acrasia is a pretty shit place to live but so is everywhere.
Personally, it could have used a stronger narrative to tie it all together to feel like all the plot lines drove towards one end here. The pivotal mission at the end didn't really drive the plot and really felt more like "They got on a boat, went here, and did this thing." Anticlimactic, really.
Heavy on the world building and setup, light on the cohesive plot. Very few payoffs here.
March 16, 2025
So I liked the previous book because it focused on Nels.
But here, Nels’ POV is more intermittent, and he seems antagonistic at some points. Instead, we focus on Blackthorne. Blackthorne is basically discovering who he is throughout the story; we learn bits of his history over time. Because of Blackthorne, we focus more on Acrasia society.
So it’s great if you like piecing together a narrative about a character, but this development is far too slow. I’m not sure why I should care about characters like Emily Drake, for example.
And the ending felt incomplete. We see (on a narrative level), Blackthorne discovers himself, Nels & his gang defeat an evil - but it leaves more room for a sequel.
What is going to happen to Eledore? We don’t see how they will become a kingdom of their own again. Where does Blackthorne go? Didn’t Ilta’s grandmother want the twins to do a ritual in the first book? We never hit that stage.
And this is marketed as a duology - I think there is a room for a third book. So 2/5 for a disappointing ending.
But here, Nels’ POV is more intermittent, and he seems antagonistic at some points. Instead, we focus on Blackthorne. Blackthorne is basically discovering who he is throughout the story; we learn bits of his history over time. Because of Blackthorne, we focus more on Acrasia society.
So it’s great if you like piecing together a narrative about a character, but this development is far too slow. I’m not sure why I should care about characters like Emily Drake, for example.
And the ending felt incomplete. We see (on a narrative level), Blackthorne discovers himself, Nels & his gang defeat an evil - but it leaves more room for a sequel.
What is going to happen to Eledore? We don’t see how they will become a kingdom of their own again. Where does Blackthorne go? Didn’t Ilta’s grandmother want the twins to do a ritual in the first book? We never hit that stage.
And this is marketed as a duology - I think there is a room for a third book. So 2/5 for a disappointing ending.
November 15, 2024
Started 11-8-24; finished 11-15-24.Book 2 of this series starts about 20 years after the first one (Cold Iron) ended. The Eldorean tribe has been defeated and their home village has been destroyed. New characters appear; new battles take place; political intrigue continues; surprise relationships occur. Apparently the 2 books are all that there is in this series. But, damn, I wanted to know so much more about these people. (Always leave them wanting more!) This book was released in 2017. I sure hope Ms. Leicht is working on a 3rd book, although her website doesn't mention it, but I can hope, can't I? This book is 700 pages; book 1 was 650. I'm in the mood for a 750 page book!!!
May 30, 2018
I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I had read the first one but I remember liking it fine, but not much of the plot. Leicht's world building is thorough but not overbearing. The characters are diverse in a way that feels grounded in reality. Race, gender, sexuality, ability, and motivation. There were a couple things I personally found annoying but they are small and nit-picky.
If you like fantasy of the urban other world with a 17/1800s feel (NOT STEAMPUNK THANK GOD!) then this book is for you.
If you like fantasy of the urban other world with a 17/1800s feel (NOT STEAMPUNK THANK GOD!) then this book is for you.
September 5, 2017
This book would have been a lot better if it had been significantly shorter. It was trying to achieve far too much at once, and as a result lacked both focus and depth. There were entire subplots and at least one fairly major character which seemed to be relatively pointless. It wasn't terrible, but it also wasn't nearly as good as Stina Leicht's other books, including the book that preceded this one in the series.
November 27, 2017
I wish this book did not suffer from middle-of-the-series-itus. I loved Cold Iron, but this sequel lacks focus. As is typical of contemporary, fat-fantasy novels, it jumps from character to character, never giving you any satisfying depth. Still, I really like certain characters—Nels and Suvi return from the first book, along with the new title character Blackthorne. I just wish the plot had been tighter and more coherent.
September 5, 2023
Leicht's follow up to Cold Iron is a strange book. Strange in that I really loved the world building and the characters, but the pacing was odd and the end felt rather anticlimactic. There were a lot of factions to keep track of and it got confusing at times figuring out who was aligned with whom and what their interests were. The fact that it's not medieval fantasy, but has a 17th-century tech level was a good plus. Overall, it was good, but I couldn't quite call it great.
July 8, 2019
Book 2 in a series, I was excited to continue reading this series. While Nels and Suvi are still main characters, a few new POV’s were added including Blackthorne and Drake. We get to see more of the human side of this world and the Eledoreans try to pick up the pieces of their country. Blackthorne is an interesting character and I enjoyed his arc. Drake on the other hand, not a fan. I will say the plot is a bit meandering in this series (I mean, each book is like 700 pages) and several storylines were left very much open, and not in a good way. I haven’t seen anything about the next in the series and I’m undecided if I will pick it up. If it comes out in the near future, probably. But if it is years? Nope.
September 12, 2017
Well written and a good story, but I had a hard time getting through it. Read several other books between chapters in this one, and that's unusual for me. The pace felt off, and the two distinct storylines rarely meshed.
February 19, 2020
I found this book confusing and disjointed, then boring. I struggled through the first one and hoped this one would be better but not to be. Finding out there is no book three on the horizon made me lose all motivation to continue. Did not finish it, which is rare for me.
April 17, 2021
A good sequel to Cold Iron. Introduced new characters while expanding on the old. And in the end, I was satisfied. Not a cliffhanger, but leaves the question of “What’s next?” Overall one of the better sequels I’ve read.
December 29, 2021
3.25/5
February 21, 2023
IS THERE A BOOK 3? This book has no ending. SOOOO frustrating
April 22, 2025
Are there any updates on book 3?
September 13, 2017
This is secondary-world military fantasy, with complex and detailed worldbuilding. The titular is an escaped killing machine, now trying to decide how much of his psychological indoctrination he can discard, and what he will replace it with. It's the second part of a series, so I'm not sure how much of it would be comprehensible without the first book (Cold Iron), but if you've got the time and inclination for a couple big meaty books, these would be a good choice.
April 27, 2020
When does the next one come out?!
The mix in of some Asian religious stuff was a bit annoying and unfortunate at this time in World history.
I do like the twist this book offers on these night things and the main character.
So far my favorite "land" is the pirate/viking people and then the people who used to be able to mind dominate. I'm wondering if the next book will have more about the smith. I was a bit surprised that not a whole lot was said about him. There were hints his story would become a bigger part of these but his personality really did n't come through just what he did/how getting him out caused a lot of issues! I'm wondering what Blackthornes Brotherhood friend is going to do now.
The mix in of some Asian religious stuff was a bit annoying and unfortunate at this time in World history.
I do like the twist this book offers on these night things and the main character.
So far my favorite "land" is the pirate/viking people and then the people who used to be able to mind dominate. I'm wondering if the next book will have more about the smith. I was a bit surprised that not a whole lot was said about him. There were hints his story would become a bigger part of these but his personality really did n't come through just what he did/how getting him out caused a lot of issues! I'm wondering what Blackthornes Brotherhood friend is going to do now.
did-not-finish
May 9, 2018I lost most motivation to read the rest of book 2. I really liked this series, but it seems it is on hiatus. As per the author's blog, there is no 3rd book in the foreseeable future.
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