Dave Gross continues the adventures of Count Varian Jeggare and his hellspawn bodyguard, Radovan in this charming - and surprisingly sweet - wuxia tribute.

Sent to far off lands, Varian finds himself in training at a monastery whilst Radovan - supposed dead - is in fact terrorising the land as a fearsome devil. Can the friends reunite before the kingdom falls?

I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than its predecessor - Gross seems more confident with his characters and less inclined to hammer home their character traits.

The pace is fast, and the alternating chapters work well - both perspectives are interesting. The world itself, like most Pathfinder constructions, feels real. It's comfortable, but with enough unique flair to make it interesting. In this case, the similarities to Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds are readily apparent (and welcome).

Perhaps the most surprising part of the book was Gross' willingness to give his characters a sense of pathos, if not tragedy. Of course, this is not out of place in a Wuxia novel, but such... emotional landscapes are rare in adapted fantasy, let alone sword and sorcery novels. I really, really appreciated it, and the fact that you can have a bit of light and dark without thousands of pages of melodrama. Pathfinder Tales continues to impress me. ( )

This was an amazing read. Dave Gross does an incredible job of bringing a wuxia feel to the story. I enjoyed viewing the journeys of the two protagonists, but I particularly loved the third perspective provided. As a role-player familiar with the Pathfinder universe, I was also pleased by the literary descriptions of a world I'm used to seeing from a game mechanics perspective. ( )