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Warriors of Estavia #3
The Shining City
"Expert world builder"* Fiona Patton concludes The Warriors of Estavia saga. * Midwest Book Review
With the three children of prophecy-the seers Spar and Graize, and the warrior Brax-now grown, and the young God Hisar ready to stake his claim to a place in the pantheon of Anavatan, a time of chaos and change is fast approaching. For only if sworn enemies Spar and Graize can come together as Hisar's priests will the God stand any chance of surviving the coming battles with both the hungry spirits seeking to devour him, and the war with the mortal invasion fleet, which is even now sailing for Anavatan.
With the three children of prophecy-the seers Spar and Graize, and the warrior Brax-now grown, and the young God Hisar ready to stake his claim to a place in the pantheon of Anavatan, a time of chaos and change is fast approaching. For only if sworn enemies Spar and Graize can come together as Hisar's priests will the God stand any chance of surviving the coming battles with both the hungry spirits seeking to devour him, and the war with the mortal invasion fleet, which is even now sailing for Anavatan.
- GenresFantasy
280 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2011
About the author
Fiona Patton
43 books79 followersFiona lives in rural Ontario with her wife, Tanya Huff. She currently works as a counselor for the developmentally handicapped.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 15, 2018
This was... a weird conclusion that I did not hate but also not 100% loved?
Writing reviews for this trilogy will be a pain in the ass. Just not as big a pain as Graize was.
Writing reviews for this trilogy will be a pain in the ass. Just not as big a pain as Graize was.
July 2, 2014
So,finished. There was stuff i liked a lot, and stuff that didn't work. Again, I found the pacing wrong for the first two thirds of the book. Too much back-and-forthing, complete with adolescent angst. I guess this is understandable since the book is very much a coming-of-age story, with all the major protagonists under 20 and tied together by serious events from their childhoods and a web of prophecies that change dramatically depending on whether they work out their ibtetpersonal dramas or not.
So... Basically, there's this God, one of six Gods who give their protection to the people of this particular city-state. Amd he thinks thinks are stagnant and wants to shake things up. And there are these four outcaste orphan kids living on the streets, three of whom have destinies - Brax, Graize and Spar - and one of whom will die young in a metaphysical maelstrom. When Brax and Graize are very young, brax does something that leads to Graize kind of imprinting/obsessing on him, but they are separated. Later on, when they are still kids, brax is taking care of another street kid, Spar, and Graize has hooked up with the fourth kid who will die soon. Graize hates Spar, because brax is caring fir him, and hates/desires Brax. Spar and Graize are both seers, which in this world contains a wide mix of magical goodies. So on this particularly nasty night, a swarm of hungry, mindless wild spirits break the protections on the city and wreak havoc. The four boys find themselves at the centre of it. One boy dies, graize is teleported hundreds of miles away to be found and cared for by nomadic enemies of the city, brax swears fealty to the god of war if she will help him fight the spirits and save spar, and the spirits themseves are tramsformed into a proto-god who is tied both to Graize and Spar.
The whole series is about the three surviving boys and the proto-god growing up and sorting out their feelings and needs so they can eventually work together to save the city from an alliance of outside enemies intending on its destruction. In the process, everybody gets to be vacillating and selfish, though Brax, as the champion of a god, sorts thinks out earliest and Graize, as a jealous little bint, takes the most time getting a clue. Which causes a great deal of trouble, as he is a very powerful sorcerer/seer who is deep in the plans of al these enemies because he wants to destroy the city because Brax is sworn to protect it.
It all works out in the end, and the city gets a new god out 9f the whole business, too.
What i liked was the worldbuilding and the natural feel to a social system that accommodates people who are ale, people who are female, and peooke who are bi-gendered and can shift their presentation easily from male to female. Also, same-sex relationships all over the place, totally normal.
So, interesting, but not great.
So... Basically, there's this God, one of six Gods who give their protection to the people of this particular city-state. Amd he thinks thinks are stagnant and wants to shake things up. And there are these four outcaste orphan kids living on the streets, three of whom have destinies - Brax, Graize and Spar - and one of whom will die young in a metaphysical maelstrom. When Brax and Graize are very young, brax does something that leads to Graize kind of imprinting/obsessing on him, but they are separated. Later on, when they are still kids, brax is taking care of another street kid, Spar, and Graize has hooked up with the fourth kid who will die soon. Graize hates Spar, because brax is caring fir him, and hates/desires Brax. Spar and Graize are both seers, which in this world contains a wide mix of magical goodies. So on this particularly nasty night, a swarm of hungry, mindless wild spirits break the protections on the city and wreak havoc. The four boys find themselves at the centre of it. One boy dies, graize is teleported hundreds of miles away to be found and cared for by nomadic enemies of the city, brax swears fealty to the god of war if she will help him fight the spirits and save spar, and the spirits themseves are tramsformed into a proto-god who is tied both to Graize and Spar.
The whole series is about the three surviving boys and the proto-god growing up and sorting out their feelings and needs so they can eventually work together to save the city from an alliance of outside enemies intending on its destruction. In the process, everybody gets to be vacillating and selfish, though Brax, as the champion of a god, sorts thinks out earliest and Graize, as a jealous little bint, takes the most time getting a clue. Which causes a great deal of trouble, as he is a very powerful sorcerer/seer who is deep in the plans of al these enemies because he wants to destroy the city because Brax is sworn to protect it.
It all works out in the end, and the city gets a new god out 9f the whole business, too.
What i liked was the worldbuilding and the natural feel to a social system that accommodates people who are ale, people who are female, and peooke who are bi-gendered and can shift their presentation easily from male to female. Also, same-sex relationships all over the place, totally normal.
So, interesting, but not great.
June 18, 2011
Wonderful conclusion to the Warriors of Estavia trilogy. Truly does the story justice. Loved Patton's take on a fledgling god.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews