Follow-up to Dawn of Empire,  this book is worth reading if you liked the previous one, since it just gives you more of the same.

It’s back to the city of Orak, now renamed Akkad, where people are settling in after the events of the last book. Eskkar, the barbarian turned king, is about to become a father, but is getting restless with life in the big city. Thus, he decides to go around the countryside and pacify the nearby villages, thereby bringing back trade to Akkad, and making life all better. Meanwhile, his wife is left in charge, helped by the council of noble houses. However, all is not well, as an Egyptian renegade warrior with his band joins up with an old nemesis from the first book, and tries to infiltrate the city posing as a gem merchant.

And this is about half the book. Because it is that slow. If you thought in the first one that wall building is boring, well, waiting around for the Egyptian to make his move is worse. There are action scenes, when Eskkar fights with bandits raiding the nearby vilalges, and other stuff going on, but for some reason the first half of the book just seemed to be dragging on and on…it’s all just plain and generic, and it feels as if something is missing. The end of the book picks up, though the final assault on Akkad feels like a special ops mission…nighttime infiltration from the water in separate teams that go for the strategic objectives…riiight. And there’s a lot more that feels slightly off. Once again i feel the story would have been better served if placed somewhere else, like a different planet, or Howard’s Hyborian age.

The characters are also just as bland. There is no surprise, no subtlety. Everything, every thought, every motivation, every idea is out in the open from the first. And they are cookie- cutter made. You have the big barbarian (admitedly getting a bit old), the smart wife, the evil enemy (insert maniacal laughter please), the evil slimy person from the past that joins up with the new baddie, and the honorable bad dude that gets a shot at redemption and takes it. It’s all painfully obvious from the first.

The main characters are still the same, though having gained all insights in the previous book, they just stagnate. Eskkar finds himself a mistress thoug, and his wife Trella is mostly cool about it, instead of ripping his eyes out. Otherwise, she acts as the CEO of a corporation dealing with slightly troublesome manager. Then, when talking about the first code of laws in human history, it’s all treated as a brainstorm meeting where Trella tells the nobles “Check out this idea i’ve had overnight, that will revolutionize everything you know…”…and the introduced concepts…fixed prices and so on…6000 years ago? nevermind that they never had any coins back then.

If you’ve read the previous book and liked it, then go ahead with this one too. Otherwise, just pass. I’ve struggled with it for some reason, but after reading a few pages of the 3rd in the series, i’ll pass on this author for a long time. It’s back to space opera .