I wasn't as fond of this one as I was the first novel, but I think it's because the author taks the time to flesh out more of his post-apocalypitic world and , honestly, I liked the narrow, unexplained feel of the first book. The story's still strong and you still find yourself cheering for protaganists who are anything but "good," but that's okay. It's still a good read and I'll definitely be picking up the next one.

If you liked the first book you will like this one. The main character ins not a hero, but you root for him anyways. THe world is dark and bad things happen to good people. Bad people are in charge and things are only going to get worse. The author continues his "borrowing" from our history, with such figures as Female Popes, Spartan warriors, and Leonardo Da Vinci making appearances. He sometimes doesn't bother to even change the names. I recommend this to anyone who likes history, fantasy and Anti-heroes.

Lucky, lucky me to ring in 2012 reading a book you can really get your teeth into. I haven't done this well for a New Year's read since I read the Sea Wolf when I was 13. Is Paul Hoffman even real? At various times I'd have sworn I was reading Rudyard Kipling, William Shakespeare, Dave Duncan, Neil Gaiman, or Diana Wynne Jones, except the subject matter was all about God and War and politics and philosophy, so it was like a Canticle for Leibowitz or Riverworld or something by Charles Dickens. At the end, "Paul Hoffman" admits to, erm, stealing bits from the King James Bible, Edmund Spenser, and Saddam Hussein, so there you go. It's depressing. In these days of extreme political correctness, I'm so delighted that our monstrous hero successfully maintains his leadership status by suddenly and violently punching serfs and soldiers in the nose, whether they deserved it or not. Pour encourager les autres. Finally, it's a beautiful book, with a decent cover painting, fancy headings on every page, great type, maps, and a simple but stylish two-page title spread. A blurb on the back talks about teenagers liking it; huh, I would not recommend this for children. Think of the difference between Harry Potter and Hunger Games, then jump that much again. I'm off to find book 1, which I really should have read first.

This is not for teens, the subject matter makes it difficult to read.