Lament of the Fallen - The Last Bucelarii: Book 2 [Book Review]

Genre - (Dark) Fantasy
Year Published - 2016
Length - 376 (digital) pages
Written by Andy Peloquin

Rating: 4 Skulls

Plot Summary:
The Hunter of Voramis is no more.

Alone with the bloodthirsty voices in his head, fleeing the pain of loss, he has one objective; travel North to find her, the mystery woman who plagues his dreams and haunts his memories.

When he stumbles upon a bandit attack, something within urges him to help. His actions set him at odds with the warrior priests commanded to hunt down the Bucelarii.

Left for dead, the Hunter must travel to Malandria to recover his stolen birthright. There, he is inexorably drawn into direct conflict with the Order of Midas, the faceless, nameless group of magicians that hold the city in a grip of terror.
All the while struggling to silence the ever-louder voice in his mind that drives him to kill.

Review:
In this sequel to 'Blade of the Destroyer', we discover the ramifications of The Hunter killing his victims with his blade, Soulhunger.

When we last left The Hunter, he had burned his city to the ground and every man of The Bloody Hand along with it. He had killed the Demon of Voramis and his Dark Heresy. Fleeing the city that he lived in for decades, The Hunter is now at war with the voices in his head, demanding blood.

If you read my review of the first book in this series, you will notice that I rated this book 1-star less. The reason for this is that The Hunter is not the same as he was in the first book. (I understand that he is going through a personal journey, and that is why this book still received 4-stars - the journey is great!) My biggest issue is that The Hunter is [***slight spoiler***] the whole book (it is kind of like reading a story about your favorite super hero, without their super powers). This caused a few seemingly erratic moments for me - particularly when The Hunter has a problem with two street thugs, and yet soon thereafter he has not much of a problem with three trained assassins!

Aside from the above, the storytelling in this book is still top notch! Having The Hunter battle his conscious regarding needless killing, and placing the majority of the story in Malandria (City of a Thousand Spires) worked for me. I am still definitely looking forward to the 3rd book in this series ('Gateway to the Past') coming out next year!

Jason