Book Review - THE SAPPHIRE ALTAR by David Dalglish

 

(Title: The Sapphire Altar / Author: David Dalglish / Publisher: Orbit / Publication Date: January 10, 2023 / Total Pages: 544)

Back Cover Blurb

Cyrus wants out. Trained to be an assassin in order to oust the invading Empire from his kingdom, Cyrus is now worried the price of his vengence is too high. His old master has been keeping too many secrets to be trusted. And the mask he wears to hide his true identity and become the legendary "Vagrant" has started whispering to him in the dark. But the fight isn't over and the Empire has sent its full force to bear upon Cyrus's floundering revolution. He'll have to decide once and for all whether to become the thing he fears or lose the country he loves.

Review

Well I have to say that after reading this heartstopping second book in the Vagrant Gods series that it has now joined a very special place among my favorite ongoing fantasy series right up there with Justin T. Call's Silent Gods and Krystle Matar's Tainted Dominion. To be honest I was sort of expecting a slower paced second book but what I got was a follow-up that only doubled down on the action, treachery, and revelations regarding the history behind this tremendous story. 

What I also loved about THE SAPPHIRE ALTAR is that Dalglish places more of a focus on other characters, rather than primarily on Cyrus. The chapters with Keles and Eshiel in particular were some of the best in the entire series I thought. Getting to experience these other viewpoints has also cast some doubts on what I thought I believed after finishing book one. When an author can keep you totally off balance like that to the point where you truly don't know who you should be rooting for, well there's nothing better in my opinion.

This book picks up where the first book left off as the extremely religious Everlorn Empire has now firmly entrenched itself within the island nation of Thanet. They rule with an iron fist and violently execute anyone who refuses to submit to the one true god. Any possible pockets of resistance are sought out to be crushed and eliminated before they can grow into something that could potentially threaten the empire's rule. Their main target being fugitive prince and former heir to the old throne Cyrus. But as Cyrus tries to gather forces for a successful insurrection to reclaim his country he soon realizes that he has some very real troubles of his own to deal with that could threaten to derail it all.

I mentioned on Twitter while I was reading this book that there's nothing more fun (at least for me anyway) than reading a book that has a purely evil villain that you absolutely despise. That villain comes in the form of Heir-Incarnate of the empire Galvanis. Every scene that I read with this guy in it had me wanting to reach into the book myself and put a dagger in his back. But it is also what made me keep wanting to turn the pages of this book because he was also such a charismatic and magnetic personality. Dalglish has written one of the more infinitely hateable villains that I have come across in some time. And yet even though hateable, I couldn't help but speculate that there was more to him than what we are shown at the surface.

It's hard for me to get into any specifics of the story without spoiling things so I will refrain from that. What I will say though is if you enjoy incredibly epic stories of good vs evil where the lines are sort of blurry as to which is which, then you need to read this book and series. It will keep you on your toes, wow you with intense scenes of battle, and cause you to cancel a lot of plans because you don't ever want to stop reading it. 

I was a fan of David Dalglish before this series, but now I am an absolute devotee who will run to buy every single book that he produces. He's that good and I'm happy to say that he seems to be at the top of his game with the Vagrant Gods series. THE SAPPHIRE ALTAR has everything you could ever want in an engaging epic fantasy. It won't be officially released until January of 2023, but all that means is you have plenty of time to pick up and read the first book, The Bladed Faith while you are waiting for your preorder to get delivered. 

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