Synopsis
Scorio’s indomitable will is all that’s keeping him going.
For victory has been purchased at too high a cost. Haunted by the ghosts of friends and lovers fallen, he must rekindle the will to fight, unmask the monsters and manipulators who have deceived the Great Souls for centuries, and finally bring the answers to light.
Answers, he knows, which lie hidden in the depths of the legendary Lost Cube.
.
.
Review
Warning: This review has minor spoilers from earlier books. So, if you haven’t read the first three books, I highly recommend you read them first and thank me later! ;-/
.
From Bastion (Book #1), this has captured my interest and has quickly become an all time favourite and possibly my most favourite Progression Fantasy series along with Cradle. And this latest addition just continues the trend.
The plot picks up right after Book 3 with Scorio feeling the aftermath of his part in victory over Blood Ox. He’s still reeling from the absence of Naomi and questions himself, his objectives and way forward. It is phenomenal how the author manages to keep the character dynamics realistic without losing pace of takin g away from the plot. Old characters reexamine their relationships while new characters pop up adding to a ever shifting landscape in a wonderful and fascinating world.
Team Scorio or at least this book’s version of it continues their trek across Acherzua and bulk of the plot happens in Silver Unfathom, which offers its own challenges to the team. They eventually end up in the sociopolitical minefield of the region and have to dig their way out, sometimes even literally. Major plot points from previous books progress nicely while leaving us begging for more.
On the flip side, the book suffers from relatively lukewarm plot and feels like a build up for future books. I thought that some of the character arcs for both the main characters and their antagonists were tied up conveniently and could have been fleshed out better. There still was a lot of oomph and the epilogue rally indicates that that stakes will get exponentially greater in the next book. The minor gripes aside, this still was a phenomenal read and I’m as excited for the next book as I was after Book 1.
As I said earlier, this is a must read for anyone looking for a good Prog Fantasy.
Highly recommended!
Leave a Reply