Shadowblack

By: Sebastien de Castell

Narrated by: Joe Jameson

Length: 9 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's Summary

A failed mage turned outlaw must use guile and a handful of spells to challenge a dangerous rival in the second audiobook of an exciting adventure fantasy series from Sebastien de Castell.

Forced to live as an outlaw, Kellen relies on his wits and his allies to survive the unforgiving borderlands. When he meets a young woman cursed with a deadly plague, he feels compelled to help. But her secrets draw powerful enemies, and it's not long before Kellen is entangled in a conspiracy of blackmail, magic, and murder. 

As the bodies begin to pile up, Kellen fears he's next. 

The second novel in a compelling six-title series, bursting with tricks, humor, and a whole new way to look at magic.

Spellslinger series:

• Spellslinger
• Shadowblack
• Charmcaster

For more from Sebastien de Castell, check out:

The Greatcoats quartet:

• Traitor's Blade
• Saint's Blood
• Knight's Shadow
• Tyrant's Throne

©2018 Sebastien de Castell (P)2018 Hachette Audio

hooked...

accidentally started on book 2 but love the narrators voice and was hooked just from the preview. Now that book 2 is done, I'm off to buy book one and figure out how it all began. have been telling everyone I know about this book in the last 24 hours. finished it within 48 on audibles.

Great sequel- Keeps the pace from the last book

When it comes to sequels there is always a tipping point after the first book. Many simply fall flat, and can never match what made the first book good. That's not the case with Shadowblack. This book takes the riding off into the sunset finish of the last book and crashes it back down into reality.

I'd say the only draw back is the first 15- 20 minutes where the author is trying to acclimate the reader to the characters.

As for the narrator, the guy was just as good as last time.

I adore this narrator! The story is fantastic!

I love the exemplary narration of this book! The characters are portrayed incredibly vividly and with superb empathy. The plot has many twists, lots of humor, and layers upon layers of complications our poor hero must survive. Some moments are very dark, but the author seems to tip the scales so that the underdog doesn’t lose everything. There’s still hope!
There are magical duels, political schemes, battles of wits, mysteries to solve, hints of romance mixed with adolescent awkwardness, and very funny moments throughout. Our hero is an anti-hero in that most everything goes wrong, but that’s where the humor really shines. I recommend this book for upper YA through adult listeners.

love this series

I love this series, it has excitement and drama and other than a few choice words it would be a great family listen.

I love De Castell, but this book stalls.

I love Sebastien de Castell, I read all the Greatcoats books and then went searching for more of his books. I enjoyed the first in this series, Spellslinger. So I was eager to continue the story. Unfortunately, Shadowblack kinda stalls. I'm not a fan of books where the whole thing could have just been summed up in a chapter without any real loss.

The problem here is there is not much progress made in the story. The characters don't really go anywhere. Almost 9 hours of sitting, talking, fretting, the characters doing the same thing and acting the same way, over and over. We get it. By this point, we know who they are and what notes they play. We don't need to get hit over the head with it hour after hour. I was ready to move forward. I was ready to see Kellen learn something new, gain some new power, progress emotionally. On a scale of 1-10, it's like we saw him move from a 2 to a 2.2, not nearly enough to warrant a full book. And definitely not exciting enough to make me rush into the next book. In fact, I might just stop here and call it good. Maybe read another ten books and think about coming back... it's unfortunate, but that's how this book left me, despite my love of Castell.

Better

This book was better than the first one. The MC still often acts younger than he is, but he is at least a little less expecting of others to do things for him and less whiney about it.

the beginning as a little slow. however ..

then the fight took off on a new adventure.. join Us for another adventure in the Magic of Sebastien's Mind.. I had a hard time stopping this book.. it was totally worth it.. on to the next..
💙✌🏾

Good Sequel!.

Such a good sequel to an amazing story! can't wait for book three. let's go!.

Great sequel leading to an even better third

With this sequel the spellslinger world was opened up and gave us even greater settings. As always, Joe Jameson brings every character to life. In the end though, the story was more to set up for the next which I hope is even better.

Outstanding, Double Outstanding

Lord I need some sleep even as I start book 3. I do sooooo love the squirrel-cat. Ok, can't wait to get started, I'm off to insomnia.