A review by cassiecollins
Ascension of the Orc King by Lionel Hart

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was definitely an improvement over the second book. The balance of story and action was a lot better and helped the pacing be more consistent. There were still moments where the characters felt like they were doing things more for the sake of the plot rather than their own agency (such as

Taegan being forced into a damsel role for the first half

). And then, of course, we close out on a

sickly-sweet ending

, which is not entirely unexpected for this kind of book. I do wish we got more action/fight scenes in this series, as I really enjoyed the way the author wrote those. Overall, it's an okay read. If you're really into orc romance, this would scratch the itch, so to speak, but that's about it.