I think I read this book in one day. A really compelling trilogy. Sakar, Ardhi and Sorrel are on a journey to Ardhi's homeland - Sakar and Sorrel against their will. They need to learn to trust each other if they are going to save both sides of the world. ( )

Very much a bridging novel, this brings our heroes to Ardhi's homeland where he has to deal with what he let happen and what he is going to do now. He has fallen for Sorrell and so has Saker but he doesn't want to offer her anything where he has no future. The truth about sorcerers is discovered and many of the people in the story will have to band together to fight the evil that lurks.

Interesting, I really want to read the rest of the series. ( )

I read The Dagger’s Path immediately after finishing the first book of this series, The Lascar’s Dagger. I enjoyed the first book, but this one really made me want to read other books by Glenda Larke.

I love fantasy books with non-traditional settings (Throne of the Crescent Moon, Elizabeth Bear’s Eternal Sky trilogy), and this book includes a lot of that. The first book is set in a fairly standard European-inspired fantasy setting (albeit with a secondary character that’s most definitely not European), but in this book, the secondary character becomes one of the main protagonists, and we visit his home and see it through both foreign and native eyes. The Chendarwasi islands and the Spicerie are inspired by Indonesia and Malaysia, and there are quite a few literal references to their language and culture (I read in an interview that the author’s husband is Malay and his culture inspired this book).

I also liked the characters quite a bit. The three main protagonists are Saker, the rakish priest/spy who usually has the best of intentions but ends up in pickles regularly, Ardhi, the titular “lascar” who is atoning for the terrible consequences brought upon his people by his naivete, and Sorrel, the woman that accidentally murdered her abusive husband and is finding that she is an incredibly tough and resourceful person. The secondary characters also feel like people I’ve gotten to know pretty well, despite the shorter page time – Mathilda, the princess that will do anything to gain power in a world that refuses to recognise that women can be trusted to hold it, Ryce, the prince that struggles with feeling weak for doing the right thing, Gerelda, the unflappable lawyer and her charge Peregrine, who has a burden beyond his years, Fritillary Reeding, the tough religious head who is determined to keep darkness from claiming her lands, Lord Juster the flamboyant privateer who is pragmatic until someone threatens his beloved ship.

I was worried about some elements of the plot in The Lascar’s Dagger – the generic evil seemed a bit too derivative, and some characters that we were supposed to like made some questionable decisions. After this book, though, I’m no longer worried – Larke uses the “generic evil” tropes rather cleverly, and the characters in question either realized that their decisions were suspect or fully committed to the dubious path. The book moved pretty quickly, and most of the outstanding questions from the first book were answered (something I always appreciate in a middle book of a trilogy), but of course, they raised a whole bunch of new ones.

The Dagger’s Path isn’t flawless – some of the characters flip-flop between attitudes too often (Sorrel’s emotions regarding Ardhi and Ardhi’s conviction regarding his ultimate fate, for example), everyone likes Saker way too much and too quickly, but it’s compelling and fun. I’d really like the third book now, please. ( )

The Dagger's Path by Glenda Larke is the sequel to The Lascar's Dagger, and book two in the trilogy. I enjoyed the first book a lot and was not disappointed by this continuation. Note that this isn't the kind of series that you can read out of order; if you haven't read book one, start there.


It should have been easy -- return the stolen feather and restore Ardhi back to his rightful place. But when Saker, Ardhi, Sorrel, and Piper arrive to find the island in chaos, returning just the one feather will not help -- not when the other three have mysteriously disappeared as well.
As Saker and Ardhi work to mend the distrust caused by Ardhi's betrayal and attempt to retrieve the other feathers, they slowly find a sort of peace with the islanders. That is, until Saker realizes they unintentionally led the Spice traders straight to the sacred island they were hoping to protect. Now Saker must fight with both the Va witchery and Chenderawasi magic to defend everything that Ardhi holds dear. But Saker's powers are very new, and their enemies have them surrounded.

Obviously, The Dagger's Path continues the story started in The Lascar's Dagger, following Saker, Sorrel and Ardhi on their journey to the Va-forsaken hemisphere (not a spoiler because did any of us really think the magic would let Sorrel do anything other than keep travelling with the other protagonists?). In the first half of the book, however, we are also introduced to two new characters who I also rather liked.

The new characters are a lawyer working for the clergy and a young boy who crosses her path. I was surprised at how much of the early part of the book focused on them, but I also really enjoyed it. As well as letting us know what's happening "back home" (though there are also the royal points of view there) they have their own part to play in the whole "saving the world" narrative. The stakes for which, by the way, are significantly higher than it seemed in the first book.

Where in the first book a lot of the focus was on Ardhi's quest, in The Dagger's Path it starts to take a back seat to greater goings-on (although obviously it's still very important to Ardhi). We learn more about the Horned Death plague and why the bad guy is so dangerous and evil. As always, Larke presents a compelling world, all the more so now that we get to see more of it. The Va-forsaken hemisphere is partly what we expected from the first book, but also Ardhi's home country was more surprising than expected. So that was cool. And I like how the quest segued into the set up for the last volume of the series.

I really love all of Glenda Larke's books, and this latest instalment in her latest series is absolutely no exception. If you enjoyed The Lascar's Dagger, why haven't you read it yet? And if you haven't, then go pick it up and start this wonderful series. Especially if you want something other than yet another medieval European-set fantasy in your life. Larke's fantasy worlds are some of the best I've come across.

4.5 / 5 stars

Read more reviews on my blog. ( )