The City of Zirdai Review: The Pros and Cons of Waking an Ancient Power

July 5, 2021 by Bec | 4 stars, Books, Reviews

The City of Zirdai Review: The Pros and Cons of Waking an Ancient PowerThe City of Zirdai Series: Archives of the Invisible Sword #2
Published by Harlequin on June 2nd, 2021
Source: Publisher
Genres: Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic, New Adult
Amazon | Book Depository | Publisher | Angus & Robertson | Booktopia | Barnes & Noble
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Through her courage and tenacity, Shyla Sun-Kissed has awoken the power of The Eyes of Tamburah. But this feat only marks the beginning of the challenges that the magical order, the Invisible Sword, faces to free the underground city of Zirdai.

Though they have allies among the monks and splinter cells inside the city, Shyla knows the Invisible Sword doesn't have the strength to win. With the group fracturing due to the strain of losses from their latest ordeal, thinly veiled suspicions and endless disagreements, it's up to Shyla to forge a new united order.

When both the draconian Water Prince and brutal Heliacal Priestess learn of Shyla's new powers, life becomes even more complicated as they will stop at nothing to capture Shyla and take the magic of The Eyes for themselves. Hunted at every turn and unable to hide, Shyla and the Invisible Sword must use every resource at their command - and unearth new ones - in their race to save the city from destruction. But their enemies always seem to be one step ahead. And the cost to win the battle may be more than Shyla would ever be willing to pay...

The Good Things

  • Sequel to The Eyes of Tamburah, Maria V Snyder’s new NA fantasy series.
  • I really enjoyed the exploration of the magic! Shyla’s new abilities with the Eye’s, and the moral dilemmas they put her in, were very interesting!
  • We got to know the side characters better! They’re some of the most fascinating and complicated characters in the story.
  • Like always, Maria V Snyder’s writing flows so well. She makes it so easy to binge a 400+ page novel in less than 24 hours.
  • The romance continued to be slow burn! It’s the type of romance that develops over multiple books, which is my favourite type of romance to read.
  • The plot at the end was so intense! It took turns I wasn’t expecting the story to take and ended in a place I didn’t think we’d see so soon. It’s such a good ending. I’m really curious to see where things go in book 3.

 

The Not-So-Good Things

  • The pace is a bit slower than book 1, at least in the beginning, but I don’t think it was that much of a detriment.
  • Once again, I wanted more Rendor! I was expecting him to be in this one more and he wasn’t. Here’s hoping for more of him in book three, haha!

 

While the start was a little bit slower than the first book in the series, I devoured this book. I loved getting to explore more of the characters and magic. I’m really curious to see where the story will go next.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Thank you Harlequin Australia for providing a copy of this book for an Instagram book tour! You can see my tour post hereThe City of Zirdai is out now!

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Bec is an Aussie blogger and reader who loves all types of novels. Fantasy, sci fi, and historical are my usual go-to genres. If I’m not binge reading, I’m usually gaming, trying to take decent photos for bookstagram, or freaking out about silly things.

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