The Second Siege picked up some time after the first book ended. And while I feel like there could be a really interesting story here, I had a lot of the same problems I had with the first book.

The author continued the trend of skipping over what I felt would have been the most interesting or important plot points. The amount of time that passes in these first two books is almost indeterminable, and as a result the events that happen manage to feel very rushed and also extremely drawn out. I don’t know how to explain it. Max acts in no way like a 14? year old kid - except when he needs to “make mistakes”. The interactions with the villain don’t make a lot of sense yet, but I’m honestly not quite willing to read the next book.

There seems to be no hope in this book, and no possible way for our heroes to win. But I feel that part of that is because we’re never really shown or told anything about the powers that our heroes have. I know that David is a powerful sorcerer, but nothing is done to explain why he’s special, and we’re two books into this. Max is super strong and a great warrior, but I’m still miffed at missing his whole development - it all happens “off-page”. The big bad guy has literally already taken over the world in a manner of days? weeks? months? and Rowan Academy is the last safe hold left.

The main issue with this book seems to be cramming too much story into too few words, which is frustrating because there are so many amazing elements to the story. Maybe in a few months I’ll continue on with the series, but for now I’m taking a step back from it. I think it could still really be someone else’s cup of tea, so if you’ve made it this far and are still considering I’d recommend giving it a try for yourself. You might like it more than I did.