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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I very much enjoyed this series, and Simon Vance is a great narrator. There are a few points where Weeks would get into the weeds of a characters thoughts which, at times was great - informative, insightful, thought-provoking - and other times just a bit tedious and long when you're waiting for something big to happen. It could have been rather shorter if he hadn't done the same thing in all the epilogues as well (there, it was mostly on the tedious side). Wrapped up the series well, didn't leave any gaping holes for the reader to speculate at (again, see the tedious epilogues), and even gives completionist readers an extra tidbit at the very, very end. Keep reading my friends!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Redemption, sacrifice, overweening ambition and pride - the gamut of human flaws and grace are examined in this series of books, sometimes in the same characters.
It's not a perfect book, there's too much overt religious fatalism and miraculous plot-armour in the final section for my tastes, but the magic system is brilliantly conceived and utilised, the world building is fair to middling, and the characters are deftly drawn and believable.
It's not a perfect book, there's too much overt religious fatalism and miraculous plot-armour in the final section for my tastes, but the magic system is brilliantly conceived and utilised, the world building is fair to middling, and the characters are deftly drawn and believable.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I have read series where the book’s religion was an allegory for Christianity, but the way this series switched so fast from being a fun fantasy read with religion and politics interspersed, to a heavy handed reimagining of the story of Jesus was so disappointing. I couldn’t care less about Gavin’s storyline by the time I stopped. It felt like any dimensionality that the characters had built throughout the series was ruined by their sudden switch to religiosity. Every character that had any internal conflict about religion all “fell in line” suddenly and that fell flat for me.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Spoilers:
Fun read overall, though the hero plot-armor was ridiculous at the end. Teia was the best character.
I was excited that the book would end with real consequences and that not everyone would survive. Then Weeks pulled a 180 in the last few chapters and magically healed everyone fun, gave back powers, brought Kip back, etc. Weeks went full comic/anime mode and destroyed a lot of depth his book could've had. The characters still talked about death and loss, but it's hard to take seriously when the only important death was Cruxer's.
A few of my many issues:
When did Liv get magic healing powers? Why wasn't she using them on herself literally all the time? She can heal Corvan's serious internal injuries with an unexplained hand wave, but she can't fix her skin?
Could Karris and her crew not save themselves? Why was Dazen flying in with Orholam on a convenient plane necessary? In my non-professional-writer opinion, the book would've been better with Dazen sending light from afar, and Karris+crew saving him and prophet-Orholam (who I guess is still on the island) in his mildly broken state. That would've felt like a real penance. Dazen saves everyone but isn't seen at all during the war, ensuring that he gets no glory.
I was excited for small chapters following each of the Mighty that actually killed a bane using the light Andross directed, but we get Dazen thoughts instead of Winsen and Ben adventures. Weeks spared us a little by not having 200 pages of Dazen at each pilgrimage circle reliving all his mistakes; maybe he got bad feedback on (what felt like) 500+ pages of Dazen rowing a boat earlier in the series.
Tisis was a decent character, but way too much of her character involved "deep" monologues that most of the characters seemed to ignore. Kip would react with his usual "I love this woman I don't deserve", but apparently no one else cared. Tbh, if I knew someone given to long boring monologues, I might also ignore them. Maybe that part was realistic.
Fun read overall, though the hero plot-armor was ridiculous at the end. Teia was the best character.
I was excited that the book would end with real consequences and that not everyone would survive. Then Weeks pulled a 180 in the last few chapters and magically healed everyone fun, gave back powers, brought Kip back, etc. Weeks went full comic/anime mode and destroyed a lot of depth his book could've had. The characters still talked about death and loss, but it's hard to take seriously when the only important death was Cruxer's.
A few of my many issues:
When did Liv get magic healing powers? Why wasn't she using them on herself literally all the time? She can heal Corvan's serious internal injuries with an unexplained hand wave, but she can't fix her skin?
Could Karris and her crew not save themselves? Why was Dazen flying in with Orholam on a convenient plane necessary? In my non-professional-writer opinion, the book would've been better with Dazen sending light from afar, and Karris+crew saving him and prophet-Orholam (who I guess is still on the island) in his mildly broken state. That would've felt like a real penance. Dazen saves everyone but isn't seen at all during the war, ensuring that he gets no glory.
I was excited for small chapters following each of the Mighty that actually killed a bane using the light Andross directed, but we get Dazen thoughts instead of Winsen and Ben adventures. Weeks spared us a little by not having 200 pages of Dazen at each pilgrimage circle reliving all his mistakes; maybe he got bad feedback on (what felt like) 500+ pages of Dazen rowing a boat earlier in the series.
Tisis was a decent character, but way too much of her character involved "deep" monologues that most of the characters seemed to ignore. Kip would react with his usual "I love this woman I don't deserve", but apparently no one else cared. Tbh, if I knew someone given to long boring monologues, I might also ignore them. Maybe that part was realistic.
dark
emotional
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Good writing great concept. After four books this felt very rushed and left me with so many questions about the world
How in the world was this series originally a trilogy? I would be fascinated to see that original plan because so very, very many things happen in this book itself, and I can't imagine how it was originally the latter parts of book 3. 5 was the correct number though, because it feels like Weeks fully told that story that he wanted to tell while keeping the pace pretty consistent throughout, which is damn impressive.
The improvement in maturity also lated to the finish line. I believe that last time I had a cringe moment with the series and in the first half of book 3, and that really helped with my ability to immerse myself more deeply in the characters, story and world around them. I will add myself to the chorus of people saying that the series improves a lot as it goes.
The improvement in maturity also lated to the finish line. I believe that last time I had a cringe moment with the series and in the first half of book 3, and that really helped with my ability to immerse myself more deeply in the characters, story and world around them. I will add myself to the chorus of people saying that the series improves a lot as it goes.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I actually very much enjoyed this series. And I think it had a decent ending. I've heard so many mixed feelings on this series and this book in particular, and I definitely see some of the problems. The wrap up with the White King, that felt rather anticlimactic. Zymun even more so. They barely even appeared in the last two books. Also, what the hell was Liv's arc? She was a cool POV at first, seeing things from the bad guys view, but by the end she just sort of pisses off at the end and no one mentions her or goes looking for her after the battle? Everyone knew she survived too, so it's extra weird.
There wasn't much of a final epic showdown at all, and I wasn't crazy about that. Also, Andross got off the hook way too easy by the end. Teia needed a happier ending as well, she had it so brutal for the entire series. Those were two endings I didn't care for. Kip and Gavin's were good though.
I understand people weren't crazy about Orholam appearing and aiding the heroes in saving the day, and all the religious allegory that tied into it. As a former Christian myself I didn't mind it much, but I can definitely see why it'd bother others. It wasn't the best possible way to solve the plot, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment.
At least it gave Gavin something to do, I feel like he hasn't done anything in like three entire books besides being captured.
Still, it was quite good, and if anything. I wanted more of an ending. I have more questions about the world still, like the whole immortals side of the lore, and the 999 other worlds that were mentioned, I feel like that's just begging for a follow up.
One weird scene is Kip coming back to life after being fed soup and laying in a courtyard filled with the corpses, but apparently only he was important enough to revive. Very odd writing.
There wasn't much of a final epic showdown at all, and I wasn't crazy about that. Also, Andross got off the hook way too easy by the end. Teia needed a happier ending as well, she had it so brutal for the entire series. Those were two endings I didn't care for. Kip and Gavin's were good though.
I understand people weren't crazy about Orholam appearing and aiding the heroes in saving the day, and all the religious allegory that tied into it. As a former Christian myself I didn't mind it much, but I can definitely see why it'd bother others. It wasn't the best possible way to solve the plot, but it didn't ruin my enjoyment.
At least it gave Gavin something to do, I feel like he hasn't done anything in like three entire books besides being captured.
Still, it was quite good, and if anything. I wanted more of an ending. I have more questions about the world still, like the whole immortals side of the lore, and the 999 other worlds that were mentioned, I feel like that's just begging for a follow up.
One weird scene is Kip coming back to life after being fed soup and laying in a courtyard filled with the corpses, but apparently only he was important enough to revive. Very odd writing.