Rating: 4.75🌈
Silver & Gold finishes the wonderful Seth and Raider duology by Katherine Diane and I’m so sorry to see such an exciting, well written adventure come to an end.
This series was my first introduction to Katherine Diane and Silver & Gold just established her as an author I will put on my must read list. The world building here is amazing, rich in various cultures, vibrant in sociological aspects of each country, and deep in the many mythical creatures and beings met here.
That’s just in the layers of foundation that the characters and storylines are threaded into as they go through their epic journey to find the villains, a mystical item, and a truth about Raider’s existence.
Diane does a fantastic job in telegraphing the horrors that have happened to Raider to make him full of quicksilver without being graphic in details. She lets the reader’s imagination become the foundation for the horrors of his past instead of letting a narrative slip it definitively into his scenario. This is more subtle and terrifying in my opinion.
Silver & Gold brings fascinating new insights and characters, particularly Julian, the young arcanist, and the ifrit Adavasti. I really need a new series that uses this pair as a central element.
There’s so many outstanding new details and magical elements that I wanted Diane to halt certain threads to explore the new things she just introduced. Whether it’s the type of carriages or new desert creatures, everything feels deserving of greater exploration. Or any of the related religions she created here that we saw temples for, right down to the riches and guards.
If I had any quibbles, it’s that this series could easily be expanded to include more books just due to the richness of the world and its inhabitants. Everything begs for greater understanding and attention. And more journeys.
The wounded, passionate dynamic between Seth and Raider feels like it’s just beginning as they set out on the next step in their lives. I want more of them too.
I really hope both are in our future. This duology is highly recommending. Just make sure to read them in the order they were written.
Seth and Raider Duology:
✓ Silk & Sand #1
✓ Silver & Gold #2
Buy Link
Silver & Gold: An MM Fantasy Romance Duology (Seth & Raider Book 2)
Blurb:
The revelations about Raider’s past have turned Seth’s simple manhunt into a complicated mess. He’s stepped into a tangled web of arcane mysteries and political machinations. As an experienced Curator for the Arcanum College, he can handle that. What he can’t quite handle is his feelings for Raider. There’s love—gods, he can’t deny that—but Raider’s lies have made a mess of Seth’s heart, his principles—and everything else. Because Raider himself is at the very center of this tangled web.
Raider has been running from his past for ten years. (And what was wrong with that? A strong cup of raaki, a bit of music, a gorgeously scowling Curator—what more could anyone want?) The past, however, has finally caught up with him. And if Raider wants to keep his gorgeously scowling Curator alive and well, he’s going to have to face those old nightmares—because he and Seth need each other.
Only together can they navigate the treacherous court of Empress Zarina. Only together can they survive a dangerous new mission that will take them deep into the unknown reaches of the Sands, where mythical creatures and ancient mysteries await.
Silver & Gold concludes the high-heat fantasy adventure begun in Silk & Sand. Get ready for more fabulous locations and deeper, darker secrets. And of course, all the action, humor, and sexy intensity that only these two gorgeous, complicated, irresistible men can deliver.
• Publication date: July 25, 2024
• Language: English
• Print length: 326 pages
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 