The Temple of the Exploding Head Omnibus

by Ren Garcia

Three books in The Dead Held Hands The Machine The Temple of the Exploding Head Starfarers and explorers, the League settled on Kana thousands of years ago. They found it to be a paradise, a perfect, virtually uninhabited planet waiting just for them in the cradle of space. Lovely Kana … it was too good to be true … But, all was not as it seemed. Simmering beneath the ground was a demented god who had soaked Kana in blood for untold ages, luring in victims, lying to them, and rejoicing in their suffering as they died at the hands of his dark angels. And there will be blood again … From his Temple in the ground, the Horned God stirs. When Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort, a young man troubled by the weight of the world, dares give his heart to a girl from a mysterious ancient household, one that pre-dates the League itself, he comes to know the shadows of the past that hover over her. He comes to know of the Horned God, and for love he is destined to face him. All roads lead to the Temple of the Exploding Head, a place of evil and death, rooted in the ancient past, but also tied to the distant future. “We were evil once,” she said, “and the gods are still punishing us…”

1413 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 19, 2018

About the author

Ren Garcia, the author of the League of Elder Series, graduated from the Ohio State University with a degree in literature. He enjoys playing volleyball and ice hockey and lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his wife and their four dogs. You can check out Ren’s website at http://theleagueofelder.com/, or his blog at http://thetempleoftheexplodinghead.wo... .

Reviews

[Mary Quire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book and am absolutely taken aback. The Temple of the Exploding Head Omnibus is a compilation of three books in the League of Elder series: The Dead Held Hands being the first, followed by The Machine and The Temple of the Exploding Head. Written by Ren Garcia, this saga takes place a couple of decades past where The Hazards of the Old Ones (the second book in the League series) ended with Captain Davage and Sygillis of Metatron, Lord and Countess of Blanchefort, expecting their first child.
As a reader, I am always skeptical when the main characters of a series change, especially if I truly enjoyed reading about them as I did with Syg and Davage. I shouldn’t have worried. Garcia has indeed mastered the shift, much like author Ann Bishop has done with The Others series, and I found myself enthralled.
The Omnibus begins with the birth of Davage and Syg’s son, Kabyl, who would be the future Lord of Blanchefort. This sounds like the start of just another kingdom fairy tale, I know, but trust me when I say that this is simply not the case. Lord Kabyl, or Kay as he is also known, has huge shoes to fill and the reader is thrust into all of the uncertainties such a position in life could bring to a kid with little to no self confidence. What’s more, there is a girl of another house within the League who has awaited his birth with eager anticipation. Lady Sammidoran, Sam, is an Anuian of the Monamas and to be honest she is my favorite character in this book. Born in a jar like all females of the Monamas, Sam is just one of the many in her clutch and is the only one them to survive the persecution of The Horned God. I absolutely love the way the author portrayed her. Human, but not human, Sam has many of the attributes one might bestow on a species of reptile. People of her house appear to be somewhat cold blooded, and frigid climates such as can be found in the land of Kana where this book takes place have an unfavorable effect on them, sometimes fatal. Monamas also seem to have the ability to see into the future and Sam is no different as she has witnessed her own death; a vision which greatly influences the woman she becomes and the relationship she has with Kay.
There are many other supporting characters in this book adding their own trials and tribulations to the mix, but there really isn’t enough time to go into them all. I shall leave other readers to decide which ones they deem their favorite.
As for the book as a whole, it is fast paced and well written. The characterization, as I said before, is well formed and the story flows beautifully. All in all, I am left with the desire to read more of Garcia’s work, be it in The League of Elder or not, and I highly recommend it to any reader who enjoys fiction at its best.