Across the Long Sea

The gripping follow-up to Stonehill Downs

As the most valuable asset in the kingdom of Wilhaiim, Malachi Doyle has many responsibilities—protector, assassin, detective, and King Renault's right-hand man. And until he met Avani in the cursed village of Stonehill Downs, he believed he was the last of his kind: a magus who can communicate with the dead.

But Wilhaiim is left vulnerable when Mal and his page, Liam, are kidnapped and ferried across the Long Sea to a warring kingdom in search of its own magus. To make matters worse, a springtime plague is rapidly spreading, and beneath the earth the sidhe are preparing for war. With Mal missing and presumed dead, Avani reluctantly takes his place as Wilhaiim's magus. But her powers are unreliable and untested, her many allies are treacherous, and she is certain Mal is alive. Will she be able to keep Wilhaiim—and herself—safe?

My Review

This is my first time reading anything by this author. Wow, this book took me on a long, wonderful journey of adventure. As soon as I started reading this book I was intrigued and could not wait to keep reading more. This was even before the story really started with chapter one. Everything about the characters, the storyline, and the travel across lands was great. Mal was rough around the edges but this is only because of the image he had to uphold. He had a lot of wisdom that he did pass along to his sidekick, Liam. For this fact, Liam by the end of the story had grown wiser and stronger. I enjoyed Avani as well. She did start out shaky as well but just like Liam, she grew by leaps and bounds at the end of the story. I enjoyed seeing Avani use her abilities. The fact that there was a deadly plague and that the dead could talk kept this story interesting and new. A nice take on historical fiction with a fantasy twist. I look forward to reading more books by this author. The title of this book may have the word "long" in it but there was nothing long about reading this book.