Daniel Abraham really steps it up in book two of The Dagger and the Coin series and he provides the payoff for all of the foundation work that he did in the first book, The Dragon's Path. All of the main characters return and with their background's now firmly established, their storylines all move forward in significant ways. When their paths finally begin to cross then the story really picks up steam as the kingdom of Antea finds itself the likely victim of an ancient prophecy come to life. The spider goddess is finally making her return to the world and she plans to make Antea her new home.

As to the story itself, Geder Palliako and his spider goddess allies begin to exert their power and only Dawson Kalliam sees through their plans. Forever ignoring the consequences of his actions, Dawson strives to protect Antea from losing itself to the influence of the spider priests.  Lucky for him his wife Clara is more concerned about the risks that he takes and she attempts to ensure that Dawson's actions don't bring him down along with the rest of the family. Cithrin starts to come into her own as her influence within the bank grows and her odd relationship with Marcus Wester strengthens as her bold plans take shape. And finally, after the reveal at the end of book 1, Master Kit realizes he is uniquely qualified to stop the events that are unfolding and that he can't sit this one out. He days of hiding his past must come to an end.

Despite the fact that book 1 was a bit slow paced at times I do not recommend skipping it as it provides essential set up material for the entire series. If you have read the first book then it's an easy choice to pick up book 2 and enjoy the rich payoff as the real story unfolds. Pete Bradbury is back at the mic for the audiobook version and he really does an excellent job bringing the characters to life.