Gauntlet of Wrath by Oliver Paglia (Animal Kingdoms; 2)

The Synopsis:

Residing in a monastery far to the east of the North Western Plain, troubling nightmares stalk Faharen’s sleep as he seeks inner peace and answers to profound questions, stirred up by his quest for the Merewyrm’s tooth.
But in the Realms of Men, all is not well.
Out of the deserts to the south, like a sandstorm on an ill wind, a force of occultists, led by an armoured giant calling himself the Ferra Demiurge, or Forged Lord, wielding the strongest ever blades made of a mysterious metal, have taken the Achaean lands by coup and sorcery. Their ambition and greed is insatiable and the Demiurge will not be satisfied until the entire known world is his, including what lies beyond the Great Forest.
With the worlds of the Animal Kingdoms and men alike set in flux by recent events, the ancient prophecy of the wild men seems to be unravelling.
Now, all those standing against the Achaeans will be tested in their defence of the sacred. Some will conquer, some will die, but all will struggle to survive.

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

Read our review of book one here: The Merewyrm’s Tooth

While reading the first book, I had originally thought this series would be a middle grade fantasy, however, after reading The Gauntlet of Wrath, I am certainly going to say that I was wrong!

Gauntlet of Wrath improved SO much of the story from the first book and I enjoyed this continuation of Faharen’s story in the Animal Kingdoms. With a Narnia-ish type of story world, man and beast are at war and Faharen is caught in the middle as a man amidst the beasts.

The action and dark fantasy definitely deepened in this book as compared to the first and there was a lot more details to the story that I had found lacking in The Merewyrm’s Tooth. The story moved quickly and precisely and I found myself connected to Faharen as he journeyed– losing friends, gaining friends, making enemies, and saving allies. Gauntlet of Wrath is an excellent sequel to The Merewyrm’s Tooth and I’m sure readers of fantasy would enjoy this book a lot!

I give Gauntlet of Wrath 4 out of 5 stars, but I do caution readers that there is a lot of description of blood and dark magic.