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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
I found the first book of the Empyrean Odyssey to be super interesting, and then they gradually tapered off in interest, imo. By the third book, all character development has plateaued, and the novel is mostly descriptions of battles. The relevant lore tie-ins felt like a second thought and weren't explored in a way that I found satisfying, which is a shame because these novels are supposed to cover the start of the spellplague and the end of the world tree cosmological model. The first novel is my favorite. There's a delightful cast of cambions, Banites, and devils. I also consider it the most homoerotic, and a woman experiences contemptuous envy for the attention her own unborn child receives.
An enjoyable, but long trodden end to the trilogy. There was a lot going on with the death of Mystra at the end of the last book, and the spell plague, and… a lot of other things. I feel like there were several other books about the death of the gods and subsequent impact that could have been briefly explained in this one. Because they weren’t, events suddenly ended and afflictions weirdly continued, all of which were present in a significant portion of the book. I was personally left feeling like a bunch of threads were unresolved…
That being said, the character growth of many of the characters was what made the book shine. Tauran took a back seat to allow Aliisa and Kael room to grow, and like in the previous novels they were fighting the question about themselves vs. their heritages. Kaanyr didn’t grow much, but instead regressed, and that was a big plot point to the story.
All in all this trilogy was a fun read, especially considering i randomly picked the books out of a pile with no context as to what I was getting into. haha
That being said, the character growth of many of the characters was what made the book shine. Tauran took a back seat to allow Aliisa and Kael room to grow, and like in the previous novels they were fighting the question about themselves vs. their heritages. Kaanyr didn’t grow much, but instead regressed, and that was a big plot point to the story.
All in all this trilogy was a fun read, especially considering i randomly picked the books out of a pile with no context as to what I was getting into. haha
SPOILERS
It was enjoyable and interesting at times but it also had a lot that was mediocre . I was disappointed in the ending and with how many loose ends seemed to be left unanswered (the magic storms most of all) how the final battle was resolved came right out of left field almost as if the author didn't have a good idea as to how it should end and simply said "Well this works" and went with it.
The inclusion of a certain character from the War of the spider queen was quite nice but they really weren't around enough to make a difference.
The entire plot with Eirwyn was difficult to follow and in the end didn't seem to contribute much to the story
I may have just written several paragraphs about what I didn't like but the book wasn't all bad. The inclusion of the balor, the descriptions of the landscape. I did still mostly enjoy the book
All in all, this was a typical Forgotten realms book. A fun read with not a lot of depth.
It was enjoyable and interesting at times but it also had a lot that was mediocre . I was disappointed in the ending and with how many loose ends seemed to be left unanswered (the magic storms most of all) how the final battle was resolved came right out of left field almost as if the author didn't have a good idea as to how it should end and simply said "Well this works" and went with it.
The inclusion of a certain character from the War of the spider queen was quite nice but they really weren't around enough to make a difference.
The entire plot with Eirwyn was difficult to follow and in the end didn't seem to contribute much to the story
I may have just written several paragraphs about what I didn't like but the book wasn't all bad. The inclusion of the balor, the descriptions of the landscape. I did still mostly enjoy the book
All in all, this was a typical Forgotten realms book. A fun read with not a lot of depth.