I was so happy to read Shroud of Eternity, with some trepidation I admit, I was worried dear Mr. Goodkind would slip into his old habits and this book would become a train wreck like some of his other books. I was blissfully proven wrong though. And Sister of Darkness: Nicci Chronicles so far is safe and is actually turning into a really good series and this second instalment is an excellent addition.

Shroud of Eternity starts with our ragtag pair of Nicci and Nathan trekking deeper into the Old World now past Kol Adair heading to the ancient and very mysterious city of Ildakar. We very quickly learn that this city is in tact, has been for over 15 centuries. Ildakar had protected itself with a very powerful enchantment. It is known as the Shroud of Eternity, this has actually taken the city not only out of time but also out of space. The Shroud has been developed as a protective measure against an invading army that has sought the destruction of this city. 

Ildakar is ruled by a class of gifted nobles that are nearly immortal. They think that they have been able to create a Utopia, Nicci though finds that like all the typical Utopia's or what is considered a Utopia, there is usually something sinister simmering underneath the picture-perfect image the so called gifted nobles are trying to uphold. 

For this novel it's actually the sinister element that actually draws you into the story and keeps you interested. Nicci is always careful of what she is walking into and Nathan the scholar seeks to find out everything that he can about a city and its inhabitants. Neither Nicci nor Nathan can forget that they are on a mission, one I am not going to reveal just in case you haven't read the first book, so they are hopping to find their answers in Ildakar. 

The city is magical and yet it shows it rot at the same time when we see the fighting and we see the people fight to the death against each other. And its not only against each other. They also have to fight against magical creatures that were created with a magic called “fleshomancy”. AKA blood magic, slavery, but “fleshomancy” is more cunning and adds dark elements Ildakar. 

In Ildakar it seems that humans are just dolls used to create new creatures through magical means. Through this process the girted nobles have created a new line of human cattle that are used for mere pleasure, hard labour, and sadly (I hate to say this) food. Yep, you read that right. I said CANABALISM! 

Nathan on the other hand struggles to make a dominant presence in the book. He does nothing but complain and complain all the time.
 He is fixated on fixing his problem and causes this causes nothing but a hardship for him because it gets him into sticky situation after sticky situation. Particularly with the one wizard who does “fleshomancy”. 

In all of this Bannon ironically, the non-magical one in the group, manages to spot the rotten element in Ildkar before either Nicci or Nathan. And he finds a way to show them, despite being in a city full of powerful gifted without really being detected.
 Nicci is the one who really struggles in this book in my opinion. She shows the most vulnerability. She's in a city full of men and women who can manage to overpower her easily, despite her having both Additive and Subtractive magic. It's the last few chapters though that really show her at her best though. 

This book reminds us how power can corrupt and when left to its own devices, it can breed the kind of rot that you may never be able to get rid of. This book takes a great stride in being cohesive then any of the books that comes before it and we find our characters being more vulnerable then we have ever seen them before. This allows us as readers to see how far they have really come and we get to see that they still have growing to do. 

Yes, we find that Shroud of Eternity ends on a Cliffhanger that's going to leave you reeling. Terry uses his devious antics to leave you with questions and for once sets up the next books perfectly and shows that the next book is going to be a great one.