Shadow Baron

The overly ambitious second installment of Evans’s Burnished City series picks up where The Notorious Sorcerer left off, with charismatic but unpracticed sorcerer Siyon Velo named the Power of the Mundane, the only alchemist who can restore balance to the increasingly unstable planes of existence. Despite his new title, Siyon is still widely regarded as “a walking advertisement for carelessness” who can only “dazzle with empty spectacle.” When the baron-mark of Midnight, an assassin, urgently but enigmatically informs Siyon that “the awakening is upon us,” Siyon is thrust into a new mystery. He slowly begins picking up on the rising mystical energy that is causing mysterious events around the Mundane, like djinns and angels from other planes appearing out of thin air. Though Siyon doesn’t have the first clue what he’s even capable of, he must find a way to stop the magic before the awakening tears the city apart. Evans’s character development remains masterly, and Siyon is an easy hero to cheer for, but the nebulous plot maintains its suspense by keeping readers and characters alike in the dark, raising myriad questions and delaying their answers as long as possible. Devoted series fans will stick around for the payoff at the end, but others may lose interest before then. Agent: Kurestin Armada, Root Literary. (Nov.)