Synopsis
Two continents at war: the Three Kingdoms and Ishara have been in conflict for a thousand years. But when an outside threat arises–the reawakening of a powerful ancient race that wants to remake the world–the two warring nations must somehow set aside generations of hatred to form an alliance against a far more deadly enemy.
Review
Gods and Dragons is book 3 and the final release in Kevin J. Anderson’s epic fantasy series Wake the Dragon (my reviews of the first two books can be found at the following links: Spine of the Dragon, Vengewar). While those reviews were short of glowing, I felt the need to continue with the series because I thought there was potential for a great ending. I wanted to see the storylines play out, hopeful for a fantastic finish; and, while I would not necessarily describe it as “fantastic”, it ended up being pretty good.
The best aspect of this book was the Big battle. Most epic fantasy books have a scene like it, and Gods and Dragons is no different; everything has been leading up to this moment. It was Anderson’s long game play, and the author managed to pull it off. Mages, humans with special powers (Bravas), ancient beings, and dragons all clash in a winner-take-all battle royale… but do they? The other piece of the narrative that I think the author did a great job of adding in shades of gray. My favorite types of stories are ones where nothing is black and white. You are going to have to read the book for yourself to find out how things turn out.
One other thing I think I have not mentioned yet is how cool the covers are in this series. The art work for all three books is really amazing, and that alone makes them shelf worthy.
As this series has continued it has gotten better and better, in my opinion. I went from feeling like the first book was not my cup of tea, to being impressed at where the third book ended up. I definitely think fans of Anderson’s other works will probably enjoy this series, and if you are the type of fantasy fan who likes their fantasy slow and steady with a long build up I think you might, as well.
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