"Veil of Shadows," Shiloh Walker

Pros: Gorgeous world, characters, and relationships
Cons: A few technology tidbits that seemed contradictory
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Review book courtesy of Penguin Group

In the sequel to Through the Veil, a rebel army works to wrest back control of their land from the demons that run rampant through it. The last inhabitants of the area are either evacuating or joining up. Among those joining up is a warrior named Xan, a mystery man who quickly falls for Captain Laisyn Caar. The attraction is mutual, but neither of them can easily afford the distraction. Life for them is deadly. They have enemies who’d like to use their relationship against them. And Syn has been cut off from her magic—a loss that’s slowly killing her and the other witches among the rebels. If something doesn’t change soon, the rebellion, Syn, and her new relationship may all be doomed.

Shiloh Walker’s Veil of Shadows sucked me in as thoroughly and beautifully as any of her other novels. She creates gorgeous worlds that you can see and feel, and her characters are vivid and highly individualized. Her prose is beautiful and evocative without turning to the purple. It’s easy to get caught up in the emotions that war between characters—love and lust, anger and betrayal, suspicion and friendship. With every turn of the page I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next, and Shiloh conveys action and suspense every bit as well as romance and love.

The only thing that brought this down a tad from the previous book is that a little of the sci-fi material didn’t quite add up for me. There were one or two times when I found myself wondering, “if this world has X, why can’t they do Y?” or “if the rebels have technology A, why didn’t they use it to do B?” These weren’t huge gaping plot holes—I might have missed a nuance, and it’s quite possible there were meant to be explanations for those seeming contradictions that got cut due to space or a desire to avoid exposition. The problems were equivocal enough that I was willing to give the book the benefit of the doubt, although I would have liked to see them cleared up.

I can already see where some of the follow-on books might take their start from, and I can’t wait to read more! This is a fascinating and original world that offers much more than the standard paranormal or fantasy fare.