This book was a much better read than the first. I feel as though the first book allowed the author to stretch his writing muscles in preparation for Dance of Blades.
We have a much more rounded character with Haern, and the immaturity seen in the previous book is gone, as this one takes place 5 years later. I do have to admit that some of his fight scenes confused me and I had to read them over several times to form a clear picture in my mind. I did like the originality behind some of his moves, it wasn't simply trading sword blows and his cloak dance was impressive.
Switching between different character's point of view also ran much smoother in this book and the reader is given less to bounce between.
All together this was gritty, dark and fast paced, just like I enjoy my books though some of the gore seemed a bit too forced. The ending of this novel and the secrets that are spoken of leave me eager to find out what happens next. ( )

When I reviewed A Dance of Cloaks, the first book in this series, I said Haern was an interesting character who had a lot of room to grow. Unfortunately, in the intervening five years, Haern has rebelled against his father's evil ways by, well, killing people. He operates under the delusion that by becoming "The Watcher" who kills members of all the rival guilds, he can get them to kill each other off eventually. Not surprisingly, his plan is failing and he's also become quite lonely, living on the streets without any personal connections. Meanwhile, Alyssa Gemcroft, the newest member of the ruling Trifect, is equally tired of the continuing conflict between the thief guilds and the merchant lords but takes no action until her son, Nathaniel, is murdered. Equally misguided, she hires mercenaries to indiscriminately kill guild members and make the streets "run red". Two new characters enter the melee, both with terrible names and motivated by "coin" but with different methods to attain it. Haern, after reuniting with some old friends, comes up with a ridiculously simplistic plan to end the conflict completely. The only interesting storyline is Nathaniel's - nearly killed by his mother's suitor (one of the more believable "bad guys" in the series) and then saved by a brave and truly good-hearted family who risk (and lose) a lot to protect him. Haern's development consists of becoming, ironically, an accomplished assassin and acknowledging his need for companionship. The only reason for a third book is for Haern to finally kill his father. The major appeal of this series is the cinematic imagery of the fight scenes - swirling cloaks, flashing blades, Matrix-like backbends, and buckets of bloodshed. The magical elements are also entertaining but not very well explained. ( )

A Dance of Blades begins five years after the events of A Dance of Cloaks. Valderan is still recovering from the night Thren led the thief guilds in the ill-fated attack on the Trifect. The thief guilds still survive although much weakened. Although the Trifect did much better, it still doesn’t have the strength to completely wipe out the guilds so, although the war between the two is much weaker, it still continues .

Haern, once Thren’s son Aaron and now known as the Watcher is waging his own personal war against the guilds although no matter how many thieves he kills, there always seem to be more to take their place. His identity is a secret and he has convinced each guild that he is a member of one of the others causing more disarray. Alyssa Gemcroft has taken over her family’s fortune with the aid of Zusa one of the Faceless. When it is falsely reported that Alyssa’s son, Nathanial, has been killed by the Watcher, she is consumed by grief and a need for revenge. She spends her fortune to hire mercenaries to destroy the guilds and, in the process, the Watcher.

Like in the first book, it is full of non-stop action and fascinating characters. And there are lots of characters both old and new with different POV but they are so well-drawn that it is easy to keep track of who’s who. This book definitely belongs to Haern and Alyssa but there are plenty of new characters for the reader to love and/or hate. One in particular deserves a mention – the Ghost, a mercenary and a giant of a man who may be the only person capable of killing Haern. We also get to see more of the world outside of Valderan as well as a greater emphasis on magic. Fortunately, at least from my perspective, despite this increase of magic, this is still more sword than sorcery and continues the gritty realism of the first.

A Dance with Blades is a terrific sequel to A Dance with Cloaks and author David Dagliesh is fast becoming one of my favourite fantasy writers. The action and characters of this series are top-notch and I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series. ( )