Fortress of Mist by Sigmund Brouwer

The throne is redeemed, but the battle is just beginning.
In the dark corners of an ancient land, evil lurks in the shadows. Powerful druids haunt the spaces of their lost territory. Double-minded noblemen fight for domain and influence. Invaders from the north threaten the kingdom of Magnus. This land of promise and redemption is mired in deceit and corruption.

The Orphan King, once victorious in conquest, appears to be losing his grip on his seat of power. Thomas rules Magnus, but does not know whom he can trust. His enemies anticipate his every move, thwarting him at each turn. Something is not right.

Under attack, both in the supernatural and natural worlds, Thomas must reach back into the secret layers of his past to find the strength and wisdom to fight his battles. When the mist clears, who will stand with him?

Fortress of Mist by Sigmund Brouwer is the second novel in his Merlin's Immortals Series. This novel picks up at the end of the first novel, The Orphan King. The plot line of Fortress of Mist is fast paced and is filled with mystery, suspense, romance, deceit, and betrayal. The narration is told primarily from the perspective of Thomas, the Orphan King, with some portions told from other characters' points of view. I thought that the first novel's storyline developed slowly and choppily with little plot development, but I found the plot of Fortress of Mist to be more well written, smoother, and had a more development since it was a continuation of the first novel. The suspense and mystery created in Fortress of Mist were excellent and surprised me multiple times as the novel continued.

The characters of Fortress of Mist were varied in their amount of development. Some of the characters, such as Thomas and Katherine, became more developed and had more dimension as the author revealed more about them than in the first book. Other characters, both new and old, remained one dimensional, were hard to identify with, and did not add much to the story because of their lack of depth. I liked learning more about Katherine in this story, but I still felt like there was too much left in the dark about both Thomas and Katherine and it made it hard for me to relate to them as the story continued. I like the mystery of the Merlin's Immortal series, but I find that there might be too much unrevealed, making it hard to properly identify with the characters.

Overall I found Fortress of Mist to be an interesting yet quick read. This novel flows directly out of The Orphan King, so I would highly recommend reading this novels in order. The plot of Fortress of Mist was slightly better than the first novel, and some of the characters did develop a little more as well. However, I think that these books could be improved significantly if they were made longer and contained more revelation and character development.

I received this novel for free from Waterbrook Multnomah Press in exchange for an honest review.