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willrefuge's review against another edition
5.0
https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/06/10/the-flames-of-anuskaya-by-bradley-p-beaulieu-review/
Two years after the events at the Straits of Galahesh, Nasim is still missing from the world. Atiana and Nikandr, as well as Soroush and Ashan, continue their search, but only Nikandr seems to have any real hope of finding his friend alive.
Meanwhile, the war has moved to the continent. The Grand Duchy’s gains following their victory at the Straits have been all but lost, yet they continue their assault, desperate to keep Yrstanla from gaining the advantage. But with their troops overextended and supplies dwindling, it looks to be only a matter of time before the Empire pushes back. Worse, the wasting that continues to ravage the islands has spread to the continent, now threatening the safety of all peoples. Because of this the Dukes seek to treat with the Haelish—a savage people that inhabit the continent’s western reaches—hoping an alliance will finish the war once and for all.
Yet Nikandr and his allies know that the only path forward involves Nasim, Kaleh, and the Atalayina stone—a combination they hope can heal the world. But with the wasting ravaging the known world, and the war spreading, it seems like the end of everything might be inevitable. The only way to prevent such lies with the ancient land of the Kohori—and with the Flames of Shadam Khoreh.
—
They lived at the very edge of Adhiya itself, preserving themselves since the day they were buried. They were strong and bright, these flames of Shadam Khoreh. They sacrificed themselves that the world might one day recover from the days of the sundering.
—
After two books gazing longingly at the amount of untapped potential of the continent, I never would’ve guessed that I’d’ve fancied a return to the islands of the Grand Duchy. In my opinion, that was the only thing holding this story back from perfection.
With rich and immersive world-building, the Lays of Anuskaya is really a world the reader can get lost in. The issue up until now has been paying attention to the story long enough to see it through. While the first entry struggled to maintain my attention, and the second did a nominally better job, I found this less of a problem come the third book. The fate of the world, the war lapping at the edges, the wasting widespread and everyone at each other’s throats; the plot finally has enough going for it to remain coherent through to the end.
The setting was never an issue for me, but where the islands could deliver a succinct, almost claustrophobic experience, punctuated by leagues of open ocean—the continent falters in not being populated enough, confined enough. The immersion of the world is broken by transitions through swaths of open land. These periods are mostly covered by introspection or conversation, but were still a hiccup from the world-building to this point.
Luckily the story itself is there to pick up the slack.
Honestly, I didn’t expect to get so invested in the story. For the first two books in the series, this just wasn’t the case. It was the environment, the setting that drank me in—not the story. But for the Flames, I lost great chunks of time to both the story AND the setting. Not only was I lost exploring the world, but I was also writing myself into the story. Some good books do one or the other, some great books can manage both. I’ve been wanting to wrap this series up for years; I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much when I did.
TL;DR
The final installment in the Lays of Anuskaya, the Flames of Shadam Khoreh delivers in a big, big, and honestly unexpected way. I’ve been wanting to get this one out of the way for years, close another series out—but I didn’t expect to enjoy it quite so much. With the first two entries in the series, I was awed by the world-building, but somewhat torn on the story. But the Flames delivers on both: a surprisingly interesting and immersive story set in a rich and vivid world. As a series, the Lays of Anuskaya is up and down—a so-so start that gets better as the world is drawn in around it. I honestly think it would benefit being a bit more drawn out as a series, as the slow-burn catches up all at once, ad there’s not enough time to enjoy the completion of it all. I’d… probably recommend this for fans of slow, dense-world fantasy, steampunk-curious, people that like to get lost in the world (rather than necessarily the story itself). But otherwise, try the Shattered Sands—same great world-building, better, longer story.
kanissa's review against another edition
4.0
Debated between 4 and 5 stars for this one. It seemed like a fitting finish to the series, although for some reason I found the ending to be a bit of a letdown.
I truly like most of the characters in this series, even the ones who are a bit unlikable. I wish there had a been more development to the mental anguish Nikandr and Atiana suffered from their experience with the aether (the forced disconnect for Nikandr after he lost his bond with the hezhan, and Atiana's withdrawals once she could no longer take the dark).
Despite that, the story and the characters' quests remain interesting and are well-developed. I never got bored with the story. And despite the ending feeling unfulfilling for me - I'm not even sure why - most of the story lines get tied off well.
As with the other books, I thought this was an interesting and well-developed world, pulling inspiration from somewhat-unusual sources. It felt fresh and new and unlike so many other novels.
I truly like most of the characters in this series, even the ones who are a bit unlikable. I wish there had a been more development to the mental anguish Nikandr and Atiana suffered from their experience with the aether (the forced disconnect for Nikandr after he lost his bond with the hezhan, and Atiana's withdrawals once she could no longer take the dark).
Despite that, the story and the characters' quests remain interesting and are well-developed. I never got bored with the story. And despite the ending feeling unfulfilling for me - I'm not even sure why - most of the story lines get tied off well.
As with the other books, I thought this was an interesting and well-developed world, pulling inspiration from somewhat-unusual sources. It felt fresh and new and unlike so many other novels.
dragontomes2000's review against another edition
5.0
Now that was a great finale for the entire trilogy. This book impressed me so much. It improved on every aspect I had a problem with from the first two books whether it be a pacing issue or too complicated to follow. This book was very well paced and since we had two other books beforehand the foundation was laid out for us. Nikandr, Atiana, and Nasim are front and center once again. However Styophan makes his lead debut after being a side character. I wasn't quite sure if Styophan's transition from side to lead would have worked so late into the game but the author set up a great foundation for him right away to give his arc some meaning. The story all together tied up everything quite nicely. I don't feel like I have any unanswered questions nor am I feeling unfulfilled.
I am so glad I decided to pick this series up right away before jumping into this author's current ongoing series. I think it really help me see whether or not he has evolved as a writer.
The Winds of Khalakovo-4/5
The Straits of Galahesh-4/5
The Flames of Shadam Khoreh-5/5
The Lays of Anuskaya-13/15
I am so glad I decided to pick this series up right away before jumping into this author's current ongoing series. I think it really help me see whether or not he has evolved as a writer.
The Winds of Khalakovo-4/5
The Straits of Galahesh-4/5
The Flames of Shadam Khoreh-5/5
The Lays of Anuskaya-13/15
kittyg's review against another edition
3.0
This is the final book in the series and I definitely liked how everything was wrapped up. I like the complexity of this world, I also dislike the complexity. The reasoning for this double standard? Becuase it makes this a tough series to get into and one which I doubt many will enjoy. However, if you do manage to wrap your head around it I think that this is a series which you might enjoy and I certainly liked this one (probably the most).
In this story we follow our three main characters from the previous book, Nasim, Atiana and Nikandr. We know that they have long been on a quest to try and save the world from an evil woman who seems intent on trying to destroy it. Together they have already achieved some of their aim, but in this book they need to finish it all and fight for the final time.
The start of this book is all about Nasim being under the influence of another player. This person he travels with has the ability to control him via mind, and so he's not necessarily achieving what he wants to, and he's in a tricky situation of foggy thought for a lot of the start.
Nikandr and Atiana manage to be together for a fair amount of this book, but as we go on we see the pressure begin to test and fracture them at various points. I like them both, but Atiana has long been my favourite of the two.
On the whole I felt like this was a good ending, but it wasn't anything mind blowing. I did get surprised by how Beaulieu chose to end it, but it wasn't something I've never seen before, just done in his own way. 3.5* series overall, very likeable, but complex too.
In this story we follow our three main characters from the previous book, Nasim, Atiana and Nikandr. We know that they have long been on a quest to try and save the world from an evil woman who seems intent on trying to destroy it. Together they have already achieved some of their aim, but in this book they need to finish it all and fight for the final time.
The start of this book is all about Nasim being under the influence of another player. This person he travels with has the ability to control him via mind, and so he's not necessarily achieving what he wants to, and he's in a tricky situation of foggy thought for a lot of the start.
Nikandr and Atiana manage to be together for a fair amount of this book, but as we go on we see the pressure begin to test and fracture them at various points. I like them both, but Atiana has long been my favourite of the two.
On the whole I felt like this was a good ending, but it wasn't anything mind blowing. I did get surprised by how Beaulieu chose to end it, but it wasn't something I've never seen before, just done in his own way. 3.5* series overall, very likeable, but complex too.
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