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The War of Broken Mirrors #3
Defying Destiny
It’s been almost a year since the Trials of Unyielding Steel.
When Lydia gets a lead on the whereabouts of Jonathan Sterling, she concludes her training with a legendary immortal sorcerer and puts a plan in motion for his capture.
Near Selyr, Taelien reunites with an old friend — Wrynn Jaden, the legendary Witch of a Thousand Shadows — and meets with Jonan to make a deal.
Jonan, of course, has other concerns. His master, the legendary Lady of Thieves herself, has given him a new assignment — one that hints at world-shaping events, if he can survive the mission. He’ll partner with Velas, but she has her own problems to deal with, including a revelation that will test where her loyalties truly lie.
When Lydia gets a lead on the whereabouts of Jonathan Sterling, she concludes her training with a legendary immortal sorcerer and puts a plan in motion for his capture.
Near Selyr, Taelien reunites with an old friend — Wrynn Jaden, the legendary Witch of a Thousand Shadows — and meets with Jonan to make a deal.
Jonan, of course, has other concerns. His master, the legendary Lady of Thieves herself, has given him a new assignment — one that hints at world-shaping events, if he can survive the mission. He’ll partner with Velas, but she has her own problems to deal with, including a revelation that will test where her loyalties truly lie.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2019
614 people are currently reading
1293 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
October 16, 2021
This was a good end to a decent fantasy trilogy. Just saying that this has tons of magic a-la D&D, godlike powers subquests, epic weapons, and tons of adventure doesn't really do it justice. It's character-driven and has an epic load of peeps to enjoy.
Of course, it needs to be read in conjunction with the other two books, but I found this to be an altogether fun, light read. I kinda feel like I just read a JRPG that's heavy on a few D&D concepts, and while that doesn't scream *original*, it did provide me with a good deal of fun.
Of course, it needs to be read in conjunction with the other two books, but I found this to be an altogether fun, light read. I kinda feel like I just read a JRPG that's heavy on a few D&D concepts, and while that doesn't scream *original*, it did provide me with a good deal of fun.
March 1, 2020
2.5 stars so I’m torn as to how to show that. I’m sticking with the kinder approach because I like most of the author’s books and the elements that make up this one (characters, plot, magic system, fighting), I just absolutely hated the delivery.
In short, to me this had the same problem as GOT season 8: it’s more like a cliff’s notes of a book than an actual book. You get all the essential details and plot points but NOTHING else. No character interactions, no character development except that in the middle of a fight scene, no world-building. It’s extremely jarring to spend so little time with people and so much time with just getting people from A to B and providing the reader with the minimum information necessary to be able to understand the complex fight scenes (including what seems like an unnecessary and interminable description of weaponry smack in the middle of it).
And don’t get me wrong, I’m as overjoyed as the next person to read smart fight scenes that optimally use all the skills of the characters and the knowledge available to them in new and innovative ways (it feels like solving a puzzle), but a book can’t be JUST about that. Especially when you have a host of interesting characters waiting to leap off the page if only you gave them more than half a page to do so.
Now, this has been the style of the series from the beginning but I think it struck me as so much worse in this book because the cast of characters kept growing until it more than tripled from the first book. And there is simply no room at all devoted to getting me invested in most of these characters to the point I literally didn’t care who died in the fights.
A good fight scene needs more than clever choreography and use of skills to have an impact. It needs to ideally also pack an emotional punch. But when you can’t even devote the time to describe the feelings of the person most affected by the big bad during the fight, that punch goes right out the window. Yes, I think a re-thread of that fight from the perspective of the emotionally involved character was absolutely necessary. Or at least skipping between perspectives. That was a big letdown.
So really, what I’m trying to say is that there is a reason why GRRM and Sanderson write books you can clobber someone with (even though they overdo it!) - if you have 6-7 characters you need to get the reader to care about, it’s going to take more than 200 pages to deliver that emotional connection and the fight scenes and the plot itself. And the “fluff” does serve a purpose. The emotional connection to the characters needs to be renewed with each book. For instance, the one scene that really stuck with me in this book was Lydia’s conversation. The only scene where we get to spend more than a couple of sentences with character interactions....
Finally, it’s very disappointing that all the above happened when the same author has already handled pacing much much better in other, older books.
In short, to me this had the same problem as GOT season 8: it’s more like a cliff’s notes of a book than an actual book. You get all the essential details and plot points but NOTHING else. No character interactions, no character development except that in the middle of a fight scene, no world-building. It’s extremely jarring to spend so little time with people and so much time with just getting people from A to B and providing the reader with the minimum information necessary to be able to understand the complex fight scenes (including what seems like an unnecessary and interminable description of weaponry smack in the middle of it).
And don’t get me wrong, I’m as overjoyed as the next person to read smart fight scenes that optimally use all the skills of the characters and the knowledge available to them in new and innovative ways (it feels like solving a puzzle), but a book can’t be JUST about that. Especially when you have a host of interesting characters waiting to leap off the page if only you gave them more than half a page to do so.
Now, this has been the style of the series from the beginning but I think it struck me as so much worse in this book because the cast of characters kept growing until it more than tripled from the first book. And there is simply no room at all devoted to getting me invested in most of these characters to the point I literally didn’t care who died in the fights.
A good fight scene needs more than clever choreography and use of skills to have an impact. It needs to ideally also pack an emotional punch. But when you can’t even devote the time to describe the feelings of the person most affected by the big bad during the fight, that punch goes right out the window. Yes, I think a re-thread of that fight from the perspective of the emotionally involved character was absolutely necessary. Or at least skipping between perspectives. That was a big letdown.
So really, what I’m trying to say is that there is a reason why GRRM and Sanderson write books you can clobber someone with (even though they overdo it!) - if you have 6-7 characters you need to get the reader to care about, it’s going to take more than 200 pages to deliver that emotional connection and the fight scenes and the plot itself. And the “fluff” does serve a purpose. The emotional connection to the characters needs to be renewed with each book. For instance, the one scene that really stuck with me in this book was Lydia’s conversation. The only scene where we get to spend more than a couple of sentences with character interactions....
Finally, it’s very disappointing that all the above happened when the same author has already handled pacing much much better in other, older books.
March 14, 2023
So this is definitely the best of the trilogy. The action is too much but at least well written, the characters really come to live and the plot reconnects to the first two books wax better than the second did to the first. I was already spoiled regarding the final twist of the book but still enjoyed seeing it :)
September 12, 2019
Probably my favorite book of all time
In my personal opinion "The War of Broken Mirrors" is a fantastic story. The character development is very detailed and give you a deep understanding of their personalities while still hiding the really juicy secrets. Each book leaves you in a maddening state of having more questions that you got answered, while simultaneously keeping the reader engaged with detailed and awesome battles and or dramatic scenes all the while sprinkling the smallest of hits about some of the bigger secrets yet to be revealed. This results in (at least in my case) furiously skimming through the books picking out every little detail i can find to try to piece the puzzle together, but with little success until the bomb shell finally gets dropped leaving the reader dumbstruck, whooping with glee, smacking their forehead for missing the obvious answer, grinning like a fool because you managed to figure a specific thing out, or some combination of the four. The third book in particular is my favorite because it takes all these things and turns them up to 11 while also wrapping a neat little bow on top to round the story out. Many questions were answered, the fight scenes gave my chills, and the bombshells do not stop coming. 12/10 will definitely be reading again (probably going to immediately start reading over it again)
In my personal opinion "The War of Broken Mirrors" is a fantastic story. The character development is very detailed and give you a deep understanding of their personalities while still hiding the really juicy secrets. Each book leaves you in a maddening state of having more questions that you got answered, while simultaneously keeping the reader engaged with detailed and awesome battles and or dramatic scenes all the while sprinkling the smallest of hits about some of the bigger secrets yet to be revealed. This results in (at least in my case) furiously skimming through the books picking out every little detail i can find to try to piece the puzzle together, but with little success until the bomb shell finally gets dropped leaving the reader dumbstruck, whooping with glee, smacking their forehead for missing the obvious answer, grinning like a fool because you managed to figure a specific thing out, or some combination of the four. The third book in particular is my favorite because it takes all these things and turns them up to 11 while also wrapping a neat little bow on top to round the story out. Many questions were answered, the fight scenes gave my chills, and the bombshells do not stop coming. 12/10 will definitely be reading again (probably going to immediately start reading over it again)
April 30, 2022
I really wanted to give this book five full stars. I really did. The characters, the world, the plot, the twists and turns are truly delightful. However, the pacing of this book is a major problem.
Ironically, it's the action scenes that are an anchor on the story. They bring the entire plot to a grinding halt by going on and on and on and on. I feel like I'm reading a shonen battle like Fairy Tail or Dragon Ball. That is not a good thing. You reach an emotional and physical climax of the fight and...then something happens and the battle just...keeps...going. Then you reach another and...the fight keeps going. Sacrifices are meaningless because they change nothing regarding the outcome because somehow the antagonist manages to nullify every heroic move which needlessly prolongs the fight. It just keeps going. As with a rubber band, you can only hold the tension for so long before the band loses its stretchiness. The two "climatic" battles at the end were particularly egregious. About a third of the way through each, I genuinely stopped caring who won or lost; so long as it would just mercifully end. The fact that no one died after all that time is even worse; if were not going to have any tension, can we at least have some stakes? No? Hard to care after that.
Ironically, it's the action scenes that are an anchor on the story. They bring the entire plot to a grinding halt by going on and on and on and on. I feel like I'm reading a shonen battle like Fairy Tail or Dragon Ball. That is not a good thing. You reach an emotional and physical climax of the fight and...then something happens and the battle just...keeps...going. Then you reach another and...the fight keeps going. Sacrifices are meaningless because they change nothing regarding the outcome because somehow the antagonist manages to nullify every heroic move which needlessly prolongs the fight. It just keeps going. As with a rubber band, you can only hold the tension for so long before the band loses its stretchiness. The two "climatic" battles at the end were particularly egregious. About a third of the way through each, I genuinely stopped caring who won or lost; so long as it would just mercifully end. The fact that no one died after all that time is even worse; if were not going to have any tension, can we at least have some stakes? No? Hard to care after that.
May 7, 2020
Really love the world and the characters, but the story in this one wasn't up to par with the previous ones
January 18, 2025
2.5 stars | what a blunder to finish off the series.
June 30, 2023
Another enjoyable read
I really enjoy the setting of the world and the flavor of it's magic systems. Here you get to see the origin of one of the mysterious characters in the other series. I highly suggest reading both this series and the Sufficiently Advanced Magic series. I think it's best to start with the Sufficiently Advanced Magic series.
I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do.
I really enjoy the setting of the world and the flavor of it's magic systems. Here you get to see the origin of one of the mysterious characters in the other series. I highly suggest reading both this series and the Sufficiently Advanced Magic series. I think it's best to start with the Sufficiently Advanced Magic series.
I hope you enjoy these books as much as I do.
April 8, 2020
3.25☆
August 30, 2024
An epic ending to a fabulous trilogy. Andrew is delightful
August 2, 2023
Lets go! This was a great continuation to the story. The story was well spread out, and some great clashes came forth. Can't wait to continue reading Rowe's expanded universe!
March 31, 2020
Definitely the weakest book I've read from Andrew Rowe. It spent a lot of time (far too much) with characters that were just far less interesting than others. And not all of the characters had satisfying conclusions. This series definitely felt the least focused after the first novel compared to his other series. I think he's just better at writing a single protagonist in the 1st person.
March 27, 2020
Honestly at this point, I think authors should feel morally obligated to complete their series and release them posthaste.
Glad at least this trilogy is complete.
A little weird to read this series last. I like the other two related series better but it was really interesting to watch the characters develop and also see how the author developed as a writer.
Glad at least this trilogy is complete.
A little weird to read this series last. I like the other two related series better but it was really interesting to watch the characters develop and also see how the author developed as a writer.
February 7, 2024
(No Spoilers) My review for the War of Broken Mirrors trilogy.
This was interesting but skippable backstory for the Arcane Ascension series. I stuck with it through 3 books because I was mainly looking to see if it went anywhere. And to be honest, it didn't really.
This series does introduce some characters that are in the Arcane Ascension books, but there wasn't really much here I didn't know about already. I think as a prequel series, it works OK since you can kind of tell that what is happening in these books link up with other series, but taken as a stand-alone trilogy, I think these books have a lot of issues.
First of all, there aren't really any satisfying character arcs. We are introduced to some characters, they have some battles and some witty banter, but otherwise there is no clear story. Each book seems almost like a short story gone awry, and while the characters are the same, the story doesn't really have a progression that makes much sense. Things just happen, then more things happen, and then it's the end of the series.
I feel almost like these books were written as a prologue to what the author really wanted to write, and because of that it doesn't really stand well on its own.
My advice: if you you are determined to read these books, do it after you've read the other series set in this world. This just isn't good as a stand-alone trilogy, and barely works as prequels meant to be read after the later books in the time line.
This was interesting but skippable backstory for the Arcane Ascension series. I stuck with it through 3 books because I was mainly looking to see if it went anywhere. And to be honest, it didn't really.
This series does introduce some characters that are in the Arcane Ascension books, but there wasn't really much here I didn't know about already. I think as a prequel series, it works OK since you can kind of tell that what is happening in these books link up with other series, but taken as a stand-alone trilogy, I think these books have a lot of issues.
First of all, there aren't really any satisfying character arcs. We are introduced to some characters, they have some battles and some witty banter, but otherwise there is no clear story. Each book seems almost like a short story gone awry, and while the characters are the same, the story doesn't really have a progression that makes much sense. Things just happen, then more things happen, and then it's the end of the series.
I feel almost like these books were written as a prologue to what the author really wanted to write, and because of that it doesn't really stand well on its own.
My advice: if you you are determined to read these books, do it after you've read the other series set in this world. This just isn't good as a stand-alone trilogy, and barely works as prequels meant to be read after the later books in the time line.
July 26, 2021
This book is a bridge to greatness. The way the author combines elements from the various novels in this universe is outstanding. The ending is so good to those that have read his other books.
The War of Broken Mirrors is a series for those that enjoy traditional fantasy books with an undercurrent of political mystery.
I had the pleasure of making a guest appearance on Geek on My Sleeve's podcast. We discuss the first book in the Arcane Ascension series, Sufficiently Advanced Magic. Check it out!
The War of Broken Mirrors is a series for those that enjoy traditional fantasy books with an undercurrent of political mystery.
I had the pleasure of making a guest appearance on Geek on My Sleeve's podcast. We discuss the first book in the Arcane Ascension series, Sufficiently Advanced Magic. Check it out!
April 11, 2020
Pretty good. If you don't mind enormous chunks of a book devoted to detailed descriptions of fights. We're starting to peel back the veil on some of the central mysteries and the world-building is getting more interesting as a result. Oh, and apparently the fate of the world is at stake.
May 1, 2020
An amazing book three that really built the characters from the previous books to well developed heroes in there own respectable way. It really paints a picture of how important every character and critical there role is in the story.
December 28, 2024
So much goes on in this book and I listened to it over a long time that it’s hard to keep track of everything that happens. However, what I do remember was enjoyable. The way that Rowe writes inner voice I won’t ever be a massive fan of. Too many questions.
January 24, 2022
Loose ends for the ending, Characters who put their personal morals over the good of others. Rampant technical pacifism and just weak will characters.
That's pretty much this whole book, written from multiple perspectives and having characters who are known killers also refusing to kill, it's like the book is a movie trying to get a pg-13 rating so refuses to kill anyone on screen. Unless of course it's the bad guy doing the killing.
Honestly that's probably the most annoying thing of this series and books. They KNOW know they can't hold the bad guys, know even if they capture them they will break out of prison and hurt, torture and kill others. Yet even when they have the bad people beat, they hold their sword out and go 'SURRENDER!' knowing that it's just a temporary fix.
Some might claim, they are moral, so they won't kill! That isn't moral. Every time they let a murderer get free and kill more people and they had a chance to end it permanently. That's on them! They share responsibility from that point forward for every innocent life taken by that person because they could have done something about it and didn't. It's not moral, it's caring about their own guilt in taking a life over the desire to protect others by ending evil. It's the whole evil flourishes when good men do nothing sort of logic.
So you got good guys dying one by one, getting weaker while the bad guys keep getting stronger and stronger, taking over nations, invading and killing while the good guys try to 'lock them up' even though they know they can't hold them...and more good people die while the evil people get getting stronger and more people to their cause. It's no wonder that more and more cities are falling and people are dying, if this is the logic of that religion in valuing life above all else, even in protecting innocence from evil. Even monsters from other words hell bent on destroying the world, the main characters would rather let escape than to kill them.
So if you can stand the whole childish 12 year old view point of , killing is bad, don't do it. Which lets everyone get away with no consequences or immortal demi gods locked up in prison for a year or so, before escaping to once more go on murder sprees.. Then ya great book! Fun god time.
If you got half a brain and can see how badly a way to handle problems that is, then this book is just frustrating and sad. Fine main character can't kill. At least introduced a side character with the guts that to do what needs to be done and put a end to the threats. I thought Silk would do that but she too holds off all the time on killing people even though they claim shes some bad ass killer who has no problem doing so.
That's pretty much this whole book, written from multiple perspectives and having characters who are known killers also refusing to kill, it's like the book is a movie trying to get a pg-13 rating so refuses to kill anyone on screen. Unless of course it's the bad guy doing the killing.
Honestly that's probably the most annoying thing of this series and books. They KNOW know they can't hold the bad guys, know even if they capture them they will break out of prison and hurt, torture and kill others. Yet even when they have the bad people beat, they hold their sword out and go 'SURRENDER!' knowing that it's just a temporary fix.
Some might claim, they are moral, so they won't kill! That isn't moral. Every time they let a murderer get free and kill more people and they had a chance to end it permanently. That's on them! They share responsibility from that point forward for every innocent life taken by that person because they could have done something about it and didn't. It's not moral, it's caring about their own guilt in taking a life over the desire to protect others by ending evil. It's the whole evil flourishes when good men do nothing sort of logic.
So you got good guys dying one by one, getting weaker while the bad guys keep getting stronger and stronger, taking over nations, invading and killing while the good guys try to 'lock them up' even though they know they can't hold them...and more good people die while the evil people get getting stronger and more people to their cause. It's no wonder that more and more cities are falling and people are dying, if this is the logic of that religion in valuing life above all else, even in protecting innocence from evil. Even monsters from other words hell bent on destroying the world, the main characters would rather let escape than to kill them.
So if you can stand the whole childish 12 year old view point of , killing is bad, don't do it. Which lets everyone get away with no consequences or immortal demi gods locked up in prison for a year or so, before escaping to once more go on murder sprees.. Then ya great book! Fun god time.
If you got half a brain and can see how badly a way to handle problems that is, then this book is just frustrating and sad. Fine main character can't kill. At least introduced a side character with the guts that to do what needs to be done and put a end to the threats. I thought Silk would do that but she too holds off all the time on killing people even though they claim shes some bad ass killer who has no problem doing so.
August 18, 2025
3.5 stars
This series never connected for me. I wanted to see it through because I have become doggedly connected to the reading order Andrew Rowe posted on his blog. I wanted to get the piece of the overall puzzle from this series that seemed to be so important for me continuing Arcane Ascension. I now have those pieces but...I don't really feel like I needed them. I think even if I didn't know anything about Lydia or Taelian, I would have been fine. Had I connected with this series like I did AA I think it would have been a great side quest chain, but I didn't so it just kind of flat-lined.
I didn't even really feel like it dragged. The pacing was one of the better aspects of this book. I just really didn't feel locked into it. I didn't care about the characters and so when thing happened in regards to them, I didn't really care. Likewise, the magic just isn't as fun.
In so many ways this is very debut. I love and respect how much Rowe has grown as a worldcrafter and author. I'm glad I got to experience that growth.
I'm not QUITE going back to AA yet as I am genuinely interested in Weapons & Wielders. I think that series will really hit and it's the next on the list!
This series never connected for me. I wanted to see it through because I have become doggedly connected to the reading order Andrew Rowe posted on his blog. I wanted to get the piece of the overall puzzle from this series that seemed to be so important for me continuing Arcane Ascension. I now have those pieces but...I don't really feel like I needed them. I think even if I didn't know anything about Lydia or Taelian, I would have been fine. Had I connected with this series like I did AA I think it would have been a great side quest chain, but I didn't so it just kind of flat-lined.
I didn't even really feel like it dragged. The pacing was one of the better aspects of this book. I just really didn't feel locked into it. I didn't care about the characters and so when thing happened in regards to them, I didn't really care. Likewise, the magic just isn't as fun.
In so many ways this is very debut. I love and respect how much Rowe has grown as a worldcrafter and author. I'm glad I got to experience that growth.
I'm not QUITE going back to AA yet as I am genuinely interested in Weapons & Wielders. I think that series will really hit and it's the next on the list!
May 14, 2025
In this installment we get some more information about different characters' pasts and some great action scenes, but it didn't really fit the writing style or tone of the first two books. I may be wrong but it looks like those first two books were released in 2015 and definitely had a style (whether good or bad) unique to that series. This book looks to have been released five years later - almost as a backup or companion read, or to add context to -characters that were being written about in AA and WaW series. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with that, and the main reason I'm reading this series is to fill in the time and get more information about the world and history before the next book (of any of the different series) is released. But I was disappointed in a weird way to see that some characters and bits of information seemed to be written in to satisfy a more recent plotline in the other book(s) instead of having been there all along waiting for us to make the connection.
May 8, 2020
3.5
Finally finished this! started reading the ebook a while ago, but then put it on hold to listen to the rest on audiobook when it was released.
This was a solid finish to what was a decent fantasy story. While I never really connected with this series, like I have with the Arcane Ascension series, it was still good to see backstory behind the characters present in the later series, and see how they ended up where they are during Arcane Ascension. Just for whatever reason this magic system, plot and characters never really stuck for me throughout this series.
That being said, the conclusion wrapped things up pretty nicely. Answered a lot of questions, but opened up a lot more that I'm sure will be explored further in later books. As always, definitely looking forward to more of Rowe's work.
Finally finished this! started reading the ebook a while ago, but then put it on hold to listen to the rest on audiobook when it was released.
This was a solid finish to what was a decent fantasy story. While I never really connected with this series, like I have with the Arcane Ascension series, it was still good to see backstory behind the characters present in the later series, and see how they ended up where they are during Arcane Ascension. Just for whatever reason this magic system, plot and characters never really stuck for me throughout this series.
That being said, the conclusion wrapped things up pretty nicely. Answered a lot of questions, but opened up a lot more that I'm sure will be explored further in later books. As always, definitely looking forward to more of Rowe's work.
August 14, 2025
4.5 maybe a 4.25 stars. Really enjoyed this book. I feel the author is coming into his groove. I like the characters. The only thing I wish was that certain people died. That they didn’t survive the battle they were in. Cool to see a character that I recognize finally at the end of the things make sense. Great fights. Great developments. So much more questions. So much more to happen. Such a big world being built!
I won’t lie. It could be me but the names are confusing. I keep getting confused who is who. And having to go back and be like ok yes I remember which one this is. I also felt there was a little skip that occurred that I understand the reasoning after but I feel that this series is one that I need to re listen to. I know there was much I missed out. Connections I didn’t make. Again a me issue but this took away from my score.
I won’t lie. It could be me but the names are confusing. I keep getting confused who is who. And having to go back and be like ok yes I remember which one this is. I also felt there was a little skip that occurred that I understand the reasoning after but I feel that this series is one that I need to re listen to. I know there was much I missed out. Connections I didn’t make. Again a me issue but this took away from my score.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2023
8.5/10
This review is Spoiler-Free.
This an amazing ending for the series. The quality of writing has improved immensely through the books and I believe this one is almost at level with the arcane ascension ones.
There are no more info-dumps in this book, unlike in the first two. This is one of the best changes, but not the best. The story was enormously better than the others too, I would say that more happened in this book than the other two combined.
We also get introduced to Wrynn, who quickly became one of my favourite characters, even though we only see her in one book.
All in all I highly recommend this book. It was worth enduring the read of the first book to reach this one. I hope you enjoy it too, Good read!
This review is Spoiler-Free.
This an amazing ending for the series. The quality of writing has improved immensely through the books and I believe this one is almost at level with the arcane ascension ones.
There are no more info-dumps in this book, unlike in the first two. This is one of the best changes, but not the best. The story was enormously better than the others too, I would say that more happened in this book than the other two combined.
We also get introduced to Wrynn, who quickly became one of my favourite characters, even though we only see her in one book.
All in all I highly recommend this book. It was worth enduring the read of the first book to reach this one. I hope you enjoy it too, Good read!
April 12, 2020
I really do love this series and as the finale of the WOBM trilogy, Rowe stuck the landing. For most series endings, being done would be a bittersweet moment. Thankfully Rowe keeps books coming at an amazing pace. The magic system continues to be stellar and the balance between expanding the mythology while still providing answers is executed well. There are a lot of pieces on the board and I find myself genuinely caring about the fates of not only the POV characters, but supporting characters as well. If you've enjoyed the prior two books or Rowe's other series of books you'll love this one too. Now on to Diamantine.
July 29, 2020
Okay so I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this as I thought it was a trilogy and this being the third book would have at least some sort of satisfying conclusion arc but it didn't. There are so many loose ends left over that it was very off-putting to not get the answers I assumed would be there. I still think the world and the way its magic works was interesting and I honestly liked the characters I just wish there was more meaningful payoffs. We do get a hint of Taelien's origins and what the big overarching game is but I don't know if I have it in me to keep going knowing it will be dragged out so long.
June 4, 2020
Half way through the book, I was unsure of how the ending would work, but I have to say I think it ended pretty well and really helps to turn this series from 3 separate trilogies into one story with more background.
I still have some trouble separating out all the different lands and some of the characters and who belongs to what - for some reason some of the information didn't sink in as well as some other series - but overall, a great book.
I still have some trouble separating out all the different lands and some of the characters and who belongs to what - for some reason some of the information didn't sink in as well as some other series - but overall, a great book.
October 30, 2020
A fitting conclusion to a fun trilogy (unless there’s more? It felt pretty well wrapped up). Having read Weapons and Wielders first it was really fun getting to go back and learn how Sal (snicker) got some of his powers and items. I actually think it caused me to enjoy the books even more, because there were brief moments to remind me of the story to come. Looking forward to Sufficiently Advanced Magic next!
March 5, 2021
I am really liking how different this feels to the rest of the authors stuff set in this world and I think this one was my favorite of the bunch. I’ve read the series in reverse order and am actually liking seeing the story in reverse. That said, this suffers from the same issues as a number of Rowe’a books. Specifically it feels like there is too much crammed in for the page count to allow. I did enjoy it though and will continue to keep reading his stuff.
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