Once again, Joe Lyon produces a fascinating and interesting in-depth fantasy novel in the second installment of his Astar’s Blade series. As with the first book in the series, The Provenance, Kilmer’s Ghost does not skimp on the details, making it feel like a fantastical history reading mixed with high fantasy story telling and an absolutely glorious world building.
Many of the characters of this second installment are carried over from the first book, though more detail is given to their lives as we find out what happened to them in later years. We also get to experience with them a few prophetic experiences that continue to keep the story interesting.
I had thought the first Astar’s Blade book had ended rather abruptly but seeing how the second novel picks up; I have to state that I am dazzled with the series as it stands now and am looking forward to more installments. Lyon does a perfect job of answering questions that were left unanswered in the first book, in fact this whole second novel is just a delight if you are the curious type who just needs to know as much about a world’s history as you can.
Now while this is a perfectly amazing high fantasy novel, there are a couple scenes that may have some more sensitive readers uncomfortable. These being instances of suicide and a bit of non-consent on the side of a man with the involvement of a female demon. While these aspects may make some people uncomfortable, they fit well in the world and are parts of the story, not simply placed there for the shock value many writers try to drag people in with. Beyond these possible triggering aspects for some people, the story has only the usual fantasy violence you expect to find in a fantasy novel.
In short, the answer to what you are really looking at reviews to answer though is that this book is very much worth reading, though make sure you read the first book in this series so you do not get lost! Joe Lyon’s work is certainly worth paying attention to, keep an eye on him.
I found this book on Reedsy Discovery https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/kilmer-s-ghost-joe-lyon?utm_medium=email&utm_source=transactional&utm_campaign=mandrill#review