The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan

As presaged in the latter part of the first book of the series The Steel Remains, Ringil Eskiath is estranged again from his family; this time officially by his father. Some time after his encounter with Seethlaw and the other dwenda, Gil found a new mission and has vowed to disrupt the slave trade which he has discovered previously. Meanwhile, a messenger warns Archeth Indamaninarmal of a coming disaster, a disaster which might have something to do, or not, with Egar Dragonbane's discovery in the Afa'marag temple.

In this second installment of A Land Fit for Heroes series, more information is revealed to the reader about some of the Dark Court and its possible involvement in the unfolding of the events. There is also more mention of the Grey Places. Magic and history are interwoven beautifully and the pace is consistent with the first book. The characters, narration, and action scenes are familiar to the reader and so it is easy to pick up where you've left.

There was enough history and the tension was already set in the first book, all that was needed was to turn it up a notch, provide a few hints about what's going on and why but still leave enough room for speculation for the next book. Whether the book accomplished that or not depends on the reader's preference.

The best words to describe the series so far are neat and fascinating. Neat because it does not have a convoluted plot (not that that is bad of course) and I don't see a lot of inconsistency; and fascinating because of its magic and combat, not to mention the characters. If you liked the first book, I think The Cold Commands is not going to disappoint. 

Rating: 9 out of 10