The Bitter Crown

In the arresting second Eidyn Saga epic fantasy, Anderson creatively builds on the wild twist at the end of The Lost War. Series protagonist Laird Aranok is now fully aware that King Janaeus, whom he’d once thought of as a best friend, is corrupt, having altered the memories of almost everyone in the kingdom to conceal his wrongdoings. Convincing said civilians of this conspiracy will be difficult, however. Aranok, along with the surviving members of his company (including his lover and bodyguard, Allandria), must team up with the magician Mynyngogg, book one’s purported villain, to take down Janaeus and solve a lingering whodunit around the murder of Aranok’s former teacher. Readers will be eager to see how Anderson handles his rewritten world order, and he pulls it off with aplomb. The result is another page-turning adventure propelled by an inventive plot and three-dimensional characters. Readers will once again be left clamoring for a sequel. Agent: Ian Drury, Sheil Land Assoc. (Dec.)