A brilliant conclusion to a really engaging series.
The conflict between the siblings of the Sun River nation may be over but the threat of the Plague people is growing and all the nations could be at threat. It will require all the knowledge and skill of Hesbrec, Maniye and the others if they have any hope to survive the coming battles.
This kept me at the edge of my seat the whole book. There were times I honestly wondered if there was going to be a logical (in world of course) reason that explains how the clans survived. Or if they survived. However I should have trusted in the author as I feel he nailed the ending. It definitely got pretty bad towards the end and it also made me really intrigued about the author’s first series as I think there are connections there.
There was so much cool stuff here, from Hesbrec’s encounters with the Pale Shadow people (who I confess thought were the same as the Plague people) to some of the other clans we met such as the bat and the hyena. There was also the whole subplot with the Rat cult which was both disgusting and intriguing. There were great battles and great interactions. I really enjoyed everything with Kailovela but Galethea’s arc, though small in the greater scheme of things, was one of my favourites. Asman I felt actually got short shrift here but Maniye’s was great, her captivity was hard to read.
All in all this was a great series. The first book still feels a bit of an anomaly in relation to the series as a whole, though it was still a good read itself. I’m finding that I sometimes struggle with Adrian’s series at the start but generally loving them by the end so I need to keep that in mind the next time I start a new one. This was the first fantasy series of his I’ve read after a couple of sci-fi ones and on this basis it won’t be the last.
4.5 rounded up
Barry's Bloody Books 