I finished Book IV in the "Dark Tales of Randamor the Recluse"-series a few weeks ago.

This new installment, "Gambit" is the first part of a new trilogy, called "The Invisible Hands."

I know: it gets confusing. Maybe a little overview will help.

Book I: The Invisible Chains - Part 1: Bonds of Hate
Book II: The Invisible Chains - Part 2: Bonds of Fear
Book III: The Invisible Chains - Part 3: Bonds of Blood

Book IV: The Invisible Hands - Part 1: Gambit

Two more books are to follow, and I already started Book V.
The second trilogy — just like the first — is one big story. One dance move in three steps.

I have to admit I have some mixed feelings about this second trilogy.

I kept the first paragraph a bit vague to avoid spoilers for those who haven't read the first trilogy.

Most of the main characters return. After all the hardships of the first trilogy with it's raw emotions, this is a far more subtle game. The sharp edges are gone, but the pieces still don't fit. Not quite. Neither is it certain that they ever will. While I find it very interesting to write about the more nuanced give and take that is going on, I can't help but wonder whether the reader will like it as much as I do.

The political arc is painted on a much broader canvas. That means the story is far more complicated than that of the first trilogy. Also, there are a lot of new characters. And I do mean a lot. Maybe you'll be happy to learn that quite a few of them are couples.
There are also new cultures, new languages, new customs...
The great neighbor to the south of Ximerion starts to move, prodded on, provoked even, by the high king, and as a result disturbing the balance of power of the whole region. Kingdoms and independent city states get involved in a struggle for survival, with everybody looking out for their best interest and reconsidering allegiances and alliances. Meanwhile, Anaxantis tries to weld his dominions into a coherent, prosperous state, at the same time trying to keep them out of the main conflict.

The first trilogy was, in comparison, far more straightforward. There were several threads, but they were basically intertwined from the beginning and going in the same direction. In the second trilogy — and this is what might make things more confusing — several threads come at the reader from far flung starting points, to merge only in the third book. Again I wonder how that will be received.

What I can promise is that there will be the same mix of emotions. Tragedies, conspiracies, good, as well as bad and mediocre people, caught between impossible choices, loyalty, friendship, love, betrayal and adventure...

Life, to put it in one word.