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A review by cavalary
The Emerald Gate by Matt Heppe
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
I’ll say right away that The Emerald Gate is the best book in the series, so it’s something of a pity that it marks its end. There’s worldbuilding, there’s character development, there’s thrilling action, there are multiple viewpoints presenting events taking place simultaneously in different areas, even in different worlds, there are developments and explanations about the magic system… I also made a mental note about the realism of presenting an army stretched over a long distance while on the march from the viewpoint of a character who’s not at the lead, but far more important was the one made about some of the hard choices faced by some characters, and in particular about those who are on the side of good but nevertheless realize that the ends do justify the means and do whatever’s required for victory, no matter the costs, the brutality or the moral dilemmas. And I also found a certain element of the ending particularly pleasing.
That said, the first part of the book does seem better than what comes once the action explodes, with the first, and probably worst, major moment when terrible means are employed in order to reach the necessary ends. From that point, the action returns to the forefront, so the way the army’s advance is presented, however realistic, does seem rather odd, and I’d have preferred the skipped action scenes resulting from that choice to make way for more detailed worldbuilding and character development. And, as pretty much always, I’ll also point out all of the instances of hero’s luck as a negative aspect… And then there’s the ending as well, which once again stretches on far too long and is something of a fairy tale, starkly contrasting the bleak, brutal realism that’s the rule until then. Yes, I did find particularly appealing elements in it, and other readers may welcome just that contrast in general and feel that the characters deserved such closure, but even so, it should have at least been far more compressed, while other parts of the book should have been expanded.
That said, the first part of the book does seem better than what comes once the action explodes, with the first, and probably worst, major moment when terrible means are employed in order to reach the necessary ends. From that point, the action returns to the forefront, so the way the army’s advance is presented, however realistic, does seem rather odd, and I’d have preferred the skipped action scenes resulting from that choice to make way for more detailed worldbuilding and character development. And, as pretty much always, I’ll also point out all of the instances of hero’s luck as a negative aspect… And then there’s the ending as well, which once again stretches on far too long and is something of a fairy tale, starkly contrasting the bleak, brutal realism that’s the rule until then. Yes, I did find particularly appealing elements in it, and other readers may welcome just that contrast in general and feel that the characters deserved such closure, but even so, it should have at least been far more compressed, while other parts of the book should have been expanded.