A review by wolfmantula
A Clash of Fates by Philip C. Quaintrell

4.75

This was a fantastic finale and I wanted to give this 5 stars, but there were just a few small things that kept me from doing that, regardless of those, this had me trying to keep my emotions in check. If you’ve been following my reviews of this series, then you know how much I feel like this story has lots of Star Wars themes in it, and that continues with the final entry in this series with the somewhat predictable ending, that is essentially hinted starting in Knights of Erador. While it was predictable, I still thought it was done in an absolutely fantastic way. I think one of the coolest things about the way this ends is that Quaintrell leaves an opening to continue the series later on, which I hope he does. The other thing I loved about the ending is that Quaintrell gave me a bit of closure with the characters by showing their lives after the war ended. It felt good to see them in that way, in what is essentially a happily ever after type of ending with a sprinkle of issues for the future.

I think Quaintrell’s battle scenes are some of the best in fantasy, each one just feels edge of the seat intense. What makes A Clash of Fates even better than the previous entries, is that this was almost non-stop with battles going on in different places with the main characters still somewhat split up. Though the battles were all epic in their own way, I thought the final showdown between Alijah and Inara would be a bit more climactic than it was, it was a great scene, but but it did feel a little rushed, part of that is based on the only issue I really had, and that was with Alijah. Without going into too much detail, I felt his character arc just wasn’t as good as it could’ve been and there should’ve been a lot more of a struggle from within throughout, to truly grasp what he was going through.

“Leaders, whatever their role, don’t set an example by being perfect. They set an example by getting back up. My judgment faltered and I made a mistake. In the end, I had to accept that and rise above it, whatever the punishment. And, like you, it helps that I have loyal supporters who believe in me.”

As I’ve said before Doran has been my favorite character for a while, his banter with everyone he’s involved with just makes for great entertainment. Though I have to say, I thought he did a great job with more character depth of Asher, Inara, Galanör, Gideon and Kassian. They all had major parts to play within the story and each one of their arc’s was delivered very well. But the best addition to this story is Avandriell and her arc with a character that gave him much more depth than he previously had. Quaintrell hit me with some high emotions with some tragic deaths that I expected to happen, but they were still heartbreaking to see, I didn’t cry, but my heart did drop and that’s almost as great of a reaction. While there were some deaths, I do wish he killed off more main characters, but this was very classical fantasy and they each needed their happy endings.

It only took 9 books, but the whispersync audio production issues that I’ve had over the previous 8 books is no longer an issue. I’ve had real issues with that and I’m very thankful that it was at least fixed in the most meaningful book of all. I’ve said before that Steven Brand’s voice reminds me of Rufus Sewell (A Knight’s Tale) just because of how soft and mellow it is, it can be a bit monotonous at times, but his narration has grown on me with every entry of the series. It has grown even more here in, A Clash of Fates, because his character voices and even the emotions of the characters seem to have gotten much better. This is massive improvement, but I still think he fits best in a first person or as a third person omniscient from the narrators point of view more than in a multi pov story due to his character voices all being very similar in sound and tone.