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Blood on the Stars #18
Empire Reborn
The Final Book in the Blood on the Stars Series...
The human powers have been pushed to the brink, battered and almost destroyed. Their sole possibility for victory, the virus they have invented and deployed seems to be too little, too late. It's usage has only spurred the enemy to quicker action, to finish the war before they have to deal with its effects.
But the humans do not know that the Highborn are faced on another front, by a race they know little about but have battled for two centuries. The Highborn have decided to try and end that war, too, to lash out with all of their forces to eradicate the enemy, and impose peace onto the galaxy...the peace of their own, undisputed rule.
As the Highborn begin to lash out on both fronts, to complete the victory they believe is theirs, both of their foes dig in, bringing forward everything they can, fighting with all both sides have to defeat the Highborn, to secure freedom in the galaxy. There is titanic warfare all around space, massive fleets fighting desperately...but only one side can prevail, and rule space for the next 10,000 years.
This is the titanic conclusion to the 18 book Blood on the Stars series.
The human powers have been pushed to the brink, battered and almost destroyed. Their sole possibility for victory, the virus they have invented and deployed seems to be too little, too late. It's usage has only spurred the enemy to quicker action, to finish the war before they have to deal with its effects.
But the humans do not know that the Highborn are faced on another front, by a race they know little about but have battled for two centuries. The Highborn have decided to try and end that war, too, to lash out with all of their forces to eradicate the enemy, and impose peace onto the galaxy...the peace of their own, undisputed rule.
As the Highborn begin to lash out on both fronts, to complete the victory they believe is theirs, both of their foes dig in, bringing forward everything they can, fighting with all both sides have to defeat the Highborn, to secure freedom in the galaxy. There is titanic warfare all around space, massive fleets fighting desperately...but only one side can prevail, and rule space for the next 10,000 years.
This is the titanic conclusion to the 18 book Blood on the Stars series.
512 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 20
178 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
March 24, 2022
As much as I was looking forward to a good wrap up for this series, I was thoroughly let down. I realize that there wasn’t going to be any character development, or unknown conflicts to introduce, but I didn’t expect to continually rehash internal thoughts every chapter. The book is well over 500 pages long, but at least 200+ consisted of redundant dialogue that a character had discussed in previous chapters. It wasn’t isolated to just one character, it was every single chapter and every single character. It wasn’t even plot driving content, it was filler. It was as if Jay forgot how to build suspense, so he prattled on for about ten pages in each chapter before he added anything of value. I was bored by the first 200 pages, annoyed at page 300, and angry that I had to put up with so much repetition just to get to the ending. Once at the ending, it was tepid, lacking any nuance, and left every major character without any resolution. Only two characters were provided any completion.
In all honesty, I only gave it two stars because it completed the story. Otherwise the writing for this final book was well below Jay Allan’s other books, and deserves just a single star (if that!). I don’t know what happened. I really have liked his writing style up until book 17, but I think the past year really affected him, and his heart wasn’t in this.
In all honesty, I only gave it two stars because it completed the story. Otherwise the writing for this final book was well below Jay Allan’s other books, and deserves just a single star (if that!). I don’t know what happened. I really have liked his writing style up until book 17, but I think the past year really affected him, and his heart wasn’t in this.
April 26, 2022
B. R. U. H. This book was extremely disappointing. Before starting it I saw the abnormally low rating for a Jay Allan book and RAN to the reviews. What I saw shocked me and I refused to believe his writting quality could take such a sharply negative dive.....Unfortunately those reviews are true. I tried SOOO hard to believe it wouldn't be the case, even while reading the book, but it is. The book is simply the SAME (almost identical in many places) internal monologue of 5-6 characters in a loop EVERY chapter for the ENTIRE book.
I agree with many other reviews that it is possible the author was just ~done~ with the series mentally but needed to give it a conclusion. I can understand that, but still the quality of this book is embarassing for a writter of his caliber and I would've rather he not published a finale at all.
This series was my introduction to the Space Opera genre. It inspired my interest in (and knowledge of) the genre at all. The author always did a good job of making complex plots, 3D characters, etc…. But this book was actually bad. 75% of the book was each character repeating verbatim the same internal monologue again and again without much actual substance.
The author is usually great and I know he can write good books….which is why this book is disappointing because it’s like he didn’t apply himself. Maybe covid had an impact and for that I do feel bad for the author. That being said….this book ruined a really good series, and I feel like the conclusion was nowhere as cathartic as it should’ve been as a result.
I kind of liked the ending / last few pages of the book, but wish it had been built up to more throughout the rest of the series and this book itself. In fact there are books in this series where it was EXPLICITLY stated that they wouldn't allow this ending to occur due to the principals involved. The Empire's Birth novel does a very similar concept as this book, but in a much more coherent and LOVABLE way.
Similarly, I disliked the very very brief introduction we get to the *Others* (yes we are given another name for them in this book but I won't spoil it). That being said....their name makes no sense. Their backstory SEEMS VERY cool but barely any details are given to that aspect of world building when I was left WANTING more. Instead of aud-nauseum repating the same character internal-motivation/dialogues, the author could've added a few chapters flashbacking more into this new civilization's backstory. That would've been very entertaining and instantlly bumped up my rating 1-2 stars for that alone.
So yea overall this book is not worth it, and in turn makes this entire series not worth it. Which is extremely dissapointing given how much this series meant to me.
I agree with many other reviews that it is possible the author was just ~done~ with the series mentally but needed to give it a conclusion. I can understand that, but still the quality of this book is embarassing for a writter of his caliber and I would've rather he not published a finale at all.
This series was my introduction to the Space Opera genre. It inspired my interest in (and knowledge of) the genre at all. The author always did a good job of making complex plots, 3D characters, etc…. But this book was actually bad. 75% of the book was each character repeating verbatim the same internal monologue again and again without much actual substance.
The author is usually great and I know he can write good books….which is why this book is disappointing because it’s like he didn’t apply himself. Maybe covid had an impact and for that I do feel bad for the author. That being said….this book ruined a really good series, and I feel like the conclusion was nowhere as cathartic as it should’ve been as a result.
I kind of liked the ending / last few pages of the book, but wish it had been built up to more throughout the rest of the series and this book itself. In fact there are books in this series where it was EXPLICITLY stated that they wouldn't allow this ending to occur due to the principals involved. The Empire's Birth novel does a very similar concept as this book, but in a much more coherent and LOVABLE way.
Similarly, I disliked the very very brief introduction we get to the *Others* (yes we are given another name for them in this book but I won't spoil it). That being said....their name makes no sense. Their backstory SEEMS VERY cool but barely any details are given to that aspect of world building when I was left WANTING more. Instead of aud-nauseum repating the same character internal-motivation/dialogues, the author could've added a few chapters flashbacking more into this new civilization's backstory. That would've been very entertaining and instantlly bumped up my rating 1-2 stars for that alone.
So yea overall this book is not worth it, and in turn makes this entire series not worth it. Which is extremely dissapointing given how much this series meant to me.
April 10, 2022
Glad it is over, painful to read but I waited so long.
I have been reading this series for many years and loved it. I dont know if Jay Allen has developed a health condition such as dementia but the dialog was extremely repeative, i would guess at least 40 % but more like 60 was same thoughts on the same subjects sometimes 2 to 3 times on the same page. Almost bizarre! I can only compare it to a 12 year old try to reach a minimum word count on a school paper. How could editors allow this? Tragic
I have been reading this series for many years and loved it. I dont know if Jay Allen has developed a health condition such as dementia but the dialog was extremely repeative, i would guess at least 40 % but more like 60 was same thoughts on the same subjects sometimes 2 to 3 times on the same page. Almost bizarre! I can only compare it to a 12 year old try to reach a minimum word count on a school paper. How could editors allow this? Tragic
April 27, 2022
I'm a huge Jay Allan fan, and I read all 18 books in this Blood on the Stars series, but I was extremely disappointed as the quality of the writing and editing continued to decline as I advanced through the books. By the time I got to book 18 I just wanted the damn series to end. The repetition of characters' thoughts, repeated paragraphs, missing words, wrong words, wrong attribution and endless repeated scene setting made me want to scream. I don't know what happened here but this saga was definitely not up to Jay's standards.
March 30, 2022
Could have been 100 pages.
There were 300 pages of internal pontification and musing. I really like the series in general but this last one just was hard to read.
There were 300 pages of internal pontification and musing. I really like the series in general but this last one just was hard to read.
March 22, 2022
It's an ending
Been very much looking forward to this coming out, Jay's had a lot of stuff on his plate which resulted in the delay of this book until now ... and think it's suffered for that and the various rewrites it's had.
The previous BotS books have managed a decent pace to them, usually building up to a finale with a touch of motivation, belief, crazy idea, fighter pilots doing the unbelievably crazy stuff. This book in particular needed to spend time in the characters heads trying to understand all that, but that balance was off in this one. Without spoilers, there's one character who says they regret not being assertive enough sooner in one chapter, only for near-enough the same words to be repeated by the same character two chapters later, and so on until the final chapter where he says the same thing out loud to another main character. That sadly applies across a few other characters too and spoils the flow of an otherwise excellent idea.
It's an ending, possibly not the finest, but it's an ending at least.
Been very much looking forward to this coming out, Jay's had a lot of stuff on his plate which resulted in the delay of this book until now ... and think it's suffered for that and the various rewrites it's had.
The previous BotS books have managed a decent pace to them, usually building up to a finale with a touch of motivation, belief, crazy idea, fighter pilots doing the unbelievably crazy stuff. This book in particular needed to spend time in the characters heads trying to understand all that, but that balance was off in this one. Without spoilers, there's one character who says they regret not being assertive enough sooner in one chapter, only for near-enough the same words to be repeated by the same character two chapters later, and so on until the final chapter where he says the same thing out loud to another main character. That sadly applies across a few other characters too and spoils the flow of an otherwise excellent idea.
It's an ending, possibly not the finest, but it's an ending at least.
April 2, 2022
Not what I expected
I waited a long time to read the last Blood on the Stars book. What a disappointment. As others have indicated the repetition of sentences, paragraphs and individuals internal thoughts is maddening. Very poor writing and editing. I skipped many pages in order to get to the end even though half way through the book I was pretty sure I knew how it would end. Sorry Jay, you could have done better.
I waited a long time to read the last Blood on the Stars book. What a disappointment. As others have indicated the repetition of sentences, paragraphs and individuals internal thoughts is maddening. Very poor writing and editing. I skipped many pages in order to get to the end even though half way through the book I was pretty sure I knew how it would end. Sorry Jay, you could have done better.
April 17, 2022
Rushed and bad
April 3, 2022
The end to a great series but not the best in the series
I have been an avid reader of this series and the conclusion tied up this and the ‘refugees’ series nicely. Unfortunately, I found this book, more than any of the others, endlessly repeated the same plot threads to the point where I was skipping paragraphs and then pages because I had read it all before. I liked the general story line and the way it ran to conclusion but I think it could have probably been done in book half the size.
I have been an avid reader of this series and the conclusion tied up this and the ‘refugees’ series nicely. Unfortunately, I found this book, more than any of the others, endlessly repeated the same plot threads to the point where I was skipping paragraphs and then pages because I had read it all before. I liked the general story line and the way it ran to conclusion but I think it could have probably been done in book half the size.
April 19, 2022
finally
I really hoped this final story would rise to the quality of the beginning of the series but alas this was the worst. Repetitive sentences through out the story with little imagination in creating something new and interesting. The last 5 plus books have just been getting worse. I’m sorry to say I’m done with Jay Allen.
I really hoped this final story would rise to the quality of the beginning of the series but alas this was the worst. Repetitive sentences through out the story with little imagination in creating something new and interesting. The last 5 plus books have just been getting worse. I’m sorry to say I’m done with Jay Allen.
April 11, 2022
Overall this was a major disappointment. The author must have been paid by the word. The repetition made reading tedious. The series was entertaining up until this last one. We can finally put it to bed.
April 6, 2022
Worst in series
I loved this series... this book sucks. It's a horrid end for a good series. Aliens in last book? Author bloviating same points over and over....I hope your next series doesn't get this bad
I loved this series... this book sucks. It's a horrid end for a good series. Aliens in last book? Author bloviating same points over and over....I hope your next series doesn't get this bad
April 4, 2022
Worst book in the series
A huge disappointment. 30-40% of the prose is repeated numerous times through the book. It felt like Jay Allen merely wanted to get the series over instead of writing a grand conclusion.
A huge disappointment. 30-40% of the prose is repeated numerous times through the book. It felt like Jay Allen merely wanted to get the series over instead of writing a grand conclusion.
April 22, 2022
The biggest issue is how repetitive it is. Several characters thoughts end up basically copy and pasted later with slight variation.
One character in particular is Reg Griffin. In a climactic battle, she gets targeted by no less than 10 "torpedoes", even though every other book has referred to fighter vs fighter ordinance as missiles, and there is a very nerve wracking scene where you don't know if she'll actually survive this time, especially with *spoiler* the return of Jake Stockton. Their vying for top fighter commander constantly comes up to the point you kind of want one of them to go. So this scene happens, she mentions that her top subordinate may not be up to the job and *spoiler* she survives. Drenched in sweat, shaking, just barely making it. The next time we visit Reg is an almost identical scene with the focus being less on vying for power with Jake, but talks about how her top subordinate was dead and then names the next in line and gives their whole history and Reg says she has faith in that person whatever whatever. Same scene, slightly different thoughts. Reg *spoiler* survives again, still?, but the imagery at the conclusion isn't as good as the first time.
My next gripe, is that *SPOILER* the true enemy of the Highborn are finally revealed to the reader. The, brace yourself, Mules...the reveal starts off well diving into the robot border observer's thought process. The next scene with the Mules we're introduced to *spoiler* Achilles and several others with similar naming conventions. Over the course of the book, Achilles complains that he should have acted sooner and reveals a lot of pointless lore, unless there are gonna be more books covering those stories? Basically just more copy/paste action.
And then the last chapter and epilogue are both rush jobs, with the epilogue being an 8 year jump and no character development or resolve for 99% of the characters.
By far one of my favorite series. Unfortunately, a very weak finale.
One character in particular is Reg Griffin. In a climactic battle, she gets targeted by no less than 10 "torpedoes", even though every other book has referred to fighter vs fighter ordinance as missiles, and there is a very nerve wracking scene where you don't know if she'll actually survive this time, especially with *spoiler* the return of Jake Stockton. Their vying for top fighter commander constantly comes up to the point you kind of want one of them to go. So this scene happens, she mentions that her top subordinate may not be up to the job and *spoiler* she survives. Drenched in sweat, shaking, just barely making it. The next time we visit Reg is an almost identical scene with the focus being less on vying for power with Jake, but talks about how her top subordinate was dead and then names the next in line and gives their whole history and Reg says she has faith in that person whatever whatever. Same scene, slightly different thoughts. Reg *spoiler* survives again, still?, but the imagery at the conclusion isn't as good as the first time.
My next gripe, is that *SPOILER* the true enemy of the Highborn are finally revealed to the reader. The, brace yourself, Mules...the reveal starts off well diving into the robot border observer's thought process. The next scene with the Mules we're introduced to *spoiler* Achilles and several others with similar naming conventions. Over the course of the book, Achilles complains that he should have acted sooner and reveals a lot of pointless lore, unless there are gonna be more books covering those stories? Basically just more copy/paste action.
And then the last chapter and epilogue are both rush jobs, with the epilogue being an 8 year jump and no character development or resolve for 99% of the characters.
By far one of my favorite series. Unfortunately, a very weak finale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2022
Very predictable,
September 16, 2023
So much repetition of internal thoughts, all the characters in this book seem to be depressed and unable to think about anything new.
Not only is every character going through the same thought-process 4-5 times through the book, many of the characters even share the same repeated thoughts with only slight variations between them. Achilles kept having the same "he now discovered he was wrong and the highborn.. (redacted due to spoilers)", it reads like he has dementia and is having this thought for the first time 4+ times through the book.
Also, there is no more environment description, no more fancy tactics, no more damage control, and rarely is there any dialogue until you reach 80% in the book. The first 80% of the book could have been shortened down to 1/4 of its current length and probably not lost anything of any substance.
The first 80% of this book (and the previous one) actually took me 4 months to read because I kept falling asleep after just a few pages, because it is just the same stuff over and over and over again. Normally I can read a book like this in about 2 weeks, perhaps 3-4 if it is not so exciting.
The last 20% of the book is what everyone wanted to read, and I finished that part in less than a week.
Other issues:
- Wrong character name used twice in a chapter, it was quite confusing at first.
- So many missing words or incorrect words (did nobody read this before it was published?)
Jay Allan just really needs to get an editor and a proof reader, because these two last books were just horrible to read.
Not only is every character going through the same thought-process 4-5 times through the book, many of the characters even share the same repeated thoughts with only slight variations between them. Achilles kept having the same "he now discovered he was wrong and the highborn.. (redacted due to spoilers)", it reads like he has dementia and is having this thought for the first time 4+ times through the book.
Also, there is no more environment description, no more fancy tactics, no more damage control, and rarely is there any dialogue until you reach 80% in the book. The first 80% of the book could have been shortened down to 1/4 of its current length and probably not lost anything of any substance.
The first 80% of this book (and the previous one) actually took me 4 months to read because I kept falling asleep after just a few pages, because it is just the same stuff over and over and over again. Normally I can read a book like this in about 2 weeks, perhaps 3-4 if it is not so exciting.
The last 20% of the book is what everyone wanted to read, and I finished that part in less than a week.
Other issues:
- Wrong character name used twice in a chapter, it was quite confusing at first.
- So many missing words or incorrect words (did nobody read this before it was published?)
Jay Allan just really needs to get an editor and a proof reader, because these two last books were just horrible to read.
April 21, 2022
I reviewed the very first book in this series ("Duel in the Dark") way back on the 1st of March 2017! Amazing! I knew then, that this was going to be an excellent series. I found all the subsequent books all very exciting and very interesting. There didn't seem to be an end to the struggles of the Confederation and specifically Tyler Barron. We were in so many battles, that I really kind of got tired of the constant fighting. Yet, I did realize that some of this fighting and the major battles had long periods of semi-peace, a time where both sides were reorganizing and repairing all the damages done during the last battle. Still, we seemed to always be fighting and that wore me out!
Now we come to the point where this final enemy, the Highborn might just put an end to all the fighting and the Confederation. They are extremely powerful and are relentlessly pursuing Admiral Tyler Barron's forces all the way back to Confederation territory. Tyler has no where else to go. And yet, his people continue to fight. They have surprised the Highborn with their tenacity and resourcefulness. The Highborn are an arrogant race of humans, made by humans only better. They are highly intelligent and have this drive to conquer the entire galaxy and rule everything. They enslave normal humans with "the Collar" which makes those humans obedient without choice even though some of their conscious thoughts know that what they are doing is terribly wrong. That was an interesting twist to the story. It was also a whole story in itself when Jake Stockton was captured and subjected to the Collar. But now, he's free and back again with his former Confed humans and he strongly desires to become what he once was, a pilot and commander, but can he be trusted? That's one question to be answered.
So, is this the final battle? It certainly sounds like it. The Confederation forces have only been giving ground since the Hegemony was defeated. All of the Hegemony worlds now fall under the Highborn's rule and they know that sooner or later all the Hegemony peoples will soon be subject to the Collar. But, the Hegemony military under Chronos still fights beside Admiral Barron. Also, members of the Alliance that Tyler found so many long years ago still fight along side the Confederation. Admiral Vian Tulus knows that if the Confederation falls, so will the Alliance, eventually. There's no stopping that future if they don't do it now. You'll read about a lot more of the same characters you have read about in past books, those at least that are still alive. Surprisingly, there are a number of Barron's senior military still with him. He and Andi were married and now have a child, Cassie, whom neither have seen for a couple of years leaving her back on the Confederation capitol of Megara. Tyler doubts he'll ever see his only daughter again. He wants Andi to leave immediately to go get their daughter and then the two of them should flee to the deepest part of space maybe finding a small planet the Highborn won't come looking for, but will Andi really do that? Tyler doesn't know.
As you can read, there are a lot of questions this book has to answer. Fortunately for us readers, it does a superb job doing just that. This story ends very well, just maybe not as you or I expected. Still, it does end 18 books worth of excellent military science fiction writing. Yet, I can't provide a true review unless I comment about one irritating thing in this book as well as some of the more recent books in this series. They are terribly, terribly repetitive! The author continuously goes over the same thing time after time. He writes the same statements and paragraphs in almost every chapter only just slightly changing the order of the words. I believe he has stated that this was the longest of all 18 books and that might be true, although it didn't seem that way. But, if he had left out all the repeated scenes, the same thoughts by each character over and over, this book would have been about one-quarter it's size. We know that Admiral Barron agonizes over all death he has been responsible for, that he is terrified he is not leading his people like they should be, that he loves Andi, his wife and now his child, Cassie, more than life itself. We know that Admiral Atara is a great Admiral in her own right and that she deeply respects Tyler Barron; we know her and Tyler were close, but only as brother and sister, we know that she is happy for Tyler and Andi in their marriage. Then comes all the thoughts of Jake Stockton. We're almost subjected to everything he did while under the control of the Collar and now we're subjected to his constant need to remind himself that he's cured and not controlled by the Highborn; we know he regrets everything he did while under Highborn control and will never be able to live down the deaths of his fellow Confederation spacers while he was fighting for the Highborn. We know all these things and certainly don't have to read about them time after time through this entire book!
What it boils down to, in my opinion, is three-fourths of this book is redundant and I am disappointed with that. It's like a one-hour show crammed with commercials to stretch it to a three-hour movie! Just be prepared for that!
Still, you also should be prepared for a good story that comes to a great conclusion. I'm really surprised that so many of the main characters survived all this fighting. We don't read much about Gary Holsten, but he's in this book as is Admiral Clint Winters, even on of the very bad guys, Gaston Villieneuve, gets a final, a very final and fitting scene in this book All these characters were amazingly developed and had significant parts to play in this entire series. I'll miss all the characters in these books.
Still, I can't wait for more books by Jay Allan. He's my kind of writer and his books will always be on my list of military science fiction books to read. Thank you, Jay Allan, for a wonderful series!
Now we come to the point where this final enemy, the Highborn might just put an end to all the fighting and the Confederation. They are extremely powerful and are relentlessly pursuing Admiral Tyler Barron's forces all the way back to Confederation territory. Tyler has no where else to go. And yet, his people continue to fight. They have surprised the Highborn with their tenacity and resourcefulness. The Highborn are an arrogant race of humans, made by humans only better. They are highly intelligent and have this drive to conquer the entire galaxy and rule everything. They enslave normal humans with "the Collar" which makes those humans obedient without choice even though some of their conscious thoughts know that what they are doing is terribly wrong. That was an interesting twist to the story. It was also a whole story in itself when Jake Stockton was captured and subjected to the Collar. But now, he's free and back again with his former Confed humans and he strongly desires to become what he once was, a pilot and commander, but can he be trusted? That's one question to be answered.
So, is this the final battle? It certainly sounds like it. The Confederation forces have only been giving ground since the Hegemony was defeated. All of the Hegemony worlds now fall under the Highborn's rule and they know that sooner or later all the Hegemony peoples will soon be subject to the Collar. But, the Hegemony military under Chronos still fights beside Admiral Barron. Also, members of the Alliance that Tyler found so many long years ago still fight along side the Confederation. Admiral Vian Tulus knows that if the Confederation falls, so will the Alliance, eventually. There's no stopping that future if they don't do it now. You'll read about a lot more of the same characters you have read about in past books, those at least that are still alive. Surprisingly, there are a number of Barron's senior military still with him. He and Andi were married and now have a child, Cassie, whom neither have seen for a couple of years leaving her back on the Confederation capitol of Megara. Tyler doubts he'll ever see his only daughter again. He wants Andi to leave immediately to go get their daughter and then the two of them should flee to the deepest part of space maybe finding a small planet the Highborn won't come looking for, but will Andi really do that? Tyler doesn't know.
As you can read, there are a lot of questions this book has to answer. Fortunately for us readers, it does a superb job doing just that. This story ends very well, just maybe not as you or I expected. Still, it does end 18 books worth of excellent military science fiction writing. Yet, I can't provide a true review unless I comment about one irritating thing in this book as well as some of the more recent books in this series. They are terribly, terribly repetitive! The author continuously goes over the same thing time after time. He writes the same statements and paragraphs in almost every chapter only just slightly changing the order of the words. I believe he has stated that this was the longest of all 18 books and that might be true, although it didn't seem that way. But, if he had left out all the repeated scenes, the same thoughts by each character over and over, this book would have been about one-quarter it's size. We know that Admiral Barron agonizes over all death he has been responsible for, that he is terrified he is not leading his people like they should be, that he loves Andi, his wife and now his child, Cassie, more than life itself. We know that Admiral Atara is a great Admiral in her own right and that she deeply respects Tyler Barron; we know her and Tyler were close, but only as brother and sister, we know that she is happy for Tyler and Andi in their marriage. Then comes all the thoughts of Jake Stockton. We're almost subjected to everything he did while under the control of the Collar and now we're subjected to his constant need to remind himself that he's cured and not controlled by the Highborn; we know he regrets everything he did while under Highborn control and will never be able to live down the deaths of his fellow Confederation spacers while he was fighting for the Highborn. We know all these things and certainly don't have to read about them time after time through this entire book!
What it boils down to, in my opinion, is three-fourths of this book is redundant and I am disappointed with that. It's like a one-hour show crammed with commercials to stretch it to a three-hour movie! Just be prepared for that!
Still, you also should be prepared for a good story that comes to a great conclusion. I'm really surprised that so many of the main characters survived all this fighting. We don't read much about Gary Holsten, but he's in this book as is Admiral Clint Winters, even on of the very bad guys, Gaston Villieneuve, gets a final, a very final and fitting scene in this book All these characters were amazingly developed and had significant parts to play in this entire series. I'll miss all the characters in these books.
Still, I can't wait for more books by Jay Allan. He's my kind of writer and his books will always be on my list of military science fiction books to read. Thank you, Jay Allan, for a wonderful series!
March 27, 2024
I loved this series but OMG……😖
I loved this series and all its characters! There has always been tons of drama, action and intrigue, practically around every corner but it’s been getting to know the characters, their deep feelings, who they have really are as a person and then their interrelationships with one another and their ever changing roles that has been the backbone and success I think of this series. I will truly miss them and their stories. I’m pretty sure the series has been solid 5 stars from me until now.
Unfortunately, for me, I have to say that I do not recall the previous books in this series having as many issues as the last two books but especially this last one. I found it to be surprising and frustrating. There were many, many editing errors, which is not a make or break it for me, but what was super disappointing, and by far thee most frustrating I have felt in a long while with a book was the incessant, and I really do mean incessant repeating and repeating and repeating of different characters pondering(s) and dialogues. It just never stopped! I truly believe this book could have been one quarter to one third less it’s current size, idk maybe even one half, but I think that’s probably going a bit overboard. Then again…(?) maybe not. The author does need to recall that we readers will go for quality over quantity every time, especially with this kind of nonsensical writing. Give ma a 300 page, outstanding quality book any day of the week over a 500 page book of words simply chasing themselves in their race to fill the page to reach the most pages filled.
I’m not sure who does the editing now for this author but he needs to get a new one. I’m not saying this to be mean, because I love this author, obviously. I mean I stayed with him throughout this series, as well as others but idk, for some reason, it’s almost as if there’s a different person writing than those other previous sixteen books. Or….maybe it’s just been too long between the sixteenth and these two books that I don’t remember what the writing was like. Do I truly think that’s it? No. Why? Because these two traits are two of the most frustrating ones, so much that if I would have noted this in the beginning of the series then I would have stopped reading it. That’s an indicator of the abundance, especially in this last book. Its pretty bad, as anyone who reads a lot knows, when you literally start scanning the page(s) looking for the sameness, the blah, blah, blah…, the repeats to stop, so you can once again get back to reading the story, then there’s an issue. It’s really quite a disappointing way to end the series, and again, I’m not referring to the storyline but to the writing. I hope the author gives himself a quality break from writing. He deserves it after an 18 book series. 👍 I hope he utilizes that time to let his imagination run for new storylines, and most of all, I hope to goodness he utilizes the time to hunt for a really good, qualified editor. If nothing else, he needs some quality beta readers, ones’ who are willing to give it to him straight about issues they see (errors, discrepancies, forced story tract, and for God’s sake-the redundancies). This, of course, is assuming he didn’t already have beta readers, but if he did and chose to ignore their advice to many of these issues, then I might suggest to the author that he take a bit longer vacation and rethink things and especially his approach, reliance, confidence and acceptance from these, most of the time, gifted and devoted volunteers.
I know this sounds harsh but it’s a heartfelt, truthful point of view meant to help the author. But it is only my pov for him to laugh at or to take to heart, and there will be lots of others to balance this pov out, as well, I’m sure.
Best of luck. Looking forward to the next series and new characters. ❤️
I loved this series and all its characters! There has always been tons of drama, action and intrigue, practically around every corner but it’s been getting to know the characters, their deep feelings, who they have really are as a person and then their interrelationships with one another and their ever changing roles that has been the backbone and success I think of this series. I will truly miss them and their stories. I’m pretty sure the series has been solid 5 stars from me until now.
Unfortunately, for me, I have to say that I do not recall the previous books in this series having as many issues as the last two books but especially this last one. I found it to be surprising and frustrating. There were many, many editing errors, which is not a make or break it for me, but what was super disappointing, and by far thee most frustrating I have felt in a long while with a book was the incessant, and I really do mean incessant repeating and repeating and repeating of different characters pondering(s) and dialogues. It just never stopped! I truly believe this book could have been one quarter to one third less it’s current size, idk maybe even one half, but I think that’s probably going a bit overboard. Then again…(?) maybe not. The author does need to recall that we readers will go for quality over quantity every time, especially with this kind of nonsensical writing. Give ma a 300 page, outstanding quality book any day of the week over a 500 page book of words simply chasing themselves in their race to fill the page to reach the most pages filled.
I’m not sure who does the editing now for this author but he needs to get a new one. I’m not saying this to be mean, because I love this author, obviously. I mean I stayed with him throughout this series, as well as others but idk, for some reason, it’s almost as if there’s a different person writing than those other previous sixteen books. Or….maybe it’s just been too long between the sixteenth and these two books that I don’t remember what the writing was like. Do I truly think that’s it? No. Why? Because these two traits are two of the most frustrating ones, so much that if I would have noted this in the beginning of the series then I would have stopped reading it. That’s an indicator of the abundance, especially in this last book. Its pretty bad, as anyone who reads a lot knows, when you literally start scanning the page(s) looking for the sameness, the blah, blah, blah…, the repeats to stop, so you can once again get back to reading the story, then there’s an issue. It’s really quite a disappointing way to end the series, and again, I’m not referring to the storyline but to the writing. I hope the author gives himself a quality break from writing. He deserves it after an 18 book series. 👍 I hope he utilizes that time to let his imagination run for new storylines, and most of all, I hope to goodness he utilizes the time to hunt for a really good, qualified editor. If nothing else, he needs some quality beta readers, ones’ who are willing to give it to him straight about issues they see (errors, discrepancies, forced story tract, and for God’s sake-the redundancies). This, of course, is assuming he didn’t already have beta readers, but if he did and chose to ignore their advice to many of these issues, then I might suggest to the author that he take a bit longer vacation and rethink things and especially his approach, reliance, confidence and acceptance from these, most of the time, gifted and devoted volunteers.
I know this sounds harsh but it’s a heartfelt, truthful point of view meant to help the author. But it is only my pov for him to laugh at or to take to heart, and there will be lots of others to balance this pov out, as well, I’m sure.
Best of luck. Looking forward to the next series and new characters. ❤️
April 14, 2022
This one lacks the secret sauce....
This one lacks the secret sauce that made most of this series 4 & 5 star hits. Whether it was the desperate and heroic struggle before winning out over through impossible odds and prevailing through extraordinary heroism, or concise storytelling of an epic struggle and confident perseverance, or just basic editing this final chapter lacks it. In fact, this book is packed with the opposite. We have endless angst and hand wringing, survival only through a deus ex machina intervention from a source literally out of the dark from the great beyond and editing that my 7rh grade English teacher would have given me an F for.
Some.examples.
In one chapter we have a fighter pilot angsting that they only have two torpedoes (in the first 15 books the anti fighter armament is referred to as missiles) then after they successfully destroy their targets they find they have 8 enemy torpedoes homing in on them. Across 6 pages, the pilot tries every trick they know to shake the enemy torpedoes to no avail until they run out of.fuel and coast away just 20km before hitting. Then, 2 chapters later we see the same pilot again angsting and telling their subordinates (again) that they won't be able to refuel or rearm before firing the same 2 torpedoes they previously fired; only to be targeted by ten torpedoes then going through 7 pages of angst, shakes, and cold sweats before the final torpedo runs out of fuel 35km from impact. There are a similar repeat of angst events and indecision where Tyler going through extended bouts of worrying and hand wringing before eventually deciding and giving the order to retreat - 3 different times, each after.4+ pages of self doubt and angst, with entire chapters between each event. Similarly we see Atara having a crisis of confidence that is nearly identical in each of more than 4 separate 500-700 word passages. Ditto for Jake, Reg, and Chronos. Intermixed in all this you'll find a sentence with missing or extra words every few pages through the bulk of the book.
I could go on but I think you're getting the picture.
#Disappointment
This one lacks the secret sauce that made most of this series 4 & 5 star hits. Whether it was the desperate and heroic struggle before winning out over through impossible odds and prevailing through extraordinary heroism, or concise storytelling of an epic struggle and confident perseverance, or just basic editing this final chapter lacks it. In fact, this book is packed with the opposite. We have endless angst and hand wringing, survival only through a deus ex machina intervention from a source literally out of the dark from the great beyond and editing that my 7rh grade English teacher would have given me an F for.
Some.examples.
In one chapter we have a fighter pilot angsting that they only have two torpedoes (in the first 15 books the anti fighter armament is referred to as missiles) then after they successfully destroy their targets they find they have 8 enemy torpedoes homing in on them. Across 6 pages, the pilot tries every trick they know to shake the enemy torpedoes to no avail until they run out of.fuel and coast away just 20km before hitting. Then, 2 chapters later we see the same pilot again angsting and telling their subordinates (again) that they won't be able to refuel or rearm before firing the same 2 torpedoes they previously fired; only to be targeted by ten torpedoes then going through 7 pages of angst, shakes, and cold sweats before the final torpedo runs out of fuel 35km from impact. There are a similar repeat of angst events and indecision where Tyler going through extended bouts of worrying and hand wringing before eventually deciding and giving the order to retreat - 3 different times, each after.4+ pages of self doubt and angst, with entire chapters between each event. Similarly we see Atara having a crisis of confidence that is nearly identical in each of more than 4 separate 500-700 word passages. Ditto for Jake, Reg, and Chronos. Intermixed in all this you'll find a sentence with missing or extra words every few pages through the bulk of the book.
I could go on but I think you're getting the picture.
#Disappointment
June 25, 2022
Having been driven back in Confederation space, the Pact's only real hope against the Highborn is genetically engineered flu virus that makes only them sick. Meanwhile, on the Highborn's main front, they push too far and too fast against their mysterious enemy, driving them to make a decision that will shape every other event in both wars.
And, on to a review of Blood on the Stars as a whole: This series is solidly okay. It's basically Titanic Space Battles: The Series. Each book is centered around a battle or two and has a plot can be summarized in a paragraph at most. None of the books are particularly complex, plot or characterization-wise. If they were movies, the focus would be lots tense shots of Barron's face as he commands his ships (while his own always, miraculously, makes it through) interspersed with fantastic explosions. They're good books and it's a good series, in its own way. I just think that, perhaps, I should not have read all eighteen books one right after the other over the course of *checks GoodReads* about a month and a half. And three weeks of that was spent dithering over Empire Reborn, reading a chapter or so at a time, because I was sort of burnt out by the time I got to it. (I was like 'I'm going to finish this series; I only have one book left!' even though it couldn't really keep my attention and I kept getting distracted by other books. A lot of other books. *checks GR again* Seventeen novels and novellas.)
Anyway, if you are a fan of easy to read, uncomplicated, action packed, military-centric space operas where there is little risk that an MC will die and break your heart, this series is probably something you will like. Just try not to blitz all the books at once.
And, on to a review of Blood on the Stars as a whole: This series is solidly okay. It's basically Titanic Space Battles: The Series. Each book is centered around a battle or two and has a plot can be summarized in a paragraph at most. None of the books are particularly complex, plot or characterization-wise. If they were movies, the focus would be lots tense shots of Barron's face as he commands his ships (while his own always, miraculously, makes it through) interspersed with fantastic explosions. They're good books and it's a good series, in its own way. I just think that, perhaps, I should not have read all eighteen books one right after the other over the course of *checks GoodReads* about a month and a half. And three weeks of that was spent dithering over Empire Reborn, reading a chapter or so at a time, because I was sort of burnt out by the time I got to it. (I was like 'I'm going to finish this series; I only have one book left!' even though it couldn't really keep my attention and I kept getting distracted by other books. A lot of other books. *checks GR again* Seventeen novels and novellas.)
Anyway, if you are a fan of easy to read, uncomplicated, action packed, military-centric space operas where there is little risk that an MC will die and break your heart, this series is probably something you will like. Just try not to blitz all the books at once.
April 16, 2022
Surprising and Awful Series End
Overall, Series start was good and interesting, if nothing else. Author, Series had it's ups and downs starting around book 4-5, but 'livable' -- nothing that would have made anyone stop reading this series. This 'book', story would have been a show stopper anywhere along the line.
The story is told through 6-7 MC'S POV and roughly 70% is repetitive n redundant, focusing on their thoughts that were Doom and Gloom for the 'good' guys and glorification by the'bad' guys. If anyone was to correct all of the repetition and redundancy, this effort would have been a novella.
Just plain awful and boring. The best part of the Mil side is the appendix, definitions. Why the author didn't, minimally, weave weapon capabilities in with his bland and inane tactics of massing, firing and destroying to make the battles interesting is puzzling. Had no idea what the ships had and could do.
Easily skim 70% of this and miss nothing. And for MC'S, who are leaders, thinking to leave so they may live -- don't we all wish we could do that in a war we're losing. Let the real people who are fighting, die. Author lost me with that kind of thinking from alleged 'leaders' of the good guys. Probably a good sell nowadays when we fight a war with sanctions.
This is really a 1 star book, but I had invested a lot of time reading the series and wanted to see the final results.
Overall, Series start was good and interesting, if nothing else. Author, Series had it's ups and downs starting around book 4-5, but 'livable' -- nothing that would have made anyone stop reading this series. This 'book', story would have been a show stopper anywhere along the line.
The story is told through 6-7 MC'S POV and roughly 70% is repetitive n redundant, focusing on their thoughts that were Doom and Gloom for the 'good' guys and glorification by the'bad' guys. If anyone was to correct all of the repetition and redundancy, this effort would have been a novella.
Just plain awful and boring. The best part of the Mil side is the appendix, definitions. Why the author didn't, minimally, weave weapon capabilities in with his bland and inane tactics of massing, firing and destroying to make the battles interesting is puzzling. Had no idea what the ships had and could do.
Easily skim 70% of this and miss nothing. And for MC'S, who are leaders, thinking to leave so they may live -- don't we all wish we could do that in a war we're losing. Let the real people who are fighting, die. Author lost me with that kind of thinking from alleged 'leaders' of the good guys. Probably a good sell nowadays when we fight a war with sanctions.
This is really a 1 star book, but I had invested a lot of time reading the series and wanted to see the final results.
January 26, 2023
love the series but this book is tough
The Blood on the Stars series as a whole is great - let's start with that. "Empire Reborn" - the final book in the series - is, however, a tedious book to make it through. Not because it's poorly written (although there are a few editing mistakes) but because certain themes are repeated ad nauseum.
- enemy not sure whether to report something: 8 times
- enemy sure of their superiority then not: 6 times
- mysterious race rethinking their previous decision: 14 times
- protagonists not sure secret weapon will work: dozens of times
The same expositions repeated over and over, sometimes nearly word for word in sequential chapters was irritating to no end. It's like he had a deadline to meet and only 2/3 of the words he needed so he just kept re-inserting the same themes again and again (hey, ChatGPT - rewrite this paragraph for me a dozen times).
Don't get me wrong, the series is well worth the read but this finale would have been a better ending of it had excised about 25% of the text.
The Blood on the Stars series as a whole is great - let's start with that. "Empire Reborn" - the final book in the series - is, however, a tedious book to make it through. Not because it's poorly written (although there are a few editing mistakes) but because certain themes are repeated ad nauseum.
- enemy not sure whether to report something: 8 times
- enemy sure of their superiority then not: 6 times
- mysterious race rethinking their previous decision: 14 times
- protagonists not sure secret weapon will work: dozens of times
The same expositions repeated over and over, sometimes nearly word for word in sequential chapters was irritating to no end. It's like he had a deadline to meet and only 2/3 of the words he needed so he just kept re-inserting the same themes again and again (hey, ChatGPT - rewrite this paragraph for me a dozen times).
Don't get me wrong, the series is well worth the read but this finale would have been a better ending of it had excised about 25% of the text.
March 26, 2022
I love this series. I have been religiously checking for the final book to come out, so imagine my excitement to get Jay’s email that this book was finally available!
Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe it’s your fault. Maybe all of us fans of the series are to blame for this… we put too much pressure on Jay to deliver the ending, and quickly! But honestly, Jay needed a couple more years to write this one. I’m sorry, Jay, if my pressure caused you to use copy/paste too much in your dialogues. Though the book is 500+ pages, it’s really around 300 pages. I found myself skipping large chunks of regurgitated dialogue from one chapter to the next. Finally, I just wanted to get through it to see how Jay would wrap it up. A solid *meh*.
A hearty Thank You to Jay who is still one of my favorite authors. I will still read all your work! Thanks for spinning a great tale that had me interested and entertained for years! The series is very worth reading!
Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe it’s your fault. Maybe all of us fans of the series are to blame for this… we put too much pressure on Jay to deliver the ending, and quickly! But honestly, Jay needed a couple more years to write this one. I’m sorry, Jay, if my pressure caused you to use copy/paste too much in your dialogues. Though the book is 500+ pages, it’s really around 300 pages. I found myself skipping large chunks of regurgitated dialogue from one chapter to the next. Finally, I just wanted to get through it to see how Jay would wrap it up. A solid *meh*.
A hearty Thank You to Jay who is still one of my favorite authors. I will still read all your work! Thanks for spinning a great tale that had me interested and entertained for years! The series is very worth reading!
May 18, 2022
The end
It's so hard to believe we are at book 18! Not too many series have the plots to go thst far and keep your interest.
Tyler, Andy, Atara, Jake, Reg and their friends are still fighting the Highborn and while they are making them pay in blood for every battle they lose they are taking on 35-1 odds it's not an attrition rate they can keep up.
In the previous book they found the virus they hoped would take the Highborn down but they don't know if its working. Even if it does will it be fast enough? We also meet Achilles. I don't remember him from the other books but I could have forgotten him, he brings more interest into the mix.
The only thing I didn't like in the book was a lot of things were repeated sometimes several times as to previous events or thoughts. So much so that I actually wondered if I had hit back in the book by mistake. All in all it is a satisfactory end to a great series.
It's so hard to believe we are at book 18! Not too many series have the plots to go thst far and keep your interest.
Tyler, Andy, Atara, Jake, Reg and their friends are still fighting the Highborn and while they are making them pay in blood for every battle they lose they are taking on 35-1 odds it's not an attrition rate they can keep up.
In the previous book they found the virus they hoped would take the Highborn down but they don't know if its working. Even if it does will it be fast enough? We also meet Achilles. I don't remember him from the other books but I could have forgotten him, he brings more interest into the mix.
The only thing I didn't like in the book was a lot of things were repeated sometimes several times as to previous events or thoughts. So much so that I actually wondered if I had hit back in the book by mistake. All in all it is a satisfactory end to a great series.
May 6, 2022
If you are early in this series, just stop. It is not worth finishing. Some of the early books are kind of fun in a mindless way, but as I read more the quality just kept getting worse. I got far enough in that I wanted to finish the series, but now I can't believe I wasted my time on this. This last book is nearly unreadable. It is filled with page after page of completely obvious internal dialogue that is repeated over and over and over. (Was someone trying to hit a minimum word count?) And the politics of this series have always disturbed me somewhat. Some of the early books expressed anti-democratic sentiments, which I wrote off as just standard political disillusionment. But this last book? Wow! Let's just say that if your approach to solving democracy's problems involves genocide and military coups, then this is the book for you.
April 12, 2022
Sorry,couldn't give you the usual 5 stars
I was so looking forward to this book but now wish you had postponed the release again. It was like reading a 30,000 word term paper that got the point across in10,000 words ,the rest was just fluff to make up the word requirement!And it wasn't even new fluff,just the same fluff over&over again! found myself skimming over large parts of the book just so I didn't have to "hear" it again. Even the good parts were a little predictable,figured out who the "others"were even before the clues.The whole book seemed rushed,like let's just get it over with!I'm sorry Jay,this was no way to end this great series.😒
P.S. Still one of my favorite authors!
I was so looking forward to this book but now wish you had postponed the release again. It was like reading a 30,000 word term paper that got the point across in10,000 words ,the rest was just fluff to make up the word requirement!And it wasn't even new fluff,just the same fluff over&over again! found myself skimming over large parts of the book just so I didn't have to "hear" it again. Even the good parts were a little predictable,figured out who the "others"were even before the clues.The whole book seemed rushed,like let's just get it over with!I'm sorry Jay,this was no way to end this great series.😒
P.S. Still one of my favorite authors!
May 8, 2022
A good conclusion
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a good conclusion, tied things up, and didn't just repeat too much of what had happened in the previous 17 books, though a chunk definitely was.
I was definitely happy with the ending, though there was a bit of a big red button feel to it.
However, a better editor or set of proof-readers is sorely needed. Getting the names of the groups confused again, typos, plot inaccuracies, and a raft of content errors were distracting and kept pulling me out of the flow of the book, as did the substantial number of times where something that had been stated often only a couple of pages prior was repeated. It felt like padding, and was unnecessary at best, annoying and disruptive at worst.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was a good conclusion, tied things up, and didn't just repeat too much of what had happened in the previous 17 books, though a chunk definitely was.
I was definitely happy with the ending, though there was a bit of a big red button feel to it.
However, a better editor or set of proof-readers is sorely needed. Getting the names of the groups confused again, typos, plot inaccuracies, and a raft of content errors were distracting and kept pulling me out of the flow of the book, as did the substantial number of times where something that had been stated often only a couple of pages prior was repeated. It felt like padding, and was unnecessary at best, annoying and disruptive at worst.
October 19, 2022
Final destiny
It has been a long road but we have reached the end. I can say I have enjoyed this series. However I do not agree with this ending. The author stated that the first empire fell due to immobility and no conflict. To just go right back to the same solution as before I think would not be a good idea. There is also the problem of having the deus ex machina people save the day. I just wished that they had been truly alien and not just human experiments. I also don't think its a good idea to leave a military in charge of government. We have seen this in real life history and it doesn't go well. Overall this series has been a great journey and I hope others might love it as I have.
It has been a long road but we have reached the end. I can say I have enjoyed this series. However I do not agree with this ending. The author stated that the first empire fell due to immobility and no conflict. To just go right back to the same solution as before I think would not be a good idea. There is also the problem of having the deus ex machina people save the day. I just wished that they had been truly alien and not just human experiments. I also don't think its a good idea to leave a military in charge of government. We have seen this in real life history and it doesn't go well. Overall this series has been a great journey and I hope others might love it as I have.
April 3, 2022
Hugely disappointing
First off, I really like Jay Allen as a author, and I've read most of his published work, including all of the BOTS novels.
But this finale really was a huge disappointment. It seemed that Jay was getting paid by the word, with constant repetition of the same theme, often times within a paragraph of the last overdrawn explanation.
This style of writing makes reading, what could've been an exciting conclusion to the series, a laborious, and tedious slog.
This style was similar to what Tom Clancy did toward the end of his writing career, repetition ad nauseam.
Sorry Jay, IMO, you missed the mark with this one.
First off, I really like Jay Allen as a author, and I've read most of his published work, including all of the BOTS novels.
But this finale really was a huge disappointment. It seemed that Jay was getting paid by the word, with constant repetition of the same theme, often times within a paragraph of the last overdrawn explanation.
This style of writing makes reading, what could've been an exciting conclusion to the series, a laborious, and tedious slog.
This style was similar to what Tom Clancy did toward the end of his writing career, repetition ad nauseam.
Sorry Jay, IMO, you missed the mark with this one.
April 23, 2022
Some good some not so much
Ok let's start with the not so much. My biggest complaint is the main characters repeating the same internal misgivings, over and over and over. Finally had to resort to a lot of skimming to get beyond the tedium.
And during a battle there was a moment of ' wait a minute, didn't I just read this?'
The good.
Jay did deliver a good plot twist by bringing back some old characters from an earlier series. Okay, some really really old characters who I was happy to see again. So that's what happened to them!
While I don't think it was his best book, it was overall a pretty good read. Jay finally brought the series to a thought provoking conclusion.
Ok let's start with the not so much. My biggest complaint is the main characters repeating the same internal misgivings, over and over and over. Finally had to resort to a lot of skimming to get beyond the tedium.
And during a battle there was a moment of ' wait a minute, didn't I just read this?'
The good.
Jay did deliver a good plot twist by bringing back some old characters from an earlier series. Okay, some really really old characters who I was happy to see again. So that's what happened to them!
While I don't think it was his best book, it was overall a pretty good read. Jay finally brought the series to a thought provoking conclusion.
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