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danny_phantom57's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shadowspinner's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, Death, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Vomit
tkat's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the first two books of the Lady Penitent series. Could not put them down for the life of me. This book however, I was more than happy to put down and shove into a darkened corner of my bookcase never again to see the light of day.
Don't get me wrong. The storyline appears to be well done in my mind, and I enjoyed the ending even though I was confused by it, the thing that got me was that everyone with any depth to them is dead in the end. This includes one of the Seven Sisters Quile, as well as the goddess Ellistraee herself!
I am not adverse to killing characters off. It sometimes adds to or advances the storyline. But the deaths of these two characters made no sense to me whatsoever, especially considering they are such prominent members of the rest of the world that this series is based in.
And the fact that again such a prominent location such as the base of Ellistraee's worship the Promenade was overrun did not win me over either.
Perhaps it is a bad sign that I crossed referenced the occurrences in this book with The Grand History of the Realms, a compendium that states pretty much every major and minor conflict within the Realms time line that helps to shape it. The death of Ellistraee and Quile are not mentioned in it at all during the year that the book was written, which seems very odd considering every other Realms book I have read coincides with the Histories.
All in all, I think Lisa Smedman rushed to get this book out to end the trilogy, took some historical liberties while she was at it, and the story has suffered for it. It seems slapped together in some places and missing crucial scenes in others. All in all not the most auspicious of endings to an otherwise wonderful trilogy.
Don't get me wrong. The storyline appears to be well done in my mind, and I enjoyed the ending even though I was confused by it, the thing that got me was that everyone with any depth to them is dead in the end. This includes one of the Seven Sisters Quile, as well as the goddess Ellistraee herself!
I am not adverse to killing characters off. It sometimes adds to or advances the storyline. But the deaths of these two characters made no sense to me whatsoever, especially considering they are such prominent members of the rest of the world that this series is based in.
And the fact that again such a prominent location such as the base of Ellistraee's worship the Promenade was overrun did not win me over either.
Perhaps it is a bad sign that I crossed referenced the occurrences in this book with The Grand History of the Realms, a compendium that states pretty much every major and minor conflict within the Realms time line that helps to shape it. The death of Ellistraee and Quile are not mentioned in it at all during the year that the book was written, which seems very odd considering every other Realms book I have read coincides with the Histories.
All in all, I think Lisa Smedman rushed to get this book out to end the trilogy, took some historical liberties while she was at it, and the story has suffered for it. It seems slapped together in some places and missing crucial scenes in others. All in all not the most auspicious of endings to an otherwise wonderful trilogy.
ithil's review
3.0
En general creo que esta trilogía no es de las mejores de Reino Olvidados. Me ha recordado bastante a la saga de la Guerra de la Reina Araña, tanto en calidad, como en formato. Si esa saga os gustó, leed esta, os gustará.
Es entretenida, indudablemente, y te hace pasar un buen rato, pero no es como los mejores libros de Reinos que no te dejan soltar el libro, hace que te encariñes con los personajes y te sorprenden siempre. Asimismo, introduce algunos cambios en los Reinos y en la raza drow muy interesantes y realmente sorprendentes que me muero de ganas de ver desarrollados, pero creo que era una idea que podría haberse narrado de otra forma que hubiera ganado más. Para los fanáticos de Reinos y de los drows, que quieran saber lo último que ha salido de ellos está bien, para el resto no la recomiendo demasiado.
Es entretenida, indudablemente, y te hace pasar un buen rato, pero no es como los mejores libros de Reinos que no te dejan soltar el libro, hace que te encariñes con los personajes y te sorprenden siempre. Asimismo, introduce algunos cambios en los Reinos y en la raza drow muy interesantes y realmente sorprendentes que me muero de ganas de ver desarrollados, pero creo que era una idea que podría haberse narrado de otra forma que hubiera ganado más. Para los fanáticos de Reinos y de los drows, que quieran saber lo último que ha salido de ellos está bien, para el resto no la recomiendo demasiado.
nakedsteve's review
3.0
I really wanted to love this book. I've been a fan of Smedman's for a while now, and have generally enjoyed the books she's written. But Ascendancy of the Last just left me mostly confused throughout. I constantly felt like there were details that I must have missed, or stuff that I should have remembered from the prior volumes in this trilogy that had slipped my mind.
There's no character development to speak of, and little in the way of evocative description of anything. It really feels like the book just hit point after point on the outline from the publisher contract. It never breathes on its own.
Is there good here? Yes, despite all that I did sort of enjoy the novel. I like the world in which it's set, and I like the interplay of the various elements of the setting. I enjoy the lore and the communal world building that's inherent in the Forgotten Realms. And I'm glad to have gotten the end of the story (seeing as this is book 3 of a trilogy).
3 of 5 stars.
There's no character development to speak of, and little in the way of evocative description of anything. It really feels like the book just hit point after point on the outline from the publisher contract. It never breathes on its own.
Is there good here? Yes, despite all that I did sort of enjoy the novel. I like the world in which it's set, and I like the interplay of the various elements of the setting. I enjoy the lore and the communal world building that's inherent in the Forgotten Realms. And I'm glad to have gotten the end of the story (seeing as this is book 3 of a trilogy).
3 of 5 stars.
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