Strands of Existence 2: Sea of Shadows by Aino Lahteva follows Istrae, a woman who is a reincarnation of a women who set out to change herself in order to rule properly. Istrae knows some of the past but there is still much more to learn as she figures out who she is in the middle of a war. Sea of Shadows is the second book in the Strands of Existence series and is a unique epic fantasy story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Sea of Shadows is a slow burn type of story, or at least it felt like that to me because it took be a bit to get into, I think because the novel feels different from book one in the Strands of Existence series. Istrae continues to be our main character, and continues to be as compelling and fun to follow as before. I was intrigued by Istrae, at least after she stopped being so apathetic about everything. It is hard to cheer for someone who just does not care, but I think that is the point here and it is executed so well that it had me bubbling, and few books do that.

The city is split into districts, and they are big, and it was interesting to see how war affected them. The world continues to develop in this story and I really enjoyed the detailed world being built in this series.

While I’m not a 100% sure how the magic system works, it is unique and captivating, but still has enough familiarity that I can follow along and get behind it. I loved how grounded it felt, taking this out of the realm of fairy tale fantasy and making it feel much more authentic, or at least as authentic as ‘magic’ can get.

I was intrigued by how the action played out in the fight for the city and was rooting for Istrae and her side. I was disappointed that the book ended where it did. But that is only because I want to see what happens next and how Istrae is going to fix the world.

Strands of Existence 2: Sea of Shadows has unique magic and city districts that make this epic sword and sorcery fantasy story feel distinct and interesting. I highly recommend reading book one in the series first, as there is a lot of great story you will be missing if you don’t.

Pages: 394 | ASIN: B08VLLHXQZ