Después de liberar la magia en la ciudad de Wellmet, Conn sufre ahora las consecuencias de la explosión que tuvo lugar en Casa del Anochecer: se ha quedado sin locus magicalicus y, como consecuencia, ha perdido toda la credibilidad de los magos del Salón de Maestros. Por ello, ha decidido invocar la magia buscando una vía alternativa y totalmente prohibida: la pirotecnia. Después de algunos intentos fallidos, Conn consigue realizar una explosión de fuegos artificiales y la voz de la magia le da, efectivamente, una respuesta: una larguísima palabra con un significado completamente incomprensible para Conn. Mientras tanto, en la ciudad han aparecido unas sombras siniestras de arena que convierten en piedra todo cuanto tocan, y según parece, la arena pertenece a la ciudad de Desh...

Master Nevery's apprentice Connwaer thinks studying pyrotechnics will give him magical insight in the aftermath of his magic stone being destroyed in the first book in this series. He accidentally blows up his Master's home, almost killing his manservant. Exiled from Wellmet, Connwaer follows Rowan to a neighboring city to solve the mystery of why Shadows are attacking Wellmet. ( )

Enjoyable, but not nearly as touching or as much fun as the first book.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). ( )

Second book of The magic thief series,Conn is now officially wizards apprentice. He experiments with magic and magic talks to him in mysterious ways. This time its not a magic thief but something evil that is going to hit the city. Only Conn understands it and tries to bring it to the notice of other wizards but with the least success. He finds his own ways to keep the city safe and also its magic...
( )

A highly enjoyable continuation of the events of the first book, expanding the cast of characters, the scope of the world, and the complexity of the plot.

Some of my favorite bits:

Conn and his understated personality. He keeps so much inside, but there's just enough insight that I felt for him greatly, particularly at a certain point midway through when some very bad things happen, and at the end. There was one paragraph at the end that just got me in the heart, because the whole book had (at least in my mind) built up to it. I love that!

Rowan. I enjoyed getting to see more of her and (because I am a romantic sap) I am already eagerly anticipating how the relationship between she and Conn will develop in future books as she and Conn get a little older. Especially with Argent in the mix (I was very glad to see Rowan already putting Argent in his place though, heh).

The underlying mystery. I'm intrigued by the way magic seems to work in this series and particularly Conn's relationship to the magic of Wellmet and the various animals that are associated with the magics. I am looking forward to learning more about what is really going on in book 3. Also, the dragons!