Book Review: The Undying Legion by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Undying Legion by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 2 of Crown & Key

Publisher: Del Rey (June 30, 2015)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just as fun and entertaining as the first book! Going back to earlier this summer, here were some of the words I used in my review of The Shadow Revolution, book one of Clay and Susan Griffith’s new Crown & Key trilogy: feisty, ass-kicking, fast-paced, pulpish and adventurous, the perfect beach read. Now I’m pleased to report its sequel proved just as satisfying, especially since we know what we’re getting into and are more acquainted with our main characters.

The Undying Legion is the second installment of the trilogy, but instead of hitting the “middle book slump” this book really takes off and hits the ground running. Simon Archer, Kate Anstruther, and Malcom MacFarlane are back on the hunt for monsters and other things that go bump in the night, and true to form, we kick off this story with a grisly discovery. While on one of his nighttime patrols, Malcolm comes across the mutilated body of a woman in a London church. Based on evidence at the scene – signs of black magic, cryptic words carved in stone, mysterious Egyptian hieroglyphics carved into the victim’s exposed heart – Malcolm, Simon and Kate determine this to be a ritual murder.

However, this just turns out to be the first of many more gruesome ritualized killings around the city.  We follow our heroes as they join forces with a quirky gadgeteer and a young werewolf to solve these mysteries, creating an unlikely alliance to battle demons, Egyptian mummies, necromancers and hordes of zombies. Let’s just say The Undying Legion sure lives up to its title.

I ended up enjoying this book even more than its predecessor, mainly due to the improvements in a couple of areas I felt were lacking in The Shadow Revolution. While I love the fast-paced action and page-turning enthusiasm of “popcorn” reads such as this, let’s face it, these kinds of stories don’t often leave much room for fully-fleshed character development or robust world-building. This was the key weakness of the first book. Still, I understood the reason for the trade-off, and had hoped to see the authors go beyond the surface-level details in this sequel to expand upon the characters and the world.

This was the real test for me, and happily, The Undying Legion passed with flying colors. It’s often expected of a sequel to build upon its preceding volumes, and this one carried that responsibility well, giving us a more intimate look into the lives of Simon, Kate and Malcolm, as well as rendering their world into a fully realized setting. I felt like I was given a lot more reasons to care about the characters, especially as their relationships strengthened and grew more complex. Likewise, I could appreciate the clever and snappy dialogue from before, but knowing the history behind all the relationships now, many of the interactions started taking on a deeper significance. Supporting characters aren’t left out either, and I was very happy that Penny Carter the adorable inventress as well as Charlotte the child werewolf both got bigger roles.

The pacing in this book was also far less chaotic, allowing more opportunities to develop the story and explore its overall arc. The Undying Legion presents a new adventure, but rest assured, the questions raised in the first book about Kate and Simon’s connection and the mysterious key won’t be forgotten. Throughout it all, the plot maintained its rigorous momentum, so effectively that even now it’s a wonder to me how this book managed to accomplish all that it did in a little over 300 pages.

Final verdict? I once said this series is like the equivalent of an explosive summer action blockbuster if movies like that existed back in the Victorian era, and I stand by that. The Undying Legion doesn’t add much to the first book in terms of its light, pulpy tones and monster-hunting themes, but it’s still a deeper experience for all that because of how much more we’re invested at this point. I’m looking forward to check out what I believe will be Kate, Simon and Malcolm’s biggest adventure yet in the series conclusion, The Conquering Dark.

More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of The Shadow Revolution (Book 1) | Q&A with Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith