Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Riftwar Saga
Author Info: http://crydee.com
Warning: May contain mild spoilers for the previous 3 books of the series.
Review for the first two books (which were combined into a single big book in later editions)
Review for the third book
This is the last book of the Riftwar Saga, where the epic conclusion of the battle between Arutha and Murmandamus takes place. Pug and Tomas return in all their glory, Macros the Black also makes a cameo, while Jimmy the Hand truly shines as a character. We finally see a strong female character in the series: The badass warrior lady Briana. She is not a beautiful princess like Carline and Anita, nor is she a damsel in distress. I really liked this character.
Guy de Bas Tyra, who was the horrible villain in Magician, displays some hardcore badassery in this book. I am not going to say more for the sake of keeping this review spoiler free, but I was impressed with his battle skills. Villain or not, the man is the finest general in all the Western realm as they say!
The fortified city of Armengar (and I mean really fortified!) was another element in this book which made my epic battle geek self drool. It is quite original both with its structure and its culture. I have not seen any place quite like it in any other fantasy book I have read to date (and I read a lot of fantasy books!) It’s perhaps one of the best cities in the entire fantasy genre. The battle there was truly magnificent and I know for a fact that any military/battle geeks will appreciate it.
The other awesome place featured in this book is the City Forever and its garden where Pug and Tomas travel to sort out some chaotic situation. The other new character we meet is the dragon Ryath, Tomas’s ride. The epic battle waged by Pug, Tomas and Ryath in the garden of City Forever is well done and a great joy to read.
We get to learn more about the elf races and the mysterious godlike race of Valheru through Tomas’s flashbacks, and those scenes are quite interesting also, with a tinge of dark fantasy.
All in all, this is a great book, packed with action, neatly wraps up everything from the previous books, features a strong female character, dragons and epic battle scenes.
Rating: 4.5/5 Roman Solidus
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