Better, especially in the final third, but too bleak for too little plot
3 stars
With me very much liking the first book and very much not liking the second, as I started this, I already feeling skeptical about the series.
Well, overall, although this book was better than the second, there’s not enough for an redemption.
With the first book focussing on the political machinations before the Holy War, and the second trudging though the war itself, here it’s mostly philosophy and metaphysics. Although I do like some of this, even when it makes for hard reading, there’s only so much dense pondering I can take when we still don’t get any further on with the plot.
For the first two-thirds, everyone is continually just fawning over the main character and how great they are, when really, as the reader, we only see a sociopathic and misogynic mad man. It’s stupid to think others couldn’t see that at all, especially as magic isn’t invoked …
With me very much liking the first book and very much not liking the second, as I started this, I already feeling skeptical about the series.
Well, overall, although this book was better than the second, there’s not enough for an redemption.
With the first book focussing on the political machinations before the Holy War, and the second trudging though the war itself, here it’s mostly philosophy and metaphysics. Although I do like some of this, even when it makes for hard reading, there’s only so much dense pondering I can take when we still don’t get any further on with the plot.
For the first two-thirds, everyone is continually just fawning over the main character and how great they are, when really, as the reader, we only see a sociopathic and misogynic mad man. It’s stupid to think others couldn’t see that at all, especially as magic isn’t invoked as an explanation.
Then, when we near the final third, and the confrontation that’s been built up for most of three long books, everything is abrupt and rushed.
That said, some individual events and the extra world building is all quite fascinating, really fleshing out and broadening what already was an amazing and truly epic setting spanning continents and cultures.
The highlight was the overall climax for the sorcerer Achamian, which also marks the culmination of the book (all the half page of it) - it’s brave, and not an easy out for the author or the characters. This brought about true closure and opened up intriguing new possibilities.
Despite me generally being a completionist when it comes to fantasy series, and indeed I’m reluctant to not find out where we go with the next four-book series to actually learn the full story of the second apocalypse, at the moment, I can’t face all the skimming over all grandiose prose I’d no doubt have.
I am impressed with Bakker’s fresh thinking behind basing a fantasy on philosophy and psychology, but there’s simply no point of visiting somewhere so bleak for so little plot.
