Please, please stop reading this review if you haven’t read the first book in the series, Silver’s Edge. I’m telling you right now, nothing I’m saying will make any sense. These books are not stand alone, they are more of a saga with a large cast of characters and a sweeping story line. And unfortunately, this second book was not as enjoyable as the first one. For those that enjoy truly happy endings, I can’t really say that happened here; these characters went through agony to achieve what happiness they were given in this book.

A brief recap: The realms of Faerie and the Shadow (the human realm) are in trouble. The Silver Caul holding the worlds’ boundaries has begun to slowly poison the realms and is allowing the cannibalistic goblins to enter both worlds and wreak havoc. A small group made up of Faeries and humans must find a way to unmake the Caul and re-seal the borders between Faerie and Shadow.

Our three women – humans Nessa and Cecily, and Faerie Delphinea – are up to their eyeballs in war with the goblins. Each has a different part to play. Delphinea has the Faerie realm to save, and with the goblins invading as she pursues the answers to the mystery of the Silver Caul, she has no time to waste. Her journey will bring her the pain that comes with true understanding of the horrors she must face in order to save her world.

Nessa the blacksmith has had her own journey into Faerie, and joined half human, half Faerie Prince Artimour in trying to save the human realm from the goblins’ invasion. Nessa and Artimour face their own painful journey as their relationship deepens into something neither one expects, or necessarily wants. The border between Faerie and the Shadow must be closed and Nessa’s place is on the human side, and Artimour’s in Faerie.

Queen Cecily must lead her late husband Donnor’s troops onto victory against the goblins with the help of her love Kian, Captain of the Army. Kian’s light shines bright and his gifts are many. Cecily must inspire her people after the devastation brought by the war. Kian helps Cecily guide her dispirited countrymen through the darkness.

Some characters who were a large part of the previous book hardly make a splash here at all. Mad King Hoell, whose own story took an interesting turn in the first book, is nearly an afterthought here. His wife Merle is almost non-existent. Finuviel, son of Vinaver and heir to the Faerie throne, is a mysterious character in the first book, and unfortunately, I never felt that this book gave him his due either. Vinaver, sister to Queen Alemandine, truly has one of the hardest paths to follow in this book, for it is she who will be given the answers on how the Caul must be unmade. However, her own part fades into the background after we are given those answers at the beginning of the book.

The strength of this book is in the three main character story lines involving Nessa, Delphinea and Cecily. Their paths all intertwine in many ways as they seek to save their worlds. All continued to show the strength of character they displayed in the first book, which was considerable. Their struggles were real and engaging.

However, the secondary characters, especially the villain, Cadwyr, seemed much less real in this book. Cadwyr’s scenes lacked purpose, and while his betrayal of his people was even more horrifying than the goblins, whose evil is never in doubt, that betrayal seemed to lose its effect in this book. A story line involving his imprisonment by addiction of Griffin, a friend of Nessa’s, seemed out of place and almost jarring as it served no real purpose in my mind.

The ending was also problematic for me. It terrified me as I was not truly able to determine exactly what it meant in terms of the war, struggle, and pain and suffering that the characters overcame at the end. In fact, my exact reaction was, What the heck!? It bothers me when I don’t get a clear ending; however, I suspect in this case the question is exactly what this author wanted to leave in the reader’s mind. There will be a third book to this series that is a prequel for the other two, involving the making of the Silver Caul. I am still undecided as to whether I will attempt that one or not, as I still haven’t found the answer to the ending of this book! At any rate, I wouldn’t recommend this book to those who haven’t read the first one – or readers in need of definite closure. However, those who enjoyed the first book will probably find much to like in this installment – as long as they aren’t expecting it to wrap up in a neat, tidy bow.