White Serpent, Black Dragon

The first sequel of Joe Jackson’s Eve of Redemption series opens with a marshal surveying a crime scene, with many possibilities of the killer such as being a rir, half-demon, vampire, or woman. The main chapters open with Kari, the female protagonist of the last book, married to Grakin and having a son colloquially called Little Gray. Kari’s work largely consists of dealing with the belongings of the previous Avatar of the Demonhunter Order, Jason Bosimar, who lost his life in the Apocalypse. Kaelin Black, the Earl of Southwick County, reports on a killer in his city.

Many of Kari’s in-laws are on assignment elsewhere in the book’s world, with Little Gray mentioning a “Fuzzy Man” in his room that plays some role later on. Kari wants to leave to investigate the murder, and while Grakin is reluctant to let her, he leaves the decision up to her, and she goes. Some suspect that Lord Black is lying about the murders, given the position of the corpses, and Kari has business with Elias Sorivar, or Eli for short, who nearly finds himself victim of the aforementioned killer, which could possibly be a succubus or half of one.

Transportation via griffon plays some role in the book’s events, with Kari and Eli flying to the Great Marsh to meet the lizardfolk czarikk. Kari meets old acquaintances at a certain renamed inn, and hears rumors about possible zombies which necromancers are raising. She ultimately gets the name of the killer, or one of them, Emmalikas, or Emma for short, another mystery playing part in the novel being whether Lord Black and another suspect, BlackWing, being separate or the same individual. The aforementioned succubus also ultimately gets a name, Turillia, and is somehow antagonistic with Emma.

Werewolves, or rather humans that can shapeshift into wolves, have their own part to play in the sequel, with some action towards the very end that amounts to a satisfying story very much on par with its predecessor, with the ending indicating more to come. Some reminders as to the species description and colors of the characters within the main text would have been welcome, however, with clarification of the different races mentioned throughout the story only occurring after the main text and preview of the series’ next entry. Even so, fans of fantasy will likely enjoy this yarn.