Title: The Beast Hunters Dark Sovereign by Christer Lende
Published by: Independently Published
Publication date: 15th November 2022
Genre: Fantasy
Amazon UK – Amazon US
Synopsis:
A mysterious corpse, beastly assassins, and a basement full of cadavers dissolving in acid lead the beast hunters towards an enigmatic candidate, favourite to claim the throne of Ashbourn.
Despite not wanting to get involved in the coming coronation, Ara and the two beast hunters cannot deny the beastly nature of the clues they discover. Ara must adopt fake personas, infiltrate political galas, and pursue shadowy assassins. Still, the candidate’s monstrous nature eludes her. With the future of Ashbourn at stake, Ara has to solve the mystery before the new king is crowned.
Strangely, Ara’s abilities from Cornstead seem connected with the incidents that transpire during their investigation. Whispers in her mind foretell of sinister events, which she slowly sees come to life. The venom that grants her powers, seems to intertwine her fate with the dark creature threatening to be crowned king.
The second book in The Beast Hunter of Ashbourn series, Dark Sovereign offers a grand conspiracy, building on the events from the first book. Can Ara escape her connection to the ominous entity manipulating the Capital?
My review:
I am so glad I read this while I was on holiday because I don’t think I’d have been able to concentrate on anything else, much less put the book down. It’s an incredibly action-packed sequel, with multiple POVs that keep the story progressing and new monsters that will have you hungrily turning the pages. Christer Lende has created a fantastic world and filled it with characters you’ll instantly fall in love with.
One thing I really enjoyed about the first book was seeing Ara develop throughout the story. When we’re first introduced to her, she lacks confidence in herself and is very suspicious of Khendric and Topper who are simply trying to help her. However, the more she learns about being a Beast Hunter and these unseen monsters, the more confident she becomes. She develops new abilities by the end of the story and we get to see her tap into these in Dark Sovereign. Let’s just say she becomes a real badass and not someone you’d want to mess with. I absolutely loved seeing her go from strength to strength and not having to rely on anyone else. There’s a fantastic fight scene at the end with her and Khendric fending off multiple attackers and it was one of the best scenes in the book. I hope we get to see more scenes like that in the third book!
When I finished The Beast Hunters, one thing I wanted from the sequel was to find out more about Khendric and I was so happy his POV was added in Dark Sovereign. He’s such a mysterious, and sometimes intimidating, character. I really enjoyed his chapters but I think we can still find out more about him. We’re also introduced to Darlaene, who has what seems to be an on/off relationship with Khendric. I’m not sure how I feel about her yet; I haven’t really warmed to her but I’d love to see more of her.
Finding out more about our current trio, being introduced to new characters and new villains, plus having a whole new place to explore makes this an absolute joy to read. There’s a nail-biting cliffhanger at the end and I’m hoping I don’t have to wait too long for the third book!
Thank you so much, Christer, for sending me a copy of the book and inviting me to take part in the blog tour! Check out the rest of the stops below. Also, if you’re in the US and interested in purchasing the first book in the series, it’s only 99c! Get it here.
Divine World of Books 