A Dance of Blades

A Dance of Blades by David Dalglish
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST!

So, in this second book of the Shadowdance series, we meet Aaron again, but this time he uses the name Haern. Five years have passed since the Kensgold when Thren failed to win the war.
The Trifect and the Guilds still tip toe around each other, none of them daring to strike. Thren's power have lessened but his reputation still lives. And there is the Watcher - a mysterious, skilled shadow of a man - killing members of the guilds but for what reason?
Haern, believed dead, is in this book searching for a purpose and the person he wants to become. He's haunted by his memory of his father (Thren) and have no friends. The streets are his home and hunger a constant companion. However, it gets better ;)
There is also something wrong, and it all leads back to the Gemcrofts. Alyssa will have to learn much to survive in the world of Veldaren.

The book had everything in it I liked from the first book and still brought in new elements. The language/writing style was more developed, which means not only great action (the first had that) but also great storytelling. Dalglish seemed surer about this story and how he wanted to tell it. Still I didn't get "inside" the world before the end. But, it was worth the wait.