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The Two of Swords #16-23
The Two of Swords, Volume Three
The epic concluding volume in The Two of Swords trilogy by World Fantasy Award-winning author K. J. Parker.
"Why are we fighting this war? Because evil must be resisted, and sooner or later there comes a time when men of principle have to make a stand. Because war is good for business and it's better to die on our feet than live on our knees. Because they started it. But at this stage in the proceedings," he added, with a slightly lop-sided grin, "mostly from force of habit."
A soldier with a gift for archery. A woman who kills without care. Two brothers, both unbeatable generals, now fighting for opposing armies. No-one in the vast and once glorious United Empire remains untouched by the rift between East and West, and the war has been fought for as long as anyone can remember. Some still survive who know how it was started, but no-one knows how it will end.
The Two of Swords is the story of a war on a grand scale, told through the eyes of its soldiers, politicians, victims and heroes.
"Why are we fighting this war? Because evil must be resisted, and sooner or later there comes a time when men of principle have to make a stand. Because war is good for business and it's better to die on our feet than live on our knees. Because they started it. But at this stage in the proceedings," he added, with a slightly lop-sided grin, "mostly from force of habit."
A soldier with a gift for archery. A woman who kills without care. Two brothers, both unbeatable generals, now fighting for opposing armies. No-one in the vast and once glorious United Empire remains untouched by the rift between East and West, and the war has been fought for as long as anyone can remember. Some still survive who know how it was started, but no-one knows how it will end.
The Two of Swords is the story of a war on a grand scale, told through the eyes of its soldiers, politicians, victims and heroes.
416 pages, Paperback
First published December 12, 2017
124 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
K.J. Parker
134 books1,675 followersK.J. Parker is a pseudonym for Tom Holt.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
According to the biographical notes in some of Parker's books, Parker has previously worked in law, journalism, and numismatics, and now writes and makes things out of wood and metal. It is also claimed that Parker is married to a solicitor and now lives in southern England. According to an autobiographical note, Parker was raised in rural Vermont, a lifestyle which influenced Parker's work.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
March 11, 2020
If it involves birds, it’s an augury and it can’t be avoided. She knew what a thousand crows in a small area means. It’s one of the less inscrutably coded symbols in the divine vocabulary.
This whole series of linked novellas has made me reconsider the concept of mass slaughter, ambiguous lead characters and casual violence that was first brought to the forefront of fantasy epics by George R R Martin. “Two of Swords” can be described as a Feast for Crows on steroids, or maybe on crack. K J Parker is not at his first foray into ethically challenging stories about the practicalities of killing people as efficiently as possible. In fact, this could be called his signature move across the whole spectrum of his fantasy output. In this aspect, Two of Swords is a return to form for me since it reminds me strongly of the issues described in “The Engineer” series, my very first and still my favorite series by the author.
To Saevus Andrapodiza, all human life had value. This revelation came to him in a moment of transcendent clarity as he looked our from the summit of Mount Doson over the fertile arable plains of Cors Shenei in central Permia. Every man, woman and child, regardless of age, ability, nationality, religion, sexual orientation or social class was valuable and must be treated as such. His task, he realized, was finding someone to buy them all.
The second most easily recognized trademark of Parker is the dry, biting sense of humour, as seen in this introduction of a new episodic player in the prologue to the third and final collection of novellas about the merciless war between the fictional Western and Eastern empires. If it isn’t clear yet, Saevus Andrapodiza is the sort of crow that likes to roam around battlefields, looking for plunder. He is the most successful slave owner in Blemya, a small country sandwiched between the two warring empires and he owes his success mostly to the proficiency of the two Belot brothers, Senza and Forza, who are so good at their generalship that they are bleeding the two empires dry of able bodied soldiers of any kind.
We both thought we could win. Actually, chess is a good analogy. You know the sort of game where you end up with only four pieces on the board – white king and rook, black king and rook. You don’t throw up your hands in horror and concede because you’re appalled by the slaughter of innocent pawns. The longer it goes on, the closer you get, the more intense it becomes.
The chess analogy was actually evident right from the start of the series, but it is spelled out clearly here by Forza (or Senza, it doesn’t really matter). What matters is that the war is about to end because the generals have run out of cannon fodder. In the middle tome of the epic, it was postulated that the two Belot brothers were egged on by a secretive organization called The Lodge, which had its own plans for taking over the management of the two exhausted empires. Apparently, the Lodge people are not as infallible and all knowing as they were cracked up to be, losing both armies and ascendancy to the Belot brothers by tipping their hand too early. The land is even more desolate and empty of people since the Lodge made its claim of sovereignty.
Parker has in truth swept the whole game-board clean, leaving only two small pawns – the assassin Telamon and the diplomat/spy/musician Oida to roam the deserted landscape in search of closure. By gathering together all the loose threads and narrating the whole of the third book from a single point of view (Telamon) Parker not only reinforces the chess endgame analogy, but it also makes it easier for the reader to focus on the underlying moral dilemmas instead of on the gory details that filled the previous two books.
What is so special about Telamon and Oida? Both were foot soldiers in the ranks of the Lodge, action people and not decision-makers. With the risk of putting down spoilers, I would argue that the very fact that they were not the puppet masters who let so many millions die absurdly (emperors, generals, Lodge commissioners) is what makes them worthy of redemption. Both Telamon and Oida were in the game because they had faith in the higher purpose of their struggle. While the Lodge provided that goal for a better future, both were satisfied to following orders, taking whatever small comfort (a good meal, a good book, music, companionship) came their way. Out of these almost random encounters something else than duty to the Lodge entered the game:
Like someone who’s learning a foreign language, she’d failed to grasp the true meaning of love. All this time, she’d thought it meant something else, to do with fire in the blood and skin tingling at a certain touch, when really it was about completely different things – food, shelter, comfort, money, a defensible space, something that would still be there in the morning.
Both Oida and Telamon start to discuss something other than orders from above and tactics, like what to do after the war is finished, what makes life worth living for those who are not concerned simply with surviving for another day. Could they really turn their backs on everything, fly to a distant country and let the damn puppet masters slaughter each other?
“I know it’s your game, but I think you said the rule was, what would I be doing now if there wasn’t a war? [...] I see you in a big old house, sitting in a library. West-facing, naturally. For some reason, it’s raining outside and there’s a big log fire. You’re sitting at a desk, reading one book and with two others open in front of you, and every now and then you stop and write something in the margin.”
She laughed out loud. “It’s a stupid game,” she said. “And the war will go on and on for ever, so what’s the point?”
Yet when the Lodge proves itself to be as fallible and divisive as the empires it tried to topple, Oida and Telamon are left with only their own wits, their own conscience for guidance.
Ultimately, two opposing worldviews vie for supremacy. One is expressed by the secretive Lodge supreme leader:
“Is that it? The end justifies the means, and nothing else matters?”
“Yes,” he said. “I thought everybody knew that. Good night.”
The other is an appeal to search for our common sense, for our very humanity and cling to it for all its worth:
Faith, hope and love; no rational debate, no careful weighing of the evidence, balancing the merits, persuasion, not even a supreme effort of will. No options, no choice. They catch you unaware, like sleep, and won’t let you go till they’re ready.
It’s not an easy job, but somebody has to do it.
>>><<<>>><<<
My final rating is a composite of the whole amazing journey through this labyrinth of secrets, card tricks, ruthlessness and callousness to arrive at some alternative to eternal war and a dog eats dog philosophy. This last book was closer to a four star rating. I could have spent my review grumbling some about the author abandoning numerous characters and storylines without clear closure . I preferred to concentrate on the things that K J Parker considered were important enough for the end game: following orders or following your conscience.
As usual, I will pick up and read the next book by this talented writer as soon as it shows up in the bookstores.
February 15, 2020
I’ve said before and I’ll say it again. Parker is a cognoscente of character interaction. Nuff said.
2nd read: Even better. Man, August feels so far away......😞
2nd read: Even better. Man, August feels so far away......😞
May 14, 2022
Parker wraps up this 'trilogy' of collected novellas here, but this varies from the pattern established in the first two volumes. Rather than a baton-like hand-off to a new character/POV between stories, Volume Three just follows Telamon's adventures. This should be a winner as Telamon is my favorite character, but the cheesy romance between her and Odia, and all too neat conclusion, let me feeling a little flat.
Telamon is a great character-- sold by her mother into slavery as a child, she picked blueberries and lived in a cage until rescued by the 'Lodge' of craftsmen and is now an agent of theirs, doing what needs doing. As the endless war between East and West drags to its ultimate conclusion, we know from the last volume (finally) what the Lodge has in store for the aftermath. We also know that the Lodge has been instrumental in if not starting the war, at least keeping it going. Nonetheless, even toward the end some dastardly deeds need doing...
I like Parker's writing style, but I cannot say the same for most of his characters, all of whom border (rather directly) on sociopathy. Take Telamon, who coldly killed a man for a berth on a ship out of a war zone. Sure, she did it to save herself, but oh so cold. The violence in these tales also has a cold feeling, like nothing personal, but this is the way it is. For me, what made the start of this tale so intriguing was seeing the war from so many different POVs, from soldiers, kings, agents, generals and so forth, each giving us a different perspective on the war. That ended in this volume as we follow Telamon here from one nasty situation to another. Parker's stories usually have a nihilistic slant, and in the concluding volume to this series, it is rather pronounced. Also, Parker should really stay away from romance! 2.5 stars, rounding up.
Telamon is a great character-- sold by her mother into slavery as a child, she picked blueberries and lived in a cage until rescued by the 'Lodge' of craftsmen and is now an agent of theirs, doing what needs doing. As the endless war between East and West drags to its ultimate conclusion, we know from the last volume (finally) what the Lodge has in store for the aftermath. We also know that the Lodge has been instrumental in if not starting the war, at least keeping it going. Nonetheless, even toward the end some dastardly deeds need doing...
I like Parker's writing style, but I cannot say the same for most of his characters, all of whom border (rather directly) on sociopathy. Take Telamon, who coldly killed a man for a berth on a ship out of a war zone. Sure, she did it to save herself, but oh so cold. The violence in these tales also has a cold feeling, like nothing personal, but this is the way it is. For me, what made the start of this tale so intriguing was seeing the war from so many different POVs, from soldiers, kings, agents, generals and so forth, each giving us a different perspective on the war. That ended in this volume as we follow Telamon here from one nasty situation to another. Parker's stories usually have a nihilistic slant, and in the concluding volume to this series, it is rather pronounced. Also, Parker should really stay away from romance! 2.5 stars, rounding up.
February 4, 2018
I skim read the last 2 so I could get some sort of conclusion for some characters. Some characters didnt interest me. Better fantasy out there but still solid.
September 11, 2019
Finished my first Parker trilogy.
Quite an epic tale, of course, over the 3 books. In particular, I’ve enjoyed the continuous swapping in and out of POV characters over the series. In this third book that dies back a bit as we’ve accumulated quite a cast of characters and in the end we concentrate on a handful of the more influential (on a world stage).
Once again I enjoy the meanderings of a Parker storyline. It’s a matter of personal taste but somehow three pages spent on how a broken cart axle is resolved, in the middle of nowhere, just adds a touch of realism to this epic tale for me. The characters are usually pretty relatable though once again in a Parker novel I found the emotional side rather suppressed even when it was clear that emotions and even a developing romance were part of some characters motivations.
I’m not going into the storyline details other than to summarise, as in my previous reviews, that the grand scheme involves a split empire in a sort of civil war, which is depleting severely the resources of both sides. And a Masonic-like institution or secret society, the Lodge, which includes many ordinary crafts people and also more influential characters living in both parts of the empire.
The debilitating impact of the war reaches its climax in this third book. And it’s perhaps here, because of how the story is resolved, that I have to give a 4* for the book as against the 5* for the earlier books. The resolution of the storyline wasn’t really to my personal taste though it may be for others. I wasn’t sure about the reality of the extreme impact of the war leading to ‘reconstruction’, the overarching single mindedness of the opposing brother generals and, at the end when people (especially the excellent female assassin Telemon) can see the flaws and cold blooded plan of what’s gone before, they seem to step back from changing things fundamentally.
But as I said that’s my taste. As usual the story is well written, often a pleasure to read for just small scenes. I’d emphasise my comment in a previous Parker review; it’s not the destination but the journey, and it’s been an excellent journey.
I’ll get back to more Parker books after a bit of a rest following my recent heavy indulgence in his books.
Quite an epic tale, of course, over the 3 books. In particular, I’ve enjoyed the continuous swapping in and out of POV characters over the series. In this third book that dies back a bit as we’ve accumulated quite a cast of characters and in the end we concentrate on a handful of the more influential (on a world stage).
Once again I enjoy the meanderings of a Parker storyline. It’s a matter of personal taste but somehow three pages spent on how a broken cart axle is resolved, in the middle of nowhere, just adds a touch of realism to this epic tale for me. The characters are usually pretty relatable though once again in a Parker novel I found the emotional side rather suppressed even when it was clear that emotions and even a developing romance were part of some characters motivations.
I’m not going into the storyline details other than to summarise, as in my previous reviews, that the grand scheme involves a split empire in a sort of civil war, which is depleting severely the resources of both sides. And a Masonic-like institution or secret society, the Lodge, which includes many ordinary crafts people and also more influential characters living in both parts of the empire.
The debilitating impact of the war reaches its climax in this third book. And it’s perhaps here, because of how the story is resolved, that I have to give a 4* for the book as against the 5* for the earlier books. The resolution of the storyline wasn’t really to my personal taste though it may be for others. I wasn’t sure about the reality of the extreme impact of the war leading to ‘reconstruction’, the overarching single mindedness of the opposing brother generals and, at the end when people (especially the excellent female assassin Telemon) can see the flaws and cold blooded plan of what’s gone before, they seem to step back from changing things fundamentally.
But as I said that’s my taste. As usual the story is well written, often a pleasure to read for just small scenes. I’d emphasise my comment in a previous Parker review; it’s not the destination but the journey, and it’s been an excellent journey.
I’ll get back to more Parker books after a bit of a rest following my recent heavy indulgence in his books.
August 31, 2018
I can say with confidence that the concluding volume of the Two of Swords is as heartfelt as I am ever likely to find K.J. Parker.
The trilogy as a whole is spectacular: the scope is grand, the story compelling. Every meandering plot line is not only tied up but made relevant to the whole. If you're a fan of the author, he is at his most brilliant here.
Without revealing too much, I will say that at its heart, the Two of Swords is a gritty, visceral, bruised love story, and empires crumble to tell it. I'd expect nothing less.
The trilogy as a whole is spectacular: the scope is grand, the story compelling. Every meandering plot line is not only tied up but made relevant to the whole. If you're a fan of the author, he is at his most brilliant here.
Without revealing too much, I will say that at its heart, the Two of Swords is a gritty, visceral, bruised love story, and empires crumble to tell it. I'd expect nothing less.
December 26, 2018
This is about as KJ Parker as it gets, full of ruthless people, layers of worldbuilding and bureaucracy, small acts and big consequences, the end of the world and significant relationships, things gone too far and stupid dumb luck. It is a whirlwind viewed through a narrow window, with only slivers of sense able to be extracted. It is a series that I predict my husband and I will debate the details of for years to come (much as we still do with Parker's Scavenger trilogy).
This is probably not the place to start with KJ Parker, but if you like what he does, he's doing it really hard here.
Unusually, for Parker, there's a female character at the centre of this one. And she is great; a significant portion of my enjoyment of this series comes down to Telamon, who is in many respects just a standard Parker character--shat upon by circumstance again and again, but bitterly, brutally, self-destructively competent and just plain refusing to lie down and die. But her gender is also important in who she is, and I feel like it was quite deftly laid over all that usual-Parker-ness. And her ongoing relationship with Oida was another highlight of the books, making me clutch my heart in several places. (Which is not something that Parker often manages! He's done great cerebral and twisty and interesting relationships, but nothing that really made me feel it before now.)
Did this all come together perfectly? Ehhhh, not quite. There were sort of too many moving parts for them all to come satisfyingly to rest, and perhaps that's an element of the original serialised format, or perhaps not. But a lot of things did, and the ongoing chaos and confusion worked well as an overall theme, and I find myself very pleased with having gone on this journey.
This is probably not the place to start with KJ Parker, but if you like what he does, he's doing it really hard here.
Unusually, for Parker, there's a female character at the centre of this one. And she is great; a significant portion of my enjoyment of this series comes down to Telamon, who is in many respects just a standard Parker character--shat upon by circumstance again and again, but bitterly, brutally, self-destructively competent and just plain refusing to lie down and die. But her gender is also important in who she is, and I feel like it was quite deftly laid over all that usual-Parker-ness. And her ongoing relationship with Oida was another highlight of the books, making me clutch my heart in several places. (Which is not something that Parker often manages! He's done great cerebral and twisty and interesting relationships, but nothing that really made me feel it before now.)
Did this all come together perfectly? Ehhhh, not quite. There were sort of too many moving parts for them all to come satisfyingly to rest, and perhaps that's an element of the original serialised format, or perhaps not. But a lot of things did, and the ongoing chaos and confusion worked well as an overall theme, and I find myself very pleased with having gone on this journey.
May 24, 2018
Three to four stars, mixed feelings.
In this last volume, the perspective shifts as we follow Telamon, who was one of the minor characters in the previous two. I don't mind that at all, as I find her interesting and someone who is involved with the inner workings of everything, but in some ways it didn't seem to mesh well with the construction of the first two. And that was the main qualm about this book that makes it dip down to three stars for me:
In some ways the ending seemed a bit forced or arbitrary. Sure, war is arbitrary and pointless at times but in this case it almost felt as though the author got to this point without really knowing how he was going to finish it, decided to pick a character, and then made a decision as to who was going to be the leader of the Lodge, made them meet, made up the insignificant reason for the war, and finished everything off.
That's the weakest part of Parker's trilogies for me: the ending just isn't satisfying, though this was better than some others. Perhaps that's too much to expect from a cynical author but I'd like to have some big twist (in this book there really weren't any surprising reveals or clever machinations going on behind the scenes) or perhaps have some ultimate meaning to it all. Like I said, that's not really what Parker is about but it's usually the disappointing part about his books for me, though I absolutely love the ride getting to that point.
In this last volume, the perspective shifts as we follow Telamon, who was one of the minor characters in the previous two. I don't mind that at all, as I find her interesting and someone who is involved with the inner workings of everything, but in some ways it didn't seem to mesh well with the construction of the first two. And that was the main qualm about this book that makes it dip down to three stars for me:
In some ways the ending seemed a bit forced or arbitrary. Sure, war is arbitrary and pointless at times but in this case it almost felt as though the author got to this point without really knowing how he was going to finish it, decided to pick a character, and then made a decision as to who was going to be the leader of the Lodge, made them meet, made up the insignificant reason for the war, and finished everything off.
That's the weakest part of Parker's trilogies for me: the ending just isn't satisfying, though this was better than some others. Perhaps that's too much to expect from a cynical author but I'd like to have some big twist (in this book there really weren't any surprising reveals or clever machinations going on behind the scenes) or perhaps have some ultimate meaning to it all. Like I said, that's not really what Parker is about but it's usually the disappointing part about his books for me, though I absolutely love the ride getting to that point.
January 11, 2020
Decepcionante final. Muy repetitivo
July 13, 2018
42 WORD REVIEW:
Having jettisoned the serial novella approach of its first two instalments, The Two of Swords in this third volume focusses on one character—Telamon, the most interesting—and at last achieves escape velocity. A fine, Parker-esque end to a slightly dubious experiment.
Having jettisoned the serial novella approach of its first two instalments, The Two of Swords in this third volume focusses on one character—Telamon, the most interesting—and at last achieves escape velocity. A fine, Parker-esque end to a slightly dubious experiment.
July 12, 2023
Adore Parker, and enjoyed this series. The ending was a bit sweet, if you can say that about one of his books. Struck me as a bit odd, since everyone's usually dead at the end.
December 12, 2017
This review is for the whole Two of Swords series. I read this originally as a monthly ebook serial with one novella or "chapter" being released per month. These three volumes are the collected print editions.
I greatly enjoyed the whole Two of Swords story. Parker has long been one of the most consistent fantasy authors out there and this is a level above most of his stuff. The generic name and cover art is a shame because it deserves a wider audience and Parker fans especially will enjoy it I think.
If I have one quibble, it's that there was a big hiatus before the last four "chapters" were released this fall and it feels like Parker didn't know how to finish it so it ends more like a typical Parker work. Nevertheless, the first two books are simply outstanding.
I greatly enjoyed the whole Two of Swords story. Parker has long been one of the most consistent fantasy authors out there and this is a level above most of his stuff. The generic name and cover art is a shame because it deserves a wider audience and Parker fans especially will enjoy it I think.
If I have one quibble, it's that there was a big hiatus before the last four "chapters" were released this fall and it feels like Parker didn't know how to finish it so it ends more like a typical Parker work. Nevertheless, the first two books are simply outstanding.
February 18, 2022
Unfortunately the weakest one of the trilogy, but still very good. Wish we had kept with the shifting perspectives more, but I understand that this was the way to tie it all together. Left a little lacking for me though.
May 21, 2021
Have to say I enjoyed the first two more but still a decent read from an author who knows his way around a storyline. Bit like a fantasy/mediaeval spook story in a way.
May 8, 2024
3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
Summary
The war is almost over, because almost everyone is dead. The Lodge has come out of hiding to attack what's left of two empires. And the people who played unwitting parts in a complex scheme are starting to learn what was behind it all and why.
Review
I think this largely concludes the pile of K. J. Parker books I’d bought when I was still enthusiastic or at least unwilling to give up. This last volume largely confirms all the things I’ve said before, but perhaps it’s worth a wrap-up here.
Parker is a very talented writer. While I didn’t much care for the one Tom Holt book I read, the Parker books and stories, with their wit and sardonic tone, are very well put together. The self-deprecating characters and their surprise at their own success are funny, as are the instances of perfect planning that somehow goes all wrong, and the lucky chances that make disaster go all right. The prose is excellent, the metaphors… well, not always complex, and often hammered into the ground, but they’re clear and apposite.
All of that is good, and why I loved most of the first Parker trilogies I bought. As time went on, though, and I read more and more (Goodreads tells me I’ve read almost two dozen), the more I realized how many traits they all share. Every Parker story is composed of essentially the same characters, plot points, twists, etc. And, because they’re set in a roughly shared but largely generic world, even the settings are quite similar. The details of how things go wrong and right are different, but not greatly.
Because of how generic and convoluted they are, Parker’s books are hard to tell apart. Aside from a few shocking moments or memorable scenes, I’d have a hard time recalling the plot of many of them, and even less success with characters.
This last book in my stack had the same issues as usual. It does wrap things up fairly neatly, and it’s been interesting that the main threads of the trilogy’s plot (the craft and guild) have remained largely in the background – I haven’t seen that often before. And he does make an effort to not only tie off many, many threads, but to loop back to some of the key characters he’s invoked over the three books. It’s a professional, competent ending. It’s also unfortunately one that left me almost entirely unmoved. There are emotional moments in the book (and trilogy), but they have less effect than they used to, because they’re expected. If you see a good or beautiful thing in a Parker book, you already know that someone will destroy it for a logical but ultimately valueless reason. It’s not tragic anymore.
I give Parker credit for talent and for introducing a new tone in fantasy literature. Unfortunately, he hasn’t progressed much since then. Like an actor who keeps playing the same old role, Parker’s books are dependable, but haven’t been innovative in quite some time. If you’re new to him, I strongly recommend picking up one of his books or trilogies; you may love it. But it doesn’t really matter which you choose, because, to me, at least, they’re pretty much the same.
Summary
The war is almost over, because almost everyone is dead. The Lodge has come out of hiding to attack what's left of two empires. And the people who played unwitting parts in a complex scheme are starting to learn what was behind it all and why.
Review
I think this largely concludes the pile of K. J. Parker books I’d bought when I was still enthusiastic or at least unwilling to give up. This last volume largely confirms all the things I’ve said before, but perhaps it’s worth a wrap-up here.
Parker is a very talented writer. While I didn’t much care for the one Tom Holt book I read, the Parker books and stories, with their wit and sardonic tone, are very well put together. The self-deprecating characters and their surprise at their own success are funny, as are the instances of perfect planning that somehow goes all wrong, and the lucky chances that make disaster go all right. The prose is excellent, the metaphors… well, not always complex, and often hammered into the ground, but they’re clear and apposite.
All of that is good, and why I loved most of the first Parker trilogies I bought. As time went on, though, and I read more and more (Goodreads tells me I’ve read almost two dozen), the more I realized how many traits they all share. Every Parker story is composed of essentially the same characters, plot points, twists, etc. And, because they’re set in a roughly shared but largely generic world, even the settings are quite similar. The details of how things go wrong and right are different, but not greatly.
Because of how generic and convoluted they are, Parker’s books are hard to tell apart. Aside from a few shocking moments or memorable scenes, I’d have a hard time recalling the plot of many of them, and even less success with characters.
This last book in my stack had the same issues as usual. It does wrap things up fairly neatly, and it’s been interesting that the main threads of the trilogy’s plot (the craft and guild) have remained largely in the background – I haven’t seen that often before. And he does make an effort to not only tie off many, many threads, but to loop back to some of the key characters he’s invoked over the three books. It’s a professional, competent ending. It’s also unfortunately one that left me almost entirely unmoved. There are emotional moments in the book (and trilogy), but they have less effect than they used to, because they’re expected. If you see a good or beautiful thing in a Parker book, you already know that someone will destroy it for a logical but ultimately valueless reason. It’s not tragic anymore.
I give Parker credit for talent and for introducing a new tone in fantasy literature. Unfortunately, he hasn’t progressed much since then. Like an actor who keeps playing the same old role, Parker’s books are dependable, but haven’t been innovative in quite some time. If you’re new to him, I strongly recommend picking up one of his books or trilogies; you may love it. But it doesn’t really matter which you choose, because, to me, at least, they’re pretty much the same.
January 17, 2025
6/10 stars
My full review for all three books on my blog.
My relationship with K.J. Parker’s books is somewhat complex. I love the worldbuilding of these novels, creating the alternative history of the late years of the Roman Empire with precision and care worthy of an engineer, and the engineer’s dispassionate and anatomical focus on the process of slow, unstoppable crumbling of what had been probably the most powerful and technologically advanced community in human history. The love of technology is one of Parker’s most memorable traits – his peans about aqueducts, cathedral domes, indoor plumbing are not only endearing but also highly educational. There is both awe and regret lurking in his descriptions of the imperial might – what humans can achieve, and what they can destroy.
Parker’s trademark droll style dripping with cynicism is also usually right up my alley, and the grand vista of human folly and destruction that he paints on the alt history canvas looks horrifically alluring when viewed through his detached, irony-hued lens. Armies are raised and mowed down like so much wheat, individual humans turned into uncountable pawns on the chessboards of generals and emperors and treated with the same ruthlessness and indifference as the game pieces. The war grinds everything to dust and broken bone, and Parker’s detached, almost off-hand descriptions paint this gory reality in exquisite detail.
[...]
I bet you can sense the “but” coming… The one aspect that Parker fails miserably in developing, and is bracingly consistent across all of his books I have read, is the characters’ arcs. Parker treats his characters like pieces on a chessboard, or cards in hand – complete, finite, not reactive, and expendable. They don’t grow, they don’t change, they don’t feel much beyond the requisite mechanical interaction with the world. Psychologically speaking, they are inert. Sure, in Parker’s world everybody wears a mask or doesn’t breathe too long, but his characters are an unknown even to themselves. So when the plot calls for something more personal than a massacre on the battlefield or a devastating, city-wide fire, Parker is at a loss on how to achieve even half of the effect that comes so seemingly effortlessly to him when describing humanity’s plight as a whole. His protagonists are puppets with the strings for everyone to see. But because there is nothing animating them beyond the plot’s requirement for action, once they have been used they can be removed from the scene and nobody will care. Even the main characters suffer from this indifference – though I feel that it’s perhaps not intentional neglect but rather the author’s inability to imbue them with a semblance of emotional life.
[...]
Score: 6/10 (first novel 8/10, second novel 7/10, third novel 5/10)
My full review for all three books on my blog.
My relationship with K.J. Parker’s books is somewhat complex. I love the worldbuilding of these novels, creating the alternative history of the late years of the Roman Empire with precision and care worthy of an engineer, and the engineer’s dispassionate and anatomical focus on the process of slow, unstoppable crumbling of what had been probably the most powerful and technologically advanced community in human history. The love of technology is one of Parker’s most memorable traits – his peans about aqueducts, cathedral domes, indoor plumbing are not only endearing but also highly educational. There is both awe and regret lurking in his descriptions of the imperial might – what humans can achieve, and what they can destroy.
Parker’s trademark droll style dripping with cynicism is also usually right up my alley, and the grand vista of human folly and destruction that he paints on the alt history canvas looks horrifically alluring when viewed through his detached, irony-hued lens. Armies are raised and mowed down like so much wheat, individual humans turned into uncountable pawns on the chessboards of generals and emperors and treated with the same ruthlessness and indifference as the game pieces. The war grinds everything to dust and broken bone, and Parker’s detached, almost off-hand descriptions paint this gory reality in exquisite detail.
[...]
I bet you can sense the “but” coming… The one aspect that Parker fails miserably in developing, and is bracingly consistent across all of his books I have read, is the characters’ arcs. Parker treats his characters like pieces on a chessboard, or cards in hand – complete, finite, not reactive, and expendable. They don’t grow, they don’t change, they don’t feel much beyond the requisite mechanical interaction with the world. Psychologically speaking, they are inert. Sure, in Parker’s world everybody wears a mask or doesn’t breathe too long, but his characters are an unknown even to themselves. So when the plot calls for something more personal than a massacre on the battlefield or a devastating, city-wide fire, Parker is at a loss on how to achieve even half of the effect that comes so seemingly effortlessly to him when describing humanity’s plight as a whole. His protagonists are puppets with the strings for everyone to see. But because there is nothing animating them beyond the plot’s requirement for action, once they have been used they can be removed from the scene and nobody will care. Even the main characters suffer from this indifference – though I feel that it’s perhaps not intentional neglect but rather the author’s inability to imbue them with a semblance of emotional life.
[...]
Score: 6/10 (first novel 8/10, second novel 7/10, third novel 5/10)
June 30, 2021
Where the first two volumes cycled through over a dozen POV characters, the last book belongs entirely to Telamon. It becomes clear that this was always her story.
The thrilling conclusion to the trilogy leaves me torn. On one hand, the lone viewpoint character has an unsatisfying lack of agency, all the more so considering who she is and what she does for a living. Telamon is a pingpong ball in a tornado. She's wealthy, she's broke. Arrested for murder, rescued against her will, left for dead in the wilderness. Saved by Oida, tasked with killing Oida. Promoted to Western spy chief, arrested again, promoted to Mason commissioner and triumvir. Captured, tortured, released for no reason. Events just keep happening to and around her, things that conveniently advance the plot, but her passivity does not ring true.
On the other hand, the vast decades- and continent-spanning Mason design is finally revealed in full. It's so immense that it transcends mere 'conspiracy'. And the ambition of the plot, the sheer audacity of it, makes me love this book in spite of myself.
(Plot points and massive spoilers ahead.)
Procopius is the grand director of the Masons. Decades previous, he saw an opportunity to replace the empire with a society he could create from the ground up. He engineered a schism, a civil war, led by the Belot brothers, two genius sociopath generals. Over time the halves of the empire denuded themselves of resources and men. Eventually Procopius orchestrates a financial collapse and a complete depopulation of the empires, leaving him with an empty expanse that can be carefully rebuilt with Blemyan citizens and money and Permian slaves.
Axio gets ambitious and attempts a hostile takeover of the Masons, intending to install himself as the new Emperor. He orders Telamon to murder Oida, but Oida convinces her that the order is fake. Axio is caught and executed.
Oida has actually been in love with Telamon all this time. He makes her promotion to triumvir a condition of his ascension to puppet Emperor and loveless marriage to the queen of Blemya.
Against her will, Telamon replaces Procopius as head of the secret society after he dies of illness. It falls to her to build a superior empire out of raw materials. Imagine the scope of the waste and loss of life if she fails to deliver...
The thrilling conclusion to the trilogy leaves me torn. On one hand, the lone viewpoint character has an unsatisfying lack of agency, all the more so considering who she is and what she does for a living. Telamon is a pingpong ball in a tornado. She's wealthy, she's broke. Arrested for murder, rescued against her will, left for dead in the wilderness. Saved by Oida, tasked with killing Oida. Promoted to Western spy chief, arrested again, promoted to Mason commissioner and triumvir. Captured, tortured, released for no reason. Events just keep happening to and around her, things that conveniently advance the plot, but her passivity does not ring true.
On the other hand, the vast decades- and continent-spanning Mason design is finally revealed in full. It's so immense that it transcends mere 'conspiracy'. And the ambition of the plot, the sheer audacity of it, makes me love this book in spite of myself.
(Plot points and massive spoilers ahead.)
Procopius is the grand director of the Masons. Decades previous, he saw an opportunity to replace the empire with a society he could create from the ground up. He engineered a schism, a civil war, led by the Belot brothers, two genius sociopath generals. Over time the halves of the empire denuded themselves of resources and men. Eventually Procopius orchestrates a financial collapse and a complete depopulation of the empires, leaving him with an empty expanse that can be carefully rebuilt with Blemyan citizens and money and Permian slaves.
Axio gets ambitious and attempts a hostile takeover of the Masons, intending to install himself as the new Emperor. He orders Telamon to murder Oida, but Oida convinces her that the order is fake. Axio is caught and executed.
Oida has actually been in love with Telamon all this time. He makes her promotion to triumvir a condition of his ascension to puppet Emperor and loveless marriage to the queen of Blemya.
Against her will, Telamon replaces Procopius as head of the secret society after he dies of illness. It falls to her to build a superior empire out of raw materials. Imagine the scope of the waste and loss of life if she fails to deliver...
August 8, 2018
I'm not sure how to talk about this final book. On one hand (a pretty big hand in fact), I loved it. It was interesting, witty, and - awww it was actually a love story in the end. I adored Telemon, and the 'big mystery' - what the Lodge was actually up to - was about as disturbing and sociopathic as I've come to expect from Parker's conclusions.
(As an aside, I've worked out what makes his characters so great and yet so horrifying actually. They're us - normal, generally well meaning people, except where we get annoyed or hurt and wish something horrible would happen to the person we see as responsible, Parker's characters actually go out of their way to calmly make the horrible things happen, and then they don't feel all that sorry about it afterwards.)
But on the other hand, I think I was a tiny bit... not disappointed; maybe dissatisfied in the end. Like a meal you're anticipating being great, but when it's done you don't feel as full as you thought you were going to. Perhaps it was a writing experiment. Like I said, I enjoyed it immensely. But the story introduced characters and concepts (like the wild cards) that it later left and never really came back to. They were there, in the background, but I think I would have liked to see them consciously and deliberately tie back in again.
A minor complaint though. I was at no point bored, and if the goal is entertainment then the story did its job. And like a good film, where I chew on the details and pick out different flavours for days afterwards, I finished it last night and woke up this morning and thoughts and theories about it began stewing in my head. In fact, I think I need to go have coffee with one of my friends who's read it so we can talk it out for a while. And I can't say there's been a book in a long time that has made me want to do that.
(As an aside, I've worked out what makes his characters so great and yet so horrifying actually. They're us - normal, generally well meaning people, except where we get annoyed or hurt and wish something horrible would happen to the person we see as responsible, Parker's characters actually go out of their way to calmly make the horrible things happen, and then they don't feel all that sorry about it afterwards.)
But on the other hand, I think I was a tiny bit... not disappointed; maybe dissatisfied in the end. Like a meal you're anticipating being great, but when it's done you don't feel as full as you thought you were going to. Perhaps it was a writing experiment. Like I said, I enjoyed it immensely. But the story introduced characters and concepts (like the wild cards) that it later left and never really came back to. They were there, in the background, but I think I would have liked to see them consciously and deliberately tie back in again.
A minor complaint though. I was at no point bored, and if the goal is entertainment then the story did its job. And like a good film, where I chew on the details and pick out different flavours for days afterwards, I finished it last night and woke up this morning and thoughts and theories about it began stewing in my head. In fact, I think I need to go have coffee with one of my friends who's read it so we can talk it out for a while. And I can't say there's been a book in a long time that has made me want to do that.
July 23, 2019
Es una valoración de la serie (que por cierto no tengo claro si termina en este volumen). La historia se publico por entregas y tiene una estructura imagino que deliberada, en la que cada entrega nos cuenta un pedazo de la historia centrado en un personaje. Habitualmente la siguiente entrega retoma la narración on otro personajae que se ha relacionado de algún modo con el anterior. En ocasiones los personajes anteriores vuelven a aparecer. Imagino que en la idea del autor cada entrega es una carta en una especie de tirada de tarot, dada la importancia de este elemento en la narración. Poco a poco vamos situandonos en una gran historia de guerra entre las dos mitades de un imperio dividido (¿He oido Roma y Bizancio?) con dos generales hermanos enfrentados y una tercera facción, una sociedad secreta trasunto de la masonería, cuyos líderes y fines son desconocidos.
Por desgracia este gran concepto naufraga y asistimos una y otra vez a la repetición de los mismos tenmas. Interminables viajes y paradas en posadas y pueblos que sufren los desastres de la guerra para realizar misiones cuyo fin es oscuro realizados por distintos emparejamientos de personajes. Muchos de ellos solo aportan un pequeño trazo al gran lienzo. Al final (yo creo que consciente de la limitación del esquema) opta el autor por centrarse en un personaje y no soltarlo a través de los interminables recovecos con lo que pretende cerrar una trama que, como Lost, se ha perdido en sus propios meandros.
Por desgracia este gran concepto naufraga y asistimos una y otra vez a la repetición de los mismos tenmas. Interminables viajes y paradas en posadas y pueblos que sufren los desastres de la guerra para realizar misiones cuyo fin es oscuro realizados por distintos emparejamientos de personajes. Muchos de ellos solo aportan un pequeño trazo al gran lienzo. Al final (yo creo que consciente de la limitación del esquema) opta el autor por centrarse en un personaje y no soltarlo a través de los interminables recovecos con lo que pretende cerrar una trama que, como Lost, se ha perdido en sus propios meandros.
March 28, 2024
The trilogy ends, even if the story doesn't really. The ending is really just a beginning, a resetting of the entire board. This third novel drops the story-telling convention of the first two and instead just follows Telamon the entire time. It is fascinating how she ends up as your favorite character, despite all the objectively horrible things she's done and the vague psychopathic ways she justifies them. And yet, she remains a deeply empathizable character and, really, the only character who I would have been content to have to follow for an entire novel (probably, though I give Parker a lot of credit for how interesting he can make almost anything). This series, in many ways, reminds of a grimdark version of the fantastic (but also very weird) Commonweal series by Graydon Saunders. Both are very concerned with the low-level mechanisms of societies and power. Parker is more interested in how these systems can be used to subvert themselves and the associated death and destruction that goes along with that, whereas Saunders is much more optimistic. But there are a lot of similarities.
This going to end up slotting in at number 6 on my list of best fantasy trilogies, right behind K.S. Villoso's Chronicles of the Wolf Queen.
This going to end up slotting in at number 6 on my list of best fantasy trilogies, right behind K.S. Villoso's Chronicles of the Wolf Queen.
February 13, 2021
The political maneuverings of the Song of Ice and Fire series are personal -- conniving, familial, vindictive -- and familiar enough in readers thinking of political fantasy to set an expectation. Important to grasp here is how impersonal the machinations of the Two of Sword series appear in contrast, particularly in this final volume, and how truer this feels to those at the mercy of power. Wars between the East and West (each army led by a brother, Senza and Forza, respectively) turn on a slow, grand scale -- until, as the saying goes, they happen all at once -- but where Ice & Fire uses the drama of interpersonal relationships to give the grand its scale, Parker does the reverse: the epic scale of the conflict shows how petty the brothers have become, how minuscule they see the lives of others as told through those lives -- how, as one of the brothers notes, like a competitive chess game it has all become. The series is full of fine, in places beautiful, writing: it is witty, insightful, emotional, clever, and rich with character and gesture. I wonder if better worldbuilding has been done. At the end of Two of Swords, I want nothing more than to jump into another novel by this author, and make sure I never miss another.
December 29, 2017
Disclosure: I received this series free from Orbit. They didn't ask for a review, or anything, actually, but there you are.
Final novel of the trilogy. Unlike the previous two, which skipped characters every chapter, this is written in several long parts, each of which is focused on one of the central characters, Telamon. To make up for this, she gets about all over both of the Empires and Blemya, so that's all right.
Finally we get to the bottom of the various brotherly relationships, the cause of the war, and what has been the driving force behind the war which has essentially destroyed the known world. There's no happy endings to be had here, but there is an ending, and a satisfying one at that, which is a bit of an achievement.
Reading Parker always gives me the impression that there is a lot more going on than is immediately apparent - especially the way in which place names and vignettes are thrown in; one of these days I am going to go through his canon and sort out to my own satisfaction if there is one consistent world or not, but for now, the hints are enough to keep my fascinated.
Final novel of the trilogy. Unlike the previous two, which skipped characters every chapter, this is written in several long parts, each of which is focused on one of the central characters, Telamon. To make up for this, she gets about all over both of the Empires and Blemya, so that's all right.
Finally we get to the bottom of the various brotherly relationships, the cause of the war, and what has been the driving force behind the war which has essentially destroyed the known world. There's no happy endings to be had here, but there is an ending, and a satisfying one at that, which is a bit of an achievement.
Reading Parker always gives me the impression that there is a lot more going on than is immediately apparent - especially the way in which place names and vignettes are thrown in; one of these days I am going to go through his canon and sort out to my own satisfaction if there is one consistent world or not, but for now, the hints are enough to keep my fascinated.
March 10, 2022
Over the course of the two weeks during which I read Two of Swords, I've come to realize this trilogy has become so formative for practically everything I've come to enjoy and think about ever since, that it now holds the Second Place in my glorious list of fantashit fiction I've read, right next to Acts of Caine. Which makes it even weirder, for they have absolutely nothing in common.
This one is frankly amazing. It's a serialized novel, each "chapter" is rather long and has a different PoV character (except during the last third) and the story explores pretty much every part of imperial society during a devastating civil war that seems to never end. It covers... practically everything. From war to music, from secret societies to brotherly rivalries, from tarot reading to pornography jokes. It's so elaborative and thoroughly detailed, its scope so vast and layered, its atmosphere so morbidly hilarious and depressing at the same time, that you'll never realize the whole thing has been a love story in disguise. Utterly brilliant.
This one is frankly amazing. It's a serialized novel, each "chapter" is rather long and has a different PoV character (except during the last third) and the story explores pretty much every part of imperial society during a devastating civil war that seems to never end. It covers... practically everything. From war to music, from secret societies to brotherly rivalries, from tarot reading to pornography jokes. It's so elaborative and thoroughly detailed, its scope so vast and layered, its atmosphere so morbidly hilarious and depressing at the same time, that you'll never realize the whole thing has been a love story in disguise. Utterly brilliant.
October 31, 2022
This a fantastically giant fantasy series.
All three volumes combining into an a tale of epic scope rivalling the greats of fantasy.
Two is the theme of this story.
It begins with two brothers who are both brilliant generals and really, REALLY hate each other.
Each fighting for the other side as the Empire splits apart (two again)
Grinding entire armies to hamburger in a series of increasingly bloody battles in attempts to kill each other.
Battles so terrible that the countries are bankrupted, everyone of fighting age is dead, and all the farm land is razed.
Urging the brothers on are two factions of the Lodge. A secret Mason-esque society that has been controlling the world from the shadows.
The last act of the saga features two(see? see what Parker did?) brothers who again hate each other but it turns out they are the last heirs to the Empire once the Lodge manages to kill the Emperors on the thrones.
Epically long. Involved and filled with a depth of plot that is only second to Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time.
Brilliant, as K. J. Parker always is.
All three volumes combining into an a tale of epic scope rivalling the greats of fantasy.
Two is the theme of this story.
It begins with two brothers who are both brilliant generals and really, REALLY hate each other.
Each fighting for the other side as the Empire splits apart (two again)
Grinding entire armies to hamburger in a series of increasingly bloody battles in attempts to kill each other.
Battles so terrible that the countries are bankrupted, everyone of fighting age is dead, and all the farm land is razed.
Urging the brothers on are two factions of the Lodge. A secret Mason-esque society that has been controlling the world from the shadows.
The last act of the saga features two(see? see what Parker did?) brothers who again hate each other but it turns out they are the last heirs to the Empire once the Lodge manages to kill the Emperors on the thrones.
Epically long. Involved and filled with a depth of plot that is only second to Robert Jordan's Wheel Of Time.
Brilliant, as K. J. Parker always is.
June 20, 2022
It's a serial and book 1 absolutely does not stand on its own
There are a million POVs (and most of them are clueless about what's going on)
The intrigue only starts to materialize after you carefully assemble the puzzle pieces you have been handed (or as you read book 3, which answers most questions)
Sympathizing is dangerous, because Parker is probably more ruthless than GRR Martin when it comes to downsizing his cast
The vast majority of the characters are clever, bitter, eremitic men - however, the onle recurring character who gets POVs in every book (and even hogs nearly the entirety of the third novel) is a woman who is secretly the best assassin in the whole world, Telamon
If you are looking for moments like "aww friendship" or "aww they're in love"? Wrong book
You can, however root and cheer for Telamon. She's great
This series is for you if you like riddles, secret societies, nightmarish bureaucracy and cardboard dry wit.
There are a million POVs (and most of them are clueless about what's going on)
The intrigue only starts to materialize after you carefully assemble the puzzle pieces you have been handed (or as you read book 3, which answers most questions)
Sympathizing is dangerous, because Parker is probably more ruthless than GRR Martin when it comes to downsizing his cast
The vast majority of the characters are clever, bitter, eremitic men - however, the onle recurring character who gets POVs in every book (and even hogs nearly the entirety of the third novel) is a woman who is secretly the best assassin in the whole world, Telamon
If you are looking for moments like "aww friendship" or "aww they're in love"? Wrong book
You can, however root and cheer for Telamon. She's great
This series is for you if you like riddles, secret societies, nightmarish bureaucracy and cardboard dry wit.
June 24, 2019
So disappointing compared to the first two books. Instead of multiple characters POV, we get a book-long story from one of the better characters from the previous books, Telamon. And while I liked her, I wanted more of a splintered approach. It was the way the author chose to write it, but it didn't work for me.
There were also many, many plot threads left unexamined and unexplained. It might have been difficult or even pointless from the author's choices to go back to them, but it left me cold.
Really, it felt like Parker wrote themself into a box and didn't know how to finish it satisfactorily so just did it how they did it. Which is fine of course, but it didn't live up to the previous books.
There were also many, many plot threads left unexamined and unexplained. It might have been difficult or even pointless from the author's choices to go back to them, but it left me cold.
Really, it felt like Parker wrote themself into a box and didn't know how to finish it satisfactorily so just did it how they did it. Which is fine of course, but it didn't live up to the previous books.
August 4, 2019
Well, here we are.
It turns out that Volume Two does hint to the greater scheme behind all this.
Where Volume One used numbered chapters, and Volume Two named ones, Volume Three uses parts. Still not sure why this is. Have not come across anything like this before.
Again, the story and characters take you on a journey across this torn empire. Telamon was already a favorite, as was Musen, and they both feature in this final part.
I do not want to spoil the beans here, but although I liked the ending, I had kind of expected something more spectacular. Not that I didn't like it, I just thought it would end differently.
Anyway, had a great time reading this trilogy. Parker might be a writer I am going to check out some more.
It turns out that Volume Two does hint to the greater scheme behind all this.
Where Volume One used numbered chapters, and Volume Two named ones, Volume Three uses parts. Still not sure why this is. Have not come across anything like this before.
Again, the story and characters take you on a journey across this torn empire. Telamon was already a favorite, as was Musen, and they both feature in this final part.
I do not want to spoil the beans here, but although I liked the ending, I had kind of expected something more spectacular. Not that I didn't like it, I just thought it would end differently.
Anyway, had a great time reading this trilogy. Parker might be a writer I am going to check out some more.
September 10, 2018
Man, this book was so close to a five star rating. I had very few gripes with this book. One of them is that it only has one POV character throughout the whole book. I felt like I was missing out on some plot elements through this. Also I mentioned it in the previous review, but to see characters talk for four or five paragraphs gets a little tedious. These flaws aside this book was outstanding, I don't think I've read a whole book this quickly since college. Everything concluded in a satisfying way and I'm looking forward in reading more of Parker's stories. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.
March 23, 2019
Two of Swords volume 3 is the final book in this series. It brings together parts 16-19 of the e-novellas. The story continues with the political intrigue between Oida, Telamon and the Lodge. As with the previous volumes, Parker deftly weaves together the various plot strands with consummate skill.
Characters develop throughout the story and face the consequences of their action or lack of action. A series that definitely needs a huge amount of perseverance but the reward at the end is a truly brilliant book and series.
Characters develop throughout the story and face the consequences of their action or lack of action. A series that definitely needs a huge amount of perseverance but the reward at the end is a truly brilliant book and series.
June 7, 2020
Overall the trilogy was just okay. There seems to be a trend in the books I'm reading these days in that we are asked to accept characters that appear to be savants. The protagonist is alleged to be this world class assassin but doesn't seem to poses a level of, "I don't give a crap about humanity" to make it work. It's more like she is an accidental assassin who's reputation is larger than reality, I could accept that if that was how the story was told but it was sold that we should expect her to be the best and she wasn't even the best assassin in the story.
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