Book Review: Ten Arrows of Iron by Sam Sykes

Ten Arrows of Iron follows Seven Blades in Black in the series The Grave of Empires by Sam Sykes and continues the story of Sal the Cacophony. Being a fan of the first one I had to check out the second. Here's the Goodreads blurb:

The second novel in an epic fantasy trilogy that follows an unforgettable outcast mage caught between two warring empires.

Sal the Cacophony-outlaw, outcast, outnumbered-destroys all that she loves. Her lover lost and cities burned in her wake, all she has left is her magical gun and her all-consuming quest for revenge against those who stole her power and took the sky from her.

When the roguish agent of a mysterious patron offers her the chance to participate in a heist to steal an incredible power from the famed airship fleet, the Ten Arrows, she finds a new purpose. But a plot to save the world by bringing down empires swiftly escalates into a conspiracy of magic and vengeance that threatens to burn everything to ash, including herself.

Read on for my full review.

Overall Impression

This was a pretty good book. For many reasons I had to take several long pauses while reading so it took me a while to finish, but each time I went back to it I was hooked. There is an intriguing plot combining some of the main aspects in the prior book (magi-technology, airships, giant birds, eldritch horror) but also adding in some thievery and heist elements. The frame story doesn't work as well this time, but the characters and setting are still interesting.

Plot

Similarly to Seven Blades in Black, this is a frame story where Sal is telling the tale of how they got to the present. However, it doesn't flow as smoothly between the two narratives compared to the prior novel except towards the very end. Added to this are a couple of flashback scenes of Red Cloud's life and you get some significant whiplash as you go back and forth. This does get better towards the finale, though, as the flashbacks are over and the story and frame story converge. The narrative is interesting throughout, but it's trying to do a lot all at once.

In terms of the plot, this is still following Sal the Cacophony's journey of revenge. In her quest for more names to track down, she joins a group of thieves with some lofty goals to steal a prize from the heart of the Revolution's flying armada. It's pretty ambitious but unlike other heist stories I keep thinking our characters are wholly unprepared for it (especially Sal).

Characters

We generally have a new cast of characters with the exception of Sal and Liette. We have another Freemaker, Two Lonely Old Men, which briefly appeared in the prior novel, as well as Jero, Agne, Urda, and Yria. These group has a lot of intriguing aspects and each character is distinctly unique and original. Sykes was certainly having fun designing these characters; they feel almost like a Dungeons and Dragons adventuring group, but with severe flaws to balance their strengths. You can't help but cheer them on in one page and then scream at them in the next.

Setting / World Building

The world of Ten Arrows of Iron is the same as it's predecessor novel, with a lawless land torn between two the Imperium of Cathama and its mages and the Glorious Revolution of Fist and Flame and its magitech army. The prior book dealt heavily with the Vagrants, the nature of magic and the Barter, and the Imperium. Here we switch focus to the cities and towns living in the Scar in a precarious balance between Imperium and Revolution as well as learning more about the mysterious Relics that power the Revolution.

We also get to see some massive airships. It's impressive the level of technology used by the Revolution and how it matches against the frightful magic of the Imperium. You get a sense that these really are two great forces at play and they can't really go all out and destroy the other. The Ten Arrows, curiously enough, refers to the airship armada used by the Revolution and the story revolves around them and the precious cargo they are transporting. I kept imagining them to be small airships like something from a Final Fantasy game, with a crew of no more than 20, or maybe something like a steampunk dirigible. But it's clear that these are massive ships, more akin to aircraft carriers with huge decks and plenty of room for epic battles.

Final Thoughts

This was a fun read. I regret not being able to dedicate the time to finish it quickly and my enjoyment may have suffered due to that- I had to remember what was going on and probably lost a lot of details with that. That being said, the story was fun and while the frame story/flashback/plot made me loose track of some things, it still worked well enough. The characters are very interesting and all broken in classic Sykes fashion. And the setting is fascinating, with lots of potential. It'll be interesting to see how the series continues to progress in this world.