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MY ⭐️ RATING: 5/5
Format: Kindle Whispersync
BOOK DESCRIPTION
THE ECHOES OF FATE WILL NOT BE FORGOTTEN. THE WORDS UTTERED A THOUSAND YEARS AGO WILL COME TO PASS, AND A NEW AGE WILL DAWN…
War is set to ravage Illian. The elves sail from the east. The savage Darkakin rise from the south. Valanis, the dark elf, is finally free of his prison and eager to see his work finished. Only then will he be free of the gods who still haunt him.
A new hope rises in The Red Mountains. There, the last remaining dragons have been discovered. Gideon and Galanör, human and elf, will have to work together if they are to convince Adriel, the last of the Dragorn order, to intervene in the coming war.
Devoid of hope and unsure what road to take, Asher and his companions must decide what role they will play as the realm unravels into bloodshed. The only weapon known to rival Valanis’ power is in a place the ranger has avoided for a long time, a place where, until now, neither man nor elf would dare to tread.
Civil war has shattered the empire in The Arid Lands as the slaves make their stand against the highborns. But, while revolution brews, a greater threat looms. As a thunderous cacophony of steel and savagery marches through The Undying Mountains, who will stand before this army of death…
MY REVIEW
What an absolute fantastic sequel this was. Quaintrell steps it up in every way, now that I’ve spoken to him, my ideas about Batman weren’t too far off since Daredevil is one of the things that inspired him, but I still can’t shake the influences of Batman. Especially with one of the new protagonists that’s introduced, and beautifully displayed on the cover, Tauren the son-of-none, The White Owl of the house of owls. If you know your Batman lore, then you know about the Court of Owls. The name is pretty much all they have in common because the House and its Owls reminds me a lot more of the Assassins from Assassin’s Creed, which I definitely found interesting and it made me a lot more interested in Tauren.
The characters get so much better and come with a lot more depth, Asher is still a clear favorite and watching his relationships grow with the other characters, especially Faylen is what I loved most. However, Gideon was someone I said was growing on me a lot in my review of Rise of the Ranger, and he is now just barely behind Asher as my favorite. To me, he has the most growth of all the characters and it’s what sets him apart from them and makes him so much more intriguing, especially his growing relationship with Ilargo. Tauren though might just be right behind both of them, he is such a cool character, along with looking really cool on the cover.
“When given a common cause, humans are capable of a great many things.”
Back to how this was such a fantastic read, just based on book 1 and now this, Quaintrell has grown hugely as an author, and that’s no slight to book 1 that got 4.75 from me. I can already tell that this series is going to challenge a lot of others that I thought were my favorites. There’s so much going on with how much the author has expanded the world and its history, learning more about the past, and what’s lead to this point, a secret history, and there’s even a bit of Greek lore that’s mixed into this, and almost made me think that the story could be inspired a bit by a certain Greek demigod. There is also a scene or two that felt like it was inspired by the movie 300, which also peaked my interest. I love when I see things like this, whether it’s actually inspired by or just my imagination taking control.
Lastly and certainly not least, even though this was just a little shorter than its predecessor, my goodness did Quaintrell pack an absolute punch of a great story with was some incredible action that had me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next. I can’t say how many times especially I said “well I can’t just stop here!” I absolutely regret pushing this series out of last year, but now I have all year to read the entirety of Quaintrell’s catalog! This story is immersive, it’s got grit and its intensity is ramped up to keep your eyes locked in for every moment. And of course, Steven Brand does such a great job with his narration bringing this story and characters to life.
Wolfmantula.com 