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Death's Disciple #4
Void's Vengeance
Former captain Yala Palathar is once again in exile, while a tyrant sits upon the throne of Laria. The armies of the dead stalk the lands, while across the country, the orders of Disciples are falling, one by one.
Amid the chaos, Yala is offered an opportunity to return to the battlefield as a soldier of the highest rank. Accepting might be her only chance to get close to her enemy, but at the cost of being drawn deeper into the god of death’s domain.
Niema, too, faces a raging battle in her heart, between the promises she swore to the god of life and the knowledge that the god of death has marked her, too.
As the gods of life and death prepare to wage all-out war, Yala and Niema face choices that will shape the future of the nation and the world at large. Either they will bring an end to a conflict years in the making, or else watch everything they hold dear fall into the ruinous void.
Amid the chaos, Yala is offered an opportunity to return to the battlefield as a soldier of the highest rank. Accepting might be her only chance to get close to her enemy, but at the cost of being drawn deeper into the god of death’s domain.
Niema, too, faces a raging battle in her heart, between the promises she swore to the god of life and the knowledge that the god of death has marked her, too.
As the gods of life and death prepare to wage all-out war, Yala and Niema face choices that will shape the future of the nation and the world at large. Either they will bring an end to a conflict years in the making, or else watch everything they hold dear fall into the ruinous void.
552 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2025
About the author
Emma L. Adams
83 books952 followersI'm Emma, a fantasy author, book collector, gamer, and wanderer. I write urban and epic fantasy novels, including the international bestselling Changeling Chronicles, the Relics of Power trilogy, and the Death's Disciple quartet.
*Note: I use Goodreads only to keep a record of what I'm reading. Please don't send me unsolicited review requests.*
*Note: I use Goodreads only to keep a record of what I'm reading. Please don't send me unsolicited review requests.*
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 21, 2025
What a ride this series was! Yes, the body count might have been a bit high, and I started betting against myself who will survive until the end, but still - it was a blast!
The king is back on his throne, alive and determined to rule brutally. The palace has now a temple inside, one devoted to the god of death, Mekan.. and spilling blood of traitors, or proclaimed traitors, or inconvenient people, or disciples, or basically any random unfortunate soul is a daily business. You know, the void is always hungry, and Mekan thrives on sacrifices.. and Tharen wants all the power the god of death can give. So he made it his mission to destroy all disciples, and most of all, the natural enemy of death... Yalet, the god of life. Time is running out, and the few brave enough to rebel are plotting desperate plans.. most of all, Yala, who can't seem to refrain from risking her own life.
Although the book was long, I wasn't bored for a second. It was amazing, although dark and someone was constantly dying violent death. I don't think there was a single chapter without a few corpses. But what else can be expected when the god of death is on the rampage? At least my little happy soul was jumping with glee that Skytower did not fall (not sure why I took particular liking to that place. Or Kelan, for that matter. That man is a reckless fool who talks entirely too much and trouble follows his every step, but he does have certain charms). The twist with Yala and Niema was amazing one, and I admired both of their bravery until the very end. Niema really grew into a great character, and I will miss Yala too, the tapping of her cane became my company as well. Sad to see this series over.
The king is back on his throne, alive and determined to rule brutally. The palace has now a temple inside, one devoted to the god of death, Mekan.. and spilling blood of traitors, or proclaimed traitors, or inconvenient people, or disciples, or basically any random unfortunate soul is a daily business. You know, the void is always hungry, and Mekan thrives on sacrifices.. and Tharen wants all the power the god of death can give. So he made it his mission to destroy all disciples, and most of all, the natural enemy of death... Yalet, the god of life. Time is running out, and the few brave enough to rebel are plotting desperate plans.. most of all, Yala, who can't seem to refrain from risking her own life.
Although the book was long, I wasn't bored for a second. It was amazing, although dark and someone was constantly dying violent death. I don't think there was a single chapter without a few corpses. But what else can be expected when the god of death is on the rampage? At least my little happy soul was jumping with glee that Skytower did not fall (not sure why I took particular liking to that place. Or Kelan, for that matter. That man is a reckless fool who talks entirely too much and trouble follows his every step, but he does have certain charms). The twist with Yala and Niema was amazing one, and I admired both of their bravery until the very end. Niema really grew into a great character, and I will miss Yala too, the tapping of her cane became my company as well. Sad to see this series over.
March 19, 2026
A fantastic ending!
That was a fantastic ending! This last story had so much happening in it but it didn't come off as overstuffed and the pacing was great! If this was a season in a TV series, I could see this one being split into two parts. Of course, what I love most of all were the characters and their companionship, connection, and comeraderie. Their concern and willingness to provide aid no matter, really stuck to me. I appreciate it when characters are written like that. Especially with how competent and logical their actions are. At least, to me. The plot concludes, and yes, even though it was "stereotypical", everything else about these stories weren't so much so it balanced itself out. Still the plot being what it was, was enjoyable enough for me nevertheless. If that author wanted to continue the series, I wouldn't complain, but this was a fitting and satisfying end.
That was a fantastic ending! This last story had so much happening in it but it didn't come off as overstuffed and the pacing was great! If this was a season in a TV series, I could see this one being split into two parts. Of course, what I love most of all were the characters and their companionship, connection, and comeraderie. Their concern and willingness to provide aid no matter, really stuck to me. I appreciate it when characters are written like that. Especially with how competent and logical their actions are. At least, to me. The plot concludes, and yes, even though it was "stereotypical", everything else about these stories weren't so much so it balanced itself out. Still the plot being what it was, was enjoyable enough for me nevertheless. If that author wanted to continue the series, I wouldn't complain, but this was a fitting and satisfying end.
February 26, 2026
A bit of a disappointing end to a series. Spoilers for the rest of the series since this is book 4. Tharen is back on the throne and appears to be under Mekan's influence. He has unleashed Mekan against his own people, Yala and co have managed to destroy the temple of death but now must face off against Tharen to free Laria from Mekan's grip. His influence spread quickly and all disciples are at risk..
This series picked up after the first book and was on a fairly consistent upwards trajectory, with the ending of book 3 being the highlight of the series. . The stage is set and tensions are high, the very true of Laria is in the balance. And then... we sit for around half the book. I get that you need to plan but man does it go overboard. The book is a constant stop-start of high intensity action and absolute nothingness. There is just no build-up of momentum at all which feels strange given how well paced the last book was. A big part of that for me is the length, this book is atleast twice as long as any of the other entries and suffers for it. It felt like the author really wanted to make sure they cover ALL bases in as much detail as possible and I get not wanting to feel like you've forgotten something in this world you've created but in doing so you're constantly pulling away from the central plot and adding people/factions too it that didn't really need to be there. That being said, I did enjoy the action scenes when they came. The ending was kind of whatever, it felt like Tharen was an unstoppable force that was stopped by him needing to die because he was the antagonist. Was there foreshadowing of some sort about the forces used to stop him? Yes. Was it satisfying? Not really.
I've said in all my reviews that one of the weakest parts of the series is our MC, Yala. And I think that is doubly so in this book. She is just a bit of a blank slate action hero who wants to save the day because that is what she does, her one defining character trait is she really hates Mekan. But, not in this book. She is willing to give into his influence at the first opportunity. It really goes against everything she has been through up until now and feels like the author really just wanted to force this character ark without laying the necessary groundwork . But as I've seen in my other reviews, I really like the rest of the cast. Nema and Kelan in particular as our other main characters. They have grown throughout the series and reach satisfying conclusions in their character arks. Kelan doesn't like authority and often doesn't take things seriously but steps up as a leader and as a friend. Nema was outcast and struggles with caring too much about others, but finds her place and her people. Lastly, Tharen as a villain was fine. He's a bit on the generic evil side, wanting to rule for powers sake.
Overall, this was a kind of lackluster conclusion. Unfortunately, it is my least favourite of the series. It still features some characters that I really enjoy and I liked how their stories ended. The action scenes were fun, but were overshadowed by overlong nothing scenes in between in a book that was longer than it needed to be. 3ish stars.
This series picked up after the first book and was on a fairly consistent upwards trajectory, with the ending of book 3 being the highlight of the series. . The stage is set and tensions are high, the very true of Laria is in the balance. And then... we sit for around half the book. I get that you need to plan but man does it go overboard. The book is a constant stop-start of high intensity action and absolute nothingness. There is just no build-up of momentum at all which feels strange given how well paced the last book was. A big part of that for me is the length, this book is atleast twice as long as any of the other entries and suffers for it. It felt like the author really wanted to make sure they cover ALL bases in as much detail as possible and I get not wanting to feel like you've forgotten something in this world you've created but in doing so you're constantly pulling away from the central plot and adding people/factions too it that didn't really need to be there. That being said, I did enjoy the action scenes when they came. The ending was kind of whatever, it felt like Tharen was an unstoppable force that was stopped by him needing to die because he was the antagonist. Was there foreshadowing of some sort about the forces used to stop him? Yes. Was it satisfying? Not really.
I've said in all my reviews that one of the weakest parts of the series is our MC, Yala. And I think that is doubly so in this book. She is just a bit of a blank slate action hero who wants to save the day because that is what she does, her one defining character trait is she really hates Mekan. But, not in this book. She is willing to give into his influence at the first opportunity. It really goes against everything she has been through up until now and feels like the author really just wanted to force this character ark without laying the necessary groundwork . But as I've seen in my other reviews, I really like the rest of the cast. Nema and Kelan in particular as our other main characters. They have grown throughout the series and reach satisfying conclusions in their character arks. Kelan doesn't like authority and often doesn't take things seriously but steps up as a leader and as a friend. Nema was outcast and struggles with caring too much about others, but finds her place and her people. Lastly, Tharen as a villain was fine. He's a bit on the generic evil side, wanting to rule for powers sake.
Overall, this was a kind of lackluster conclusion. Unfortunately, it is my least favourite of the series. It still features some characters that I really enjoy and I liked how their stories ended. The action scenes were fun, but were overshadowed by overlong nothing scenes in between in a book that was longer than it needed to be. 3ish stars.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews