The Black Book

The Cycle of the Scour, Book 2

By: Edward W. Robertson

Narrated by: Tim Gerard Reynolds

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

From USA Today best seller and Audie nominee for Best Fantasy Novel Edward W. Robertson comes book 2 of the hotly anticipated spin-off from the Cycle of Galand universe.

Cally and Rowe have scoured the demonic wights from Narashtovik. 

But during the war, Cally learned he can no longer be part of the pacifist Order that raised him to be a sorcerer. The pair has traveled south, seeking the true copy of The Cycle of Arawn - the artifact Cally believes can restore proper rule to Narashtovik. 

There's a few problems with this plan, though. For one, nobody's seen the true copy in decades. And another, in these lands, possessing a copy of the Cycle is rewarded with a quick trip to the hangman. If anyone finds out Cally can wield the dark arts of the nether, he'll wish all he got was hanged.

Hunting for the book in the Western Kingdoms, Cally and Rowe are arrested by the Inquisition and sentenced to serve them. Since the Inquisition tracks down banned books, Cally has a better chance to find his prize than ever. But one slip will cost him his life. As the Inquisition pursues its leads, it exposes a conspiracy that could be more devastating than the one that almost destroyed Narashtovik.

©2020 Edward W. Robertson (P)2020 Podium Audio

Average

I expected more especially at the end once it was all clear who was the cause of the trouble. I don't get why he didn't kill the inquisitor, the librarian and all others he could safely kill then leave to go help the basin. The order will do what they were doing over and over so logically it would make sense to kill them. I really don't get it, leaving enemies alive behind you for what so they can know to come after you, just dumb.

Another great cycle

Strong start to the Cycle of Cally. I love the details that keep you in touch with Dante.

Another Excellent Entry

This is another fantastic book by Edward. His fantasy stories are great and I absolutely love getting this backstory to the world.

pretty good

not. much character,development and he kills randomly killed Roe for no,apparent reason. its kind of a just mish mash story from Kali's past. biggest weakness was poor character development

Excellent!

Loving this series! Rowe getting Cally to realize some of the dumb stuff he says! Lol Listen to this book!

More cycle of Arawn!

As an avid fan of this series, Author, and narrator; I was ecstatic to jump back in to this world and it’s characters and was not disappointed! We get to continue the prequel series following Dante’s teacher and mentor, Calimandacus and his adventures as a young man. Call me a fanboy but I’ve enjoyed every minute and can’t wait for more!

Good but felt recycled

Good story and I enjoy the spinoff from the original Cycle, but this book felt like a repackaging of Dante's exploits in the Collen Basin. Still worth reading and it probably sets up the rest of the subsequent books, but I found myself thinking it felt repetitive.

Not as good as the first one.

They should have kept the same two main characters together. Not sure why they were separated for most of the story.

Love it!!!

As usual Edward W Robertson nails it. Just can’t wait for the next cycle of Galand to be released

I like this series so far

Good, a little strange, and not a perfect work of art, just good. I think it’s worth the credit and I think I’ll get the next one. Go for it

So jarring

Narration is great and the story is interesting.. But the book is awful. How can this be? Simple. It is written in first perspective, or as I like to call it "Diary mode". This is frankly something I dislike to begin with, no matter what, but can look past... What makes it incredibly jarring and honestly feels like a very odd decision, is to change from a third person writing style to a first person one, from one book to another. I often choose to read books based on whether they are written in first person or third person, so to now have read the start of series that I will not enjoy finishing, sucks. That said, Robertson is a genius writer and Reynolds is one of my top 5 narrators. Cycle of Arawn and Galand are two of my all time fave series and I've nothing but love for these guys. Sadly, shifting perspective like this has ruined it for me, so I'll just wait for his other book series.