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devirtualized's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Gore, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and War
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Rape, Animal death, Grief, Torture, and Slavery
Minor: Sexual content
cornflower's review
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this whole series, and how the characters developed and reacted. Four stars for this 3rd book because I felt that some of the threads were straightened out and tied off a bit too smoothly and easily.
Looking forward to whatever she writes next.
Looking forward to whatever she writes next.
books17's review
4.0
So good. A very satisfying end to a great trilogy - and a great new talent. I definitely didn't cry.
I look forward to further novels from Jo Spurrier.
I look forward to further novels from Jo Spurrier.
eecee's review
4.0
This review is informed by having finished all the series, but I'll just repeat the review in each one.
Overall I'm glad to have read to the end of the third book, I thought the story was worthwhile and well done, the character development definitely improved over the series, and the magic system was pretty original (I would really like to read a series set later in time that explored the magic a lot more).
Warning for spoilers ahead.
Characters:
Sierra – did we ever really get to know her? Motivations were often a little unclear and seemed more to suit the plot than actually fit her character, and her character moved further and further from the limelight as the series continued. The character development was limited in a way because the reader never really got to know much about any of the characters. While avoiding info-dumping is important, I really wish I could have got a sense of each character’s back story fairly early in the book, because I was still trying to piece together exactly where everyone was from and how they fit together halfway through the third book. Having said that, Rasten's character arc was fantastic and the characterisation of his mental state mostly very believable.
Magic system:
Totally lacking in clarity! A bit like characters – there was an info dump on how magic worked somewhere in I think the third book. This should have been somewhere near the start of the first because it was never completely clear til then. The reader needs to understand the system so it’s not a distraction wondering if you understand it yet.
Torture:
Torture was a central theme of the book. Questionable whether it was perhaps too much, too often. Was it really believable? Especially, is it believable that anyone can put up with that much? The author does a fairly good job of showing the post-traumatic injury done to everyone by the torture, especially in the second and third books. But is it realistic?
Slavery:
I could just about cope with the torture scenes, but the whole depiction of slavery was a bit too much – made me want to throw the book against the room. I don't really enjoy slogging through those 'how much awful can we put the character through before they rise in triumph on the other side' type books (although the redeeming feature here I guess is the lack of rising in triumph...)
I didn't really find the behaviour of the ‘slavers’ group that believable. It felt at times like the author had read the worst accounts of child abuse, torture and slavery and decided that in societies where these things happened, they must happen in their worst form, all the time, to everyone. Real people and societies are much more varied, their motivations and personal convictions clash. I didn’t feel this came through well in the first book in particular.
Disability, acquired injury, trauma:
The way the author deals with the mental and physical trauma and disability acquired through a traumatic incident seems good (although speaking from limited experience or research). At least she doesn’t have them get over it and get better, and especially not within an unrealistic timeframe. Because it’s such a trope of fantasy books, I kind of expected Sierra’s power would actually turn out to be a power to heal, so it was nice to be surprised here (even though her power was never really well explained).
Relationships and romance:
I liked the diversity of relationships, and especially a whole culture where monogamous relationships were not the norm (although it was never quite explained how the family system worked). The development of relationships between the characters, whether romantic or not, was one of the best bits of character development in the books and one of my favourite parts of the books.
Overall I'm glad to have read to the end of the third book, I thought the story was worthwhile and well done, the character development definitely improved over the series, and the magic system was pretty original (I would really like to read a series set later in time that explored the magic a lot more).
Warning for spoilers ahead.
Characters:
Sierra – did we ever really get to know her? Motivations were often a little unclear and seemed more to suit the plot than actually fit her character, and her character moved further and further from the limelight as the series continued. The character development was limited in a way because the reader never really got to know much about any of the characters. While avoiding info-dumping is important, I really wish I could have got a sense of each character’s back story fairly early in the book, because I was still trying to piece together exactly where everyone was from and how they fit together halfway through the third book. Having said that, Rasten's character arc was fantastic and the characterisation of his mental state mostly very believable.
Magic system:
Totally lacking in clarity! A bit like characters – there was an info dump on how magic worked somewhere in I think the third book. This should have been somewhere near the start of the first because it was never completely clear til then. The reader needs to understand the system so it’s not a distraction wondering if you understand it yet.
Torture:
Torture was a central theme of the book. Questionable whether it was perhaps too much, too often. Was it really believable? Especially, is it believable that anyone can put up with that much? The author does a fairly good job of showing the post-traumatic injury done to everyone by the torture, especially in the second and third books. But is it realistic?
Slavery:
I could just about cope with the torture scenes, but the whole depiction of slavery was a bit too much – made me want to throw the book against the room. I don't really enjoy slogging through those 'how much awful can we put the character through before they rise in triumph on the other side' type books (although the redeeming feature here I guess is the lack of rising in triumph...)
I didn't really find the behaviour of the ‘slavers’ group that believable. It felt at times like the author had read the worst accounts of child abuse, torture and slavery and decided that in societies where these things happened, they must happen in their worst form, all the time, to everyone. Real people and societies are much more varied, their motivations and personal convictions clash. I didn’t feel this came through well in the first book in particular.
Disability, acquired injury, trauma:
The way the author deals with the mental and physical trauma and disability acquired through a traumatic incident seems good (although speaking from limited experience or research). At least she doesn’t have them get over it and get better, and especially not within an unrealistic timeframe. Because it’s such a trope of fantasy books, I kind of expected Sierra’s power would actually turn out to be a power to heal, so it was nice to be surprised here (even though her power was never really well explained).
Relationships and romance:
I liked the diversity of relationships, and especially a whole culture where monogamous relationships were not the norm (although it was never quite explained how the family system worked). The development of relationships between the characters, whether romantic or not, was one of the best bits of character development in the books and one of my favourite parts of the books.
thiefofcamorr's review
Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
courtlytea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I held the first two books in this series in high regard. I have to admit the final book fell markedly from the standard of its predecessors and I was pretty dissatisfied with it after being so invested in the story and characters.
Between fight scenes, the plot dragged through inner monologues that reprocess the characters' same woes ad nauseum, and repetitive arguments between characters that never progress toward any resolution. Isidro's desertion by Sierra. Delphine's rejection by Isidro. Delphine sitting around 'being pregnant' (my pet peeve in the genre). Cam and Isidro's debates about Rasten's morality. Cam's hypocritical comfort of Isidro brooding over his initiation to the Blood Path. It got so tedious I started skimming paragraphs and skipping pages.
Meanwhile, we are only given glimpses of the most fascinating character's development from brainwashed villain to Byronic hero.
Between fight scenes, the plot dragged through inner monologues that reprocess the characters' same woes ad nauseum, and repetitive arguments between characters that never progress toward any resolution. Isidro's desertion by Sierra. Delphine's rejection by Isidro. Delphine sitting around 'being pregnant' (my pet peeve in the genre). Cam and Isidro's debates about Rasten's morality. Cam's hypocritical comfort of Isidro brooding over his initiation to the Blood Path. It got so tedious I started skimming paragraphs and skipping pages.
Meanwhile, we are only given glimpses of the most fascinating character's development from brainwashed villain to Byronic hero.
The relationship dynamics began to baffle me. Virtually no reasons are given for characters' relationship choices as they change capriciously from chapter to chapter, and the words the characters speak to each other count for nothing. Isidro both loses interest in Sierra and completely blanks Delphine, who is carrying his child, even after he recovers from his blood loss. In book 2 it was made clear that Sierra was only exploiting Rasten's love for her to kill Kell and return to Isidro, but here the story dismantles Sierra and Isidro's commitment, while depicting Rasten and Sierra's twisted bond as evolving into more. Rasten is established as the only one who understands Sierra and who can withstand her power during intimacy, and he embarks upon a path of redemption that sees him reform into an attractively sympathetic antihero worthy of her love. Despite all this Sierra ceases her passionate intimacy with him with cold finality.
Next, Cam proposes to Sierra to marry into a polygamous family. He claims that he and his partner Mira were discussing it in the Spire – strange considering Sierra's last interaction with them there resulted in her inadvertently draining their life force, risking their lives and causing them great distress. Isidro's feelings for Sierra had soured at that point so it was also hard to see how a family consisting of Cam, Mira, Sierra, Isidro and Delphine would work if only the first three desire each other. Combined with a toning down of the use of Blood Path rituals, the effect was a neutering of the searing passions and blood-pumping violence that made books 1 and 2 riveting.
Next, Cam proposes to Sierra to marry into a polygamous family. He claims that he and his partner Mira were discussing it in the Spire – strange considering Sierra's last interaction with them there resulted in her inadvertently draining their life force, risking their lives and causing them great distress. Isidro's feelings for Sierra had soured at that point so it was also hard to see how a family consisting of Cam, Mira, Sierra, Isidro and Delphine would work if only the first three desire each other. Combined with a toning down of the use of Blood Path rituals, the effect was a neutering of the searing passions and blood-pumping violence that made books 1 and 2 riveting.
My frustration built as Sierra seemingly forms a harem of thralls – men she's slept with a handful of times and then discarded from her furs, who remain devoted to her and ready to drop anything to sacrifice themselves for her safety long after she's withdrawn intimacy from them. She plays them shamelessly, disinterested in clarifying her boundaries with any of them. When Rasten is suicidal Sierra cups his face begging him to stay for her, telling him she needs him because he is the only one who truly understands her, and that Isidro is out of the picture and barely talking to her. Two chapters later Sierra and Isidro confess their enduring love for one another, giving Rasten the flick again. It really made a mockery of the male characters' intelligence and devalued the emotional intimacy Sierra shares with them.
As it grew in complexity the magic system lost internal consistency. I felt like every time I began to understand a new rule, it was later contradicted with no explanation.
Gutted as one of Rasten's sacrifices.
barbarahowe's review
4.0
4.5 stars. It had some weak spots, but overall a satisfying conclusion to a terrific series. See here for a review of the whole trilogy.