Review: Idols Fall (The Iconoclasts #3) by Mike Shel

MY ⭐️ RATING: 4.5/5

FORMAT: Kindle Whispersync

BOOK DESCRIPTION

“AT LONG LAST, EVEN GODS WILL KNOW REGRET…”

Agnes Manteo now bears her father’s sentient Djao sword, along with a terrible revelation—the gods are charlatans, ancient sorcerers who draw their strength from the suffering of humanity. She and her Syraeic companions have but a single duty: to track down those pretenders and end their reign of cruelty and lies. To that end, the magical blade—mighty, single-minded Szaa’da’shaela—won’t allow the slightest waver of their commitment.
But the empire is a bubbling cauldron of turmoil with the sudden passing of its undying queen. Nobles clash and threaten civil war, murderous barbarians mass on the frontier in preparation for a bloody invasion, and all feel the aching void left by the clergy, whose temples were consumed by a great fire. How can the empire survive should Agnes succeed in tearing away its very foundations?
And if she fails? What might sorcerers with nearly godlike powers do to exact their revenge?

MY REVIEW

One thing I wished the author had done was give us a “story so far” section to get us caught back before starting the final book. Simon Vance is back narrating and puts on an amazing performance! Stay tuned at the end of the audio for the short story, The Final Word.

Aching God had a very Kings of the Wyld feel to it, and Sun Eater distanced itself by introducing multiple POV’s. In the third and final installment of The Iconoclasts, Idols Fall, the author gave us more POV’s as well as giving us more political intrigue with a bigger story as the Endless Queen is now dead. With the Endless Queen dead, a new Queen rises and must defend the throne from others trying to take it. We also go back to the creepy Barrowlands as Agnes, who is now wielding her fathers Djao sword, Szaa’da’shaela, and her Syraeic crew seek vengeance and destroy all the false deities that call themselves gods.

“history remembers its iconoclasts, but not always fondly.”

This was a truly amazing way to finish this series out. World building and settings were fantastic, Mike really builds us a fantastic world in Hanifax that his characters explore, whether that’s in The Barrowlands searching for the false gods, or in Beyenfort with a gruesome battle. Mike also did a great job in giving us a dozen characters with a lot of depth, Agnes is easily my favorite, although I do miss her father Auric. With as dark as this is, Mike did a great job of breaking it up with great banter between the characters, I laughed so many times and some of the stuff said. Couldn’t ask for a better way to finish this series than the way Mike Shel did. There’s also a few scenes that gave me literal goosebumps! This has sealed itself as one of my favorite reads of the year, and I’m glad I waited for the audio because it is 100% worth it!