Death Marked by Leah Cypess is the sequel to Death Sworn, which I reported on earlier, and looks to be the last book in the series. In this book , Ileni, who was charged with training assassins in Death Sworn, is now at the Imperial Academy of Sorcery. The Academy is a school of the Empire she was raised to hate, and she is separated from Sorin, her assassin lover, who believes she is there as a spy to bring down the Empire. The lead teacher at the Academy is trying to recruit her for their side, and although Ileni meets people at the Academy she likes, her instincts about the evil of the Empire do not prove unfounded.
Death Marked is a book of internal conflict. Ileni is torn among three groups: the Renegi village in which she was born, made up of a group of people expelled from the Empire; the assassins she spent a year training; and the imperial sorcerers, with whom she is now training.
A fine follow-up to Death Sworn, Death Marked follows Ileni while she makes a very difficult choice of loyalties — all the groups she’s been associated with have good points and bad. What should she do? If you enjoyed Death Sworn, pick up Death Marked. I’m just sorry there’s not a third book.