The second book is not as good as the first one. Even though this second book is "action-packed".
The author makes, the main character, Armon and his group, get abducted and robbed but by the way that the author wrote it (premonition and still insists on getting abducted and robbed) and then locked into a room by the town of thieves and then just like that, they voluntarily empty their inventories, all this written in this way, makes it incredibly ridiculous to believe.Then, while trying to escape, for example, Kitsune and Mary injure one of the bandit guards and yet the author writes that they do not know what happened (when in a party the display shows amount of injury or death of opponents and points gained all of the time when they are in a party). Then they dungeon delve, learn new skills in a beat-folk territory, etc…. as if they really had nothing better to do with their time (and the reader’s time as well)...
I feel that the priority in the second book should have been towards the rescue of the survivors of the Red Hands Kobolds Massacre. But the author sure takes his time. Stopping at every possible place, rescuing and being abducted-robbed by bandits, learning Smithing, etc. while the few little Kobolds enslaved are running out of time and probably dying out from the tortures and new massacres of the Empire’s slave lords.
I feel that the difference between book one and book two basically resides in that book two has a lot of fan service from the author to his sponsors. This is probably why, book two lacks cohesion, lacks drive towards their main plot arc. Not only have they not rescued the enslaved red-hand Kobolds, Kitsune has not returned to her island kingdom either.
The author makes the main character write to his closest acquaintances, only to give up his tablet communicator to the bandits. So why then write? Why get captured and robbed if it was than irregular/out of the way to help a lady in distress found by the roadside?