Secret of the Thistle is the second instalment on the grimdark series Rainfallen, written by Benjamin Aeveryn. We are dropped months after what happened in Salt in the Wound; the Unholy King keeps raising taxes for gathering an army due to his paranoia, and Wickerton is struggling to pay them. Threatened with getting their canvas shelter down, Fay will have to travel to New London to gather a small fortune to pay those taxes in one month. Meanwhile, Galahad languishes in New London, devoid of a purpose, until a mysterious letter arrives from Elaine: she's in trouble in the Empire of the Thistle. Galahad won't doubt a second on travelling to the land that might reveal the secret of his whiskey colour eyes, and that might bring a new hope for the Unholy Kingdom and Wickerton.

In this second instalment, we will be following those two parallel threads, the first of them Fay's desperate search in New London for funds that might allow her to save Wickerton; despite she promised to leave behind the underground and traffic life, desperation will close any other viable way.
The second of them takes Galahad to the Empire of the Thistle and Eydin; despite hating Elaine, curiosity and the thrill of a new hunt are stronger. Once he arrives, he discovers that all is just a cover up, and as usual, Elaine has other plans for him, in a city that is openly hostile to people like them.

Aeveryn continues exploring this post-apocalyptic world of the Rainfallen series, taking us to those new locations, which are drawn from real life places (New London and Eydin as the counterpart to Edinburgh). It's interesting how the New London thread becomes a sort of reference to his novella, Blackcap, going for a closer noir route, meanwhile in Galahad's route, we have a story that will draw closer to cavalry quests, while taking the opportunity for dealing with difficult themes as depression and disabilities (there are really powerful scenes involving Elaine).

Similarly to book 1, we have a carefully crafted prose, which adequates for the situation while still maintaining that small lyrical nuance that serves as a nexus between modern storytelling and Arthurian myths, one of the biggest inspirations from this book.

Secret of the Thistle is an excellent sequel, exploring different parts of the world while deepening into the characters we previously knew; and let's all set for a thrilling third book. Can't wait for it!