Scan barcode
tezzarudge's review
4.0
This was definitely a step up from the middle book of the series.
The characters arcs fleshed out quite nicely and the ending was well crafted and delivered .
Some of the pacing was a bit sticky for me at times and Sellan's journey and path dragged for me.
Lidan is the stand out character and the highlight of the book for me
The characters arcs fleshed out quite nicely and the ending was well crafted and delivered .
Some of the pacing was a bit sticky for me at times and Sellan's journey and path dragged for me.
Lidan is the stand out character and the highlight of the book for me
xel_ha's review
5.0
A wonderful closing for an amazing trilogy
I really liked these books, which were very entertaining.
This third installment gives an interesting closing to the story, which I was not fully expecting. Well done, and I'm hoping for more to come.
I really liked these books, which were very entertaining.
This third installment gives an interesting closing to the story, which I was not fully expecting. Well done, and I'm hoping for more to come.
kitvaria_sarene's review
4.0
A good conclusion to a fascinating series!
While Blood of Heirs started of a bit on the easier side and almost had a bit of a YA feel at times, the story gets continually darker all the way through.
So by book three we're definitely firmly in a dark fantasy setting, with enough grit and grim topics to feel like a rather bleak place, yet with a spark of hope.
I really enjoyed following the characters from almost naive teens to adults who have to make horrible but necessary decisions. The world isn't save, and you getter grow up fast. The character ARCs felt quite realistic, and I especially liked how traumatic events actually had long term effects and consequences. So often horrendous stuff happens and then it's shrugged off as if it was nothing.
We also get Sellan as a POV character, and I LOVED reading about her past, her motivations and her goals. I always like a "villain" I can understand a lot more than evil for evils sake.
That bit is also a main reason why I only give 4* - because the new enemy is definitely just awful because that's who they are. It felt a bit shallow and made the whole end feel a bit less gripping than I'd have expected from the set up.
Not a bad end by any means, but just not on par with how much I enjoyed everything up to the final showdown.
There's an epilogue that I don't know how I feel about, as I like the added mystery and twist, but it also feels a bit like an afterthought, than an "aha moment" seeded well through the story.
However I did love the main characters, and I definitely want more books that have loyalties, families, betrayal and friendship at their heart, and romance just as a small part of all the bigger picture and structures. I started to care a lot about all of these characters, and will be very sorry to not have them around longer, though the openness to the end definitely would allow for return appearances...
While Blood of Heirs started of a bit on the easier side and almost had a bit of a YA feel at times, the story gets continually darker all the way through.
So by book three we're definitely firmly in a dark fantasy setting, with enough grit and grim topics to feel like a rather bleak place, yet with a spark of hope.
I really enjoyed following the characters from almost naive teens to adults who have to make horrible but necessary decisions. The world isn't save, and you getter grow up fast. The character ARCs felt quite realistic, and I especially liked how traumatic events actually had long term effects and consequences. So often horrendous stuff happens and then it's shrugged off as if it was nothing.
We also get Sellan as a POV character, and I LOVED reading about her past, her motivations and her goals. I always like a "villain" I can understand a lot more than evil for evils sake.
That bit is also a main reason why I only give 4* - because the new enemy is definitely just awful because that's who they are. It felt a bit shallow and made the whole end feel a bit less gripping than I'd have expected from the set up.
Not a bad end by any means, but just not on par with how much I enjoyed everything up to the final showdown.
There's an epilogue that I don't know how I feel about, as I like the added mystery and twist, but it also feels a bit like an afterthought, than an "aha moment" seeded well through the story.
However I did love the main characters, and I definitely want more books that have loyalties, families, betrayal and friendship at their heart, and romance just as a small part of all the bigger picture and structures. I started to care a lot about all of these characters, and will be very sorry to not have them around longer, though the openness to the end definitely would allow for return appearances...
wdomingue's review
3.0
Lots of mixed feelings about the finale. Largely unsatisfied with many of the unfinished storylines and conveniences with the magic system. Still was worth my time and I'm happy I read the series, but a pretty example of a great start and premise that didn't quite stick the landing.
selinadragonair's review
3.0
If you have enjoyed the first two books, you will probably not be disappointed by the third.
While the prose is solid and the story leads to the promised finale, the small issues I had in the previous books continued to be more and more apparent (for me).
For example, characters keep discussing and guessing about things the reader already knows. Plotwise that's unnecessary, because it made me skip the boring dialogues. This is also the reason I found the story overall so predictable. Combined with the YA-ish touch of the book and the overexplaining it resulted in me not enjoying the book as much as I could.
I also lost touch to the main characters and I think Sels POV was the only interesting one.
Still, the author is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
While the prose is solid and the story leads to the promised finale, the small issues I had in the previous books continued to be more and more apparent (for me).
For example, characters keep discussing and guessing about things the reader already knows. Plotwise that's unnecessary, because it made me skip the boring dialogues. This is also the reason I found the story overall so predictable. Combined with the YA-ish touch of the book and the overexplaining it resulted in me not enjoying the book as much as I could.
I also lost touch to the main characters and I think Sels POV was the only interesting one.
Still, the author is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
dominish_books's review
4.5
* Thank you to the author, for providing a review copy of this book . You can find my full video review here: https://youtu.be/sw9xN1M01ws *
Empire of Shadows is the third and final instalment in Alicia Wanstall-Burke’s The Coraidic Sagas. Where everything started to pull together towards the end of book 2, here we follow on from the big reveal that threatens to tear Coraidin apart.
Not only are the lives of our characters in danger, but the stakes are well and truly raised with potentially world-changing consequences and an evil that we can now put a face to.
Having a tangible villain is something that I really appreciated in this book and we also get to see some of their history and some POV chapters where we properly get into their head.
For the characters overall, I felt that the growth in Lidan and Ran was great with some specific moments that you can point to as having created a shift in them. I also liked the additional depth that we get to Sellan here, as I felt that her character was a bit odd in the earlier books.
Iridia is another character that I liked, and I felt that she added a little something different to the story. Here we see a bit more to the character herself, and it’s very much a case of her becoming more real as she grows as a character.
We get to see more of the geography of the world here, including the Woadan Empire. As well as just the physical side of this, we also get a little of the history and the political make-up of the country, which was all well-handled.
There were a few bits that I was slightly disappointed in, some characters who fell away from the story where I would have liked to see their part of the tale closed down a bit more. There were also a couple of instances where a specific plot device was used where I would have preferred to see a different path taken.
Overall, I feel like this was a really good conclusion to the trilogy, and for the most part we had a satisfactory conclusion to most of the threads making up the story.
Empire of Shadows is the third and final instalment in Alicia Wanstall-Burke’s The Coraidic Sagas. Where everything started to pull together towards the end of book 2, here we follow on from the big reveal that threatens to tear Coraidin apart.
Not only are the lives of our characters in danger, but the stakes are well and truly raised with potentially world-changing consequences and an evil that we can now put a face to.
Having a tangible villain is something that I really appreciated in this book and we also get to see some of their history and some POV chapters where we properly get into their head.
For the characters overall, I felt that the growth in Lidan and Ran was great with some specific moments that you can point to as having created a shift in them. I also liked the additional depth that we get to Sellan here, as I felt that her character was a bit odd in the earlier books.
Iridia is another character that I liked, and I felt that she added a little something different to the story. Here we see a bit more to the character herself, and it’s very much a case of her becoming more real as she grows as a character.
We get to see more of the geography of the world here, including the Woadan Empire. As well as just the physical side of this, we also get a little of the history and the political make-up of the country, which was all well-handled.
There were a few bits that I was slightly disappointed in, some characters who fell away from the story where I would have liked to see their part of the tale closed down a bit more. There were also a couple of instances where a specific plot device was used where I would have preferred to see a different path taken.
Overall, I feel like this was a really good conclusion to the trilogy, and for the most part we had a satisfactory conclusion to most of the threads making up the story.
badmc's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
A conclusion to the series that caught me by surprise. An epic tale of retribution, family, and finding one's way in life amidst monsters, rigid expectations, and societal rules.
We follow a new character - Sellan, who was the most interesting POV. We also have a smattering of a character that comes back from dead, who could be completely omitted and make for a better story. Main characters are compelling, and each with their own agenda. It is nice that side characters also have their own agendas, and are not a mere prop of the main ones. Alas, side characters were mere suggestions in this book, and mostly blended into each other. Main antagonist is an irredimable monster, and the trauma Sellan underwent was at the time time over and under explained. There are also some instances of characters explaining things to the reader in their dialogue, which was a minor annoyance in previous books but really irked me here. Pacing was mostly fine, with a satisfying conclusion, but the travel parts felt extremely drawn out. The pantheon came as a surprise, because we didn't hear much about them in previous books, nor was there any foreshadowing, so it felt a bit tacked on.
All in all, I enjoyed the trilogy.
We follow a new character - Sellan, who was the most interesting POV. We also have a smattering of a character that comes back from dead, who could be completely omitted and make for a better story. Main characters are compelling, and each with their own agenda. It is nice that side characters also have their own agendas, and are not a mere prop of the main ones. Alas, side characters were mere suggestions in this book, and mostly blended into each other. Main antagonist is an irredimable monster, and the trauma Sellan underwent was at the time time over and under explained. There are also some instances of characters explaining things to the reader in their dialogue, which was a minor annoyance in previous books but really irked me here. Pacing was mostly fine, with a satisfying conclusion, but the travel parts felt extremely drawn out. The pantheon came as a surprise, because we didn't hear much about them in previous books, nor was there any foreshadowing, so it felt a bit tacked on.
All in all, I enjoyed the trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: War
Minor: Rape
More...