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kayshiddenshelf's review against another edition
5.0
5/5 Stars
The Empires of Dust trilogy comes to an end with The House of Sacrifice, marking this as the best trilogy I’ve read in years. Anna Smith Spark’s writing continues to impress and her title “Queen of Grimdark” is well earned.
As Marith’s army continues its scourge on the world of Irlast; political tensions, relationships and mankind’s sanity are tested through extreme circumstances.
Not only did each book in the trilogy continue to improve but her ability to explore the worst in humanity while capturing a twisted beauty in such miserable characters was utterly captivating. I found myself completely invested in these terrible people and cruel world with morbid fascination.
With characters I loved to hate and hated to love, they’re character work was thoughtful and brilliantly executed. Despite how horrible many of these characters are and how dark this series delves, there was some good found in a few POVs. Now, that’s not to say they’re good people but rather the lesser of evils, if you will.
I can’t forget to mention Anna Smith Spark’s use of perspective to carefully emphasize scenes, making seemingly simple moments, powerful. A great example of this was Thalia’s POV where she expresses herself through soliloquy. Those moments never failed to send chills down my spine, not just because of her messages but how accurately she managed to call me out as the reader looking into her story.
There’s also plenty of action and madness throughout this finale, as Marith sweeps through the land of Irlast with his army. His progressing madness and his aspirations of conquest don’t shy away from the atrocities of war and the effects on those in power. This was both refreshing for its sense of realism in war times but showcased plenty of dark scenes that were hard to stomach. Whenever I thought “she won’t go that far” I was continually proven wrong.
Finally, I was impressed by how well themes were used in the overall story and characters arcs. Some included grief, mob mentality, toxic relationships, insanity, brutality, revenge, addiction, and depravity. There were even moments of philosophic reflection that kept me thinking about human morality and ethics.
Simply put, this is how you write and end a trilogy. With each book better than the last and an ending that leaves readers satisfied yet longing to read it again for the first time.
While I highly recommend this trilogy, it’s also not for everyone. So, I encourage you to try for yourself and decide.
The Empires of Dust trilogy comes to an end with The House of Sacrifice, marking this as the best trilogy I’ve read in years. Anna Smith Spark’s writing continues to impress and her title “Queen of Grimdark” is well earned.
As Marith’s army continues its scourge on the world of Irlast; political tensions, relationships and mankind’s sanity are tested through extreme circumstances.
Not only did each book in the trilogy continue to improve but her ability to explore the worst in humanity while capturing a twisted beauty in such miserable characters was utterly captivating. I found myself completely invested in these terrible people and cruel world with morbid fascination.
With characters I loved to hate and hated to love, they’re character work was thoughtful and brilliantly executed. Despite how horrible many of these characters are and how dark this series delves, there was some good found in a few POVs. Now, that’s not to say they’re good people but rather the lesser of evils, if you will.
I can’t forget to mention Anna Smith Spark’s use of perspective to carefully emphasize scenes, making seemingly simple moments, powerful. A great example of this was Thalia’s POV where she expresses herself through soliloquy. Those moments never failed to send chills down my spine, not just because of her messages but how accurately she managed to call me out as the reader looking into her story.
There’s also plenty of action and madness throughout this finale, as Marith sweeps through the land of Irlast with his army. His progressing madness and his aspirations of conquest don’t shy away from the atrocities of war and the effects on those in power. This was both refreshing for its sense of realism in war times but showcased plenty of dark scenes that were hard to stomach. Whenever I thought “she won’t go that far” I was continually proven wrong.
Finally, I was impressed by how well themes were used in the overall story and characters arcs. Some included grief, mob mentality, toxic relationships, insanity, brutality, revenge, addiction, and depravity. There were even moments of philosophic reflection that kept me thinking about human morality and ethics.
Simply put, this is how you write and end a trilogy. With each book better than the last and an ending that leaves readers satisfied yet longing to read it again for the first time.
While I highly recommend this trilogy, it’s also not for everyone. So, I encourage you to try for yourself and decide.
sonice's review against another edition
4.0
4.0 stars. My favorite of the three, for sure. I don't even really know what to say. I was glued to the pages the whole way. The ending hits and everything kinda just....explodes abruptly? But it makes sense, given the tone and subject matter. And after it's all finished, you ruminate over the whole thing and somefuckinghow feel BAD for everyone, which is insane given how shitty these people are. That's the true key to good grimdark though; if you can manage to get me to sympathize with someone like Marith, even for just a second, you've knocked it out of the park. Brilliant writing, Spark needs more recognition for just how poetic she can get using words like "pus" and "fucking".
chromatick's review against another edition
3.0
I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I gave the first two books 4 stars each.
First off, let's get one thing clear. Spark has an incredible way of writing. It's so different, but has such a great flow to it. I really enjoy that aspect of the trilogy.
Secondly, I will confess that it's been too long since I read the first two books and that may have played into my struggles with this one. I just had trouble getting into it and really remembering the characters and what was going on. Perhaps if I had read it closer it would have received that 4th star.
So all that being said, I would still recommend this trilogy. If you like grimdark, this series delivers that in spades, even though I felt like the ending didn't live up to the potential overall.
First off, let's get one thing clear. Spark has an incredible way of writing. It's so different, but has such a great flow to it. I really enjoy that aspect of the trilogy.
Secondly, I will confess that it's been too long since I read the first two books and that may have played into my struggles with this one. I just had trouble getting into it and really remembering the characters and what was going on. Perhaps if I had read it closer it would have received that 4th star.
So all that being said, I would still recommend this trilogy. If you like grimdark, this series delivers that in spades, even though I felt like the ending didn't live up to the potential overall.
ronpayne's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I'm very happy to have finally gotten to the final book in the Empires of Dust, a grimdark series notable for its excellent prose, and for leaning away from the voyeurism you often see in the genre, and instead leaning into the tragedy of it all. I often describe these books as beautiful writing about terrible people doing terrible things. All the bad stuff happens on the page, so if that's not your thing, these books aren't for you.
the_coycaterpillar_reads's review against another edition
4.0
The House of Sacrifice was absolutely brilliant – unsettling, brutal and tragic. A masterpiece of intrigue and Anna Smith Spark has crazy talent.
The House of Sacrifice concludes the Empires of Dust trilogy and can I say what a wild ride it was. I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t believe it took me this long to pick it up. I deserve a slap across the wrists for that misdemeanour. The prose is outstanding…seriously beautiful in its brutal sense of realism. At no point did I struggle to get lost in the story, I was there in that moment, living the consequences of those characters. Spark has a way with words and I can’t wait to see what she pulls out of her bag next. I don’t doubt that its going to be just as powerful and just as memorable as The Empires of Dust Trilogy. This author has a lifelong fan.
Do you want a trilogy that leaves you breathless in its sublime conclusion? Then this is the story for you. Its almost impossible to please everyone but Spark does a stellar job for making the ending satisfying.
One thing I think that Spark has done especially well is displaying Marith’s decent into chaos in terms of his mental health. It’s a well contested topic and is extremely difficult to get right. Author’s have been known to get it wrong, unintentionally, and using stereotypes further conflicts the readers ability to appreciate where the author is coming from. Spark hasn’t fallen into that trap and investigates just what Marith’s actions would do to a person. He’s accomplished everything he set out to do and more. There is no one to stand up to him, no one to inflict consequence upon his terrifying reign. He’s killed people that he loved, people that have the label, family. Seeing the light go out on those you have loved and cared for must eat away at you. Their lives have ended at your hands, I think those images would haunt both my waking and sleeping moments. Thalia is still at his side, gone is the woman who served as the High Priestess, that woman has been buried, in its place is now Thalia, Queen of the White Isles and Marith’s wife. Those two make up some of the most screwed up, dysfunctional couples I’ve ever read about. It was wrong but somehow it seemed so right.
The first half of the story was of a quieter, slower pace. It wasn’t boring not for a minute, but it had a sense of caution, it gave a real idea of what happens in between sieges and battles. The chat between soldiers, the worry, the pain and I think the story certainly benefited from those powerful scenes. Although not a lot happened, reading them went quickly and before you knew it, you were in the midst of another siege and the story careened onwards with the force of a battering ram. This is a story that I won’t quickly forget, it was memorable in its morally grey characters and world building that was second to none.
The House of Sacrifice concludes the Empires of Dust trilogy and can I say what a wild ride it was. I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t believe it took me this long to pick it up. I deserve a slap across the wrists for that misdemeanour. The prose is outstanding…seriously beautiful in its brutal sense of realism. At no point did I struggle to get lost in the story, I was there in that moment, living the consequences of those characters. Spark has a way with words and I can’t wait to see what she pulls out of her bag next. I don’t doubt that its going to be just as powerful and just as memorable as The Empires of Dust Trilogy. This author has a lifelong fan.
Do you want a trilogy that leaves you breathless in its sublime conclusion? Then this is the story for you. Its almost impossible to please everyone but Spark does a stellar job for making the ending satisfying.
One thing I think that Spark has done especially well is displaying Marith’s decent into chaos in terms of his mental health. It’s a well contested topic and is extremely difficult to get right. Author’s have been known to get it wrong, unintentionally, and using stereotypes further conflicts the readers ability to appreciate where the author is coming from. Spark hasn’t fallen into that trap and investigates just what Marith’s actions would do to a person. He’s accomplished everything he set out to do and more. There is no one to stand up to him, no one to inflict consequence upon his terrifying reign. He’s killed people that he loved, people that have the label, family. Seeing the light go out on those you have loved and cared for must eat away at you. Their lives have ended at your hands, I think those images would haunt both my waking and sleeping moments. Thalia is still at his side, gone is the woman who served as the High Priestess, that woman has been buried, in its place is now Thalia, Queen of the White Isles and Marith’s wife. Those two make up some of the most screwed up, dysfunctional couples I’ve ever read about. It was wrong but somehow it seemed so right.
The first half of the story was of a quieter, slower pace. It wasn’t boring not for a minute, but it had a sense of caution, it gave a real idea of what happens in between sieges and battles. The chat between soldiers, the worry, the pain and I think the story certainly benefited from those powerful scenes. Although not a lot happened, reading them went quickly and before you knew it, you were in the midst of another siege and the story careened onwards with the force of a battering ram. This is a story that I won’t quickly forget, it was memorable in its morally grey characters and world building that was second to none.
thedashdude's review against another edition
5.0
The Court of Broken Knives: 5/5
The pacing was all over the place, but in the best possible way. I never quite understood what direction the story was going, but it always went there with spectacle and wonderful writing.
The Tower of Living and Dying: 5/5
Delivered on the epic conclusion to book 1, intrigue and bloodshed aplenty. Always delivered well.
The House of Sacrifice: 5/5
Epic conclusion to the series. Meandering and with enough atmosphere to carry it through to an ending that shouldn't have worked but landed perfectly and was practically comical in its aptness.
The series never had normal pacing, but was always entertaining. The endings were always great. Anna Smith Spark has an impeccable sense of style. Moody, poetic, and grand.
Why we march and why we die,
And what life means... it’s all a lie.
Death! Death! Death!
The pacing was all over the place, but in the best possible way. I never quite understood what direction the story was going, but it always went there with spectacle and wonderful writing.
The Tower of Living and Dying: 5/5
Delivered on the epic conclusion to book 1, intrigue and bloodshed aplenty. Always delivered well.
The House of Sacrifice: 5/5
Epic conclusion to the series. Meandering and with enough atmosphere to carry it through to an ending that shouldn't have worked but landed perfectly and was practically comical in its aptness.
The series never had normal pacing, but was always entertaining. The endings were always great. Anna Smith Spark has an impeccable sense of style. Moody, poetic, and grand.
Why we march and why we die,
And what life means... it’s all a lie.
Death! Death! Death!
randomseed's review
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
brents's review
1.0
What the hell even was that? Might be the worst conclusion to a trilogy I have read. Not a single compelling storyline in the entire book. No plot or overall point. Things that seemed like they were being worked towards in book 2 just went nowhere. Not even a hint of a satisfying conclusion. No character development. Repetitive writing that really got very old 3 books in. Do not recommended.
jenni_t_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Usually we get sweet or bitter sweet endings, but this was just bitter. It made me sad and I loved it.
At this point after reading all the books in this series, I've bocome a huge fan of Anna's writing style. In my opinion, it worked perfectly on audiobook format and Colin Mace has become one of my favourite narrators.
At this point after reading all the books in this series, I've bocome a huge fan of Anna's writing style. In my opinion, it worked perfectly on audiobook format and Colin Mace has become one of my favourite narrators.
ababoglo's review
4.0
Proper review to follow. But this was... dark. Dark and brutal.
Leonard Coen produced a mood-perfect soundtrack:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3jeTB3j3QmUs8SPIVleHtU
Leonard Coen produced a mood-perfect soundtrack:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3jeTB3j3QmUs8SPIVleHtU