Lamplighter: Monster Blood Tattoo Book 2

by: D.M. Cornish

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Reviewed by Alex McGilvery

Lamplighter, the second novel in the Monster Blood Tattoo trilogy, follows the continuing adventures of Rossamünde. He is an apprentice Lamplighter now and undergoing training at Winstermill. His adventures are far from over. The monsters are coming out in force and the Lamplighters are being pressed hard. Even within the safe wall of the fortress, enemies lurk, and plots thicken. Rossamünde struggles with his secret sympathy for some monsters that could get him labeled a sedorner and traitor to humankind.

Soon more turmoil arrives in the person of Threnody, a girl who wants to be a Lamplighter. He makes new friends, and new enemies. Rossamünde suspects that the life of a Lamplighter will never be easy, especially for a young man who harbors his own secrets that may just be the most dangerous secrets of all.

I took an immediate liking to Rossamünde and the people who surround him. He is ambivalent about what he is doing with his life, and his struggle reveals a great deal of the world he lives in. The other characters are also well rounded and wrestle with their own demons. The world of the Half-Continent itself is complex and fascinating. The way Cornish opens each chapter with a definition of a word that will show up later in the chapter is a great way to work the language of this world into the reader’s head.

This is the second book in the trilogy, but it didn’t read like it. The plot was urgent and well developed. While reference is made to the first book, Foundling, I was able to read and enjoy the story without having read the first volume. I will be watching for the first book to fill in the story, and waiting for the third to come out so I can learn more about this terrific story.

Armchair Interviews says: Highly recommended for fantasy fans.

Author’s Web site: http://www.DMCornish.com