REVIEW: The Alchemist in the Shadows by Pierre Pevel

The Alchemist in the Shadows by Pierre Pevel
Publishing information: Paperback; 336 pages
Publisher: Gollancz; 12 May 2011
ISBN 10: 0575084421
ISBN 13: 9780575084421
Series: Book 2 in the Cardinal's Blade Trilogy
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Back of the Book: "Welcome to Paris, in 1633, where dragons menace the realm. Cardinal Richelieu, the most powerful and most feared man in France, is on his guard. He knows France is under threat, and that a secret society known as the Black Claw is conspiring against him from the heart of the greatest courts in Europe. They will strike from the shadows, and when they do the blow will be both terrible and deadly. To counter the threat, Richelieu has put his most trusted men into play: the Cardinal's Blades, led by Captain la Fargue. Six men and a woman, all of exceptional abilities and all ready to risk their lives on his command. They have saved France before, and the Cardinal is relying on them to do it again. So when la Fargue hears from a beautiful, infamous, deadly Italian spy claiming to have valuable information, he has to listen ...and when La Donna demands Cardinal Richelieu's protection before she will talk, la Fargue is even prepared to consider it. Because La Donna can name their enemy. It's a man as elusive as he is manipulative, as subtle as Richelieu himself, an exceptionally dangerous adversary: the Alchemist in the shadows ..."

The Alchemist in the Shadows takes off a few days from when we last left the Blades in the first book in the series, The Cardinal's Blades. While the first book was interesting and had enough to keep my interest primed. The Alchemist in the Shadows, in my opinion, does a better job of moving the story along and keeping the intrigue interesting.

All of the Blades are back as well as a few more familiar faces. This time they are after an enemy that has dodged La Fargue at every turn, The Alchemist has managed to stay one step ahead of Cardinal Richelieu, La Fargue, and his band of Blades. This time the chase has dire consequences for France and the country's royalty. While not much is told about the Alchemist he seems to have a shroud of mystery that surrounds him and Pevel does a great job at times of showing his ruthlessness and unfortunately, at other times he fails to prove just how formidable he truly is. The other new face in this story is La Donna a beautiful and ingenious spy. She burns at both ends. Often working for both sides of a conflict. She was quite interesting and her introduction was impressive, but just like The Alchemist, she tends to shine at some parts of the novel and others she wanes. I am not sure whether this is due to the translation from French or this is just a flaw of the author. While this is a concern, it is only a minor flaw. Also, there seems to be some foreshadowing into Cardinal Richelieu, perhaps he is not all that he seems.

The story is much quicker paced when compared to its predecessor. I found The Alchemist in the Shadows to move at a frightful pace and as clues and plots are uncovered it was hard to keep up with it all. Add all of the fencing and combat and there is hardly time to catch your breath. There is a lot to take in from the immediate plot of the book and the hidden plots that will hopefully be resolved in the third book. In the first book we know that La Fargue is in contact with a mysterious white dragon and the dragon briefly appears again in this installment; however, we are no closer to finding out what their relationship is. This little sub-plot drives me insane as I have no idea how it fits into the overall story so I hope to see a resolution to it in book three.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the cover to the book. The covers in this series are outstanding. I love the dragons that adorn the swords. The first book was purchased in part due to the cover and this book in the series is also a terrific cover.

The Alchemist in the Shadows is a great addition to the series and while there are some minor concerns they do not take away from what makes the story and the series great. If anything book two is much better than the first novel. It moved along much quicker and seemed to have more of the author's voice in it. As if Pevel had finally hit his stride. If you found yourself enjoying the first swashbuckling adventure of The Cardinal's Blades this is just another great adventure in the series. Hard to put down once you open it up.

Plot 8
Characters 7
Style 7

Overall 7/10