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A review by kerveros
Hammer of God by Karen Miller
5.0
My friend Heather lent me the first two books in this series which I read pretty darn quickly last month. I mentioned to my other friend, Sophie, how much I wanted to read the third and, bless her heart, she only went and got me a copy! I'm glad she did because this book concludes the series pretty much perfectly.
To recap from my review of The Riven Kingdom there were a few things I wanted to happen in this book:
- Hekat and Zandekar to reunite
- to see how Rhian copes with the threat of Mijak and how she allies (or not) with the trade countries
- Zandekar to stike his brother down
Now obviously a proper discussion of these falls into spoiler territoy so if you want to know if the things I wanted to happen did then click below!
All three things happened (the middle one clearly had to if you think about it...) but perhaps not how I wanted... In chronological order then, Rhian does really well in terms of accepting the threat, though I think her... annoyance... at Zandakar and Jones is rather unQueenly. Though that does show how new she is to that role. I really, really enjoyed the alliance between Rhian and Han of T-somethingorother - I thought the way their relationship developed was awesome and I would love for their to be a series about Han and his country. The reunion between Hekat and Zandakar ... it happened as it needed to for these characters (i.e. it did not go down well) but I just wish there had been some more time for them, for Zandakar to have spent a few more minutes with his Yuma, maybe for Hekat to realise that she was freaking crazy in the same way that Vortka did . As for the Zandakar v Dimmy show down, well again I wish some more time had been devoted to it, but what happened and how it happened is perfect for the book.
Rhian certainly grows into her role as Queen, I really enjoyed seeing the evolution that she undertakes, from a head-strong girl to Queen in Riven Kingdom, from Queen to Warrior to Ruler in this book. She isn't quite as fierce as Hekat is, but she's certainly as strong in her own way.
Alasdair is... annoying comes to mind but he improves as the book goes on. You can understand why he is as petulant or childish as he is at times, but it doesn't come across as being particularly noble. But guess what - nobles are human beings too and he certainly comes off as being human! I think what Miller does well is creating characters that are human and flawed, in a way that doesn't come across as being pointless or there for plot reasons.
Zandakar is, Zandakar. He doesn't really change all that much - his big character moment came in Riven Kingdom. I do wish he had been a bit more emotive at certain moments though (for example whenhe found out that Vortka was his father, or that his country had started human sacrifice, or that the god he had served all his life was actually a demon, and what his culture thought of as demons were actualy on the side of good (though that raises questions about good and evil and... I'm not a theology student so I'm so not going in that territory .
Jones and Ursa are another pair that haven't changed much really since Riven Kingdom. They're okay, but Ursa can be more than a little grating.
Han... now, he is interesting. I didn't like him in Riven Kingdom, but then he did only turn up at the last moment and spoil things for Zanakar so... maybe that is understandable. But in this he goes from being a cold, manipulative ruler to someone desperately trying to do the best for his people and country. His relationship with Rhian goes from one of a man who thinks he knows best, to a somewhat ally, to a potential threat, to a friend. I really wish there was more of him in this book, and part of me hopes that Miller has included him and/or his nation in other books of hers.
Overall, a very strong finish to a series I wasn't sure I'd want to read in full. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.
To recap from my review of The Riven Kingdom there were a few things I wanted to happen in this book:
- Hekat and Zandekar to reunite
- to see how Rhian copes with the threat of Mijak and how she allies (or not) with the trade countries
- Zandekar to stike his brother down
Now obviously a proper discussion of these falls into spoiler territoy so if you want to know if the things I wanted to happen did then click below!
Rhian certainly grows into her role as Queen, I really enjoyed seeing the evolution that she undertakes, from a head-strong girl to Queen in Riven Kingdom, from Queen to Warrior to Ruler in this book. She isn't quite as fierce as Hekat is, but she's certainly as strong in her own way.
Alasdair is... annoying comes to mind but he improves as the book goes on. You can understand why he is as petulant or childish as he is at times, but it doesn't come across as being particularly noble. But guess what - nobles are human beings too and he certainly comes off as being human! I think what Miller does well is creating characters that are human and flawed, in a way that doesn't come across as being pointless or there for plot reasons.
Zandakar is, Zandakar. He doesn't really change all that much - his big character moment came in Riven Kingdom. I do wish he had been a bit more emotive at certain moments though (for example when
Jones and Ursa are another pair that haven't changed much really since Riven Kingdom. They're okay, but Ursa can be more than a little grating.
Han... now, he is interesting. I didn't like him in Riven Kingdom, but then he did only turn up at the last moment and spoil things for Zanakar so... maybe that is understandable. But in this he goes from being a cold, manipulative ruler to someone desperately trying to do the best for his people and country. His relationship with Rhian goes from one of a man who thinks he knows best, to a somewhat ally, to a potential threat, to a friend. I really wish there was more of him in this book, and part of me hopes that Miller has included him and/or his nation in other books of hers.
Overall, a very strong finish to a series I wasn't sure I'd want to read in full. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author in the future.