Reviews

The Black Star by Edward W. Robertson

bertdt's review

adventurous dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

lundos's review against another edition

3.0

Dante and Blays continue stumbling through their plans in the last installment of the Cycle of Arawn trilogy. It took the Edward W. Robertson 7 years to write it, and the use of language and detail shows why. Unfortunately, the level of descriptions are too detailed for a lot on unimportant stuff, so while it's better than the second one, it's still way too long.

The recurring characters from the other books - besides the main ones - were not overly used, but most were well handled and they all stayed 'in character' from the other books, which obviously makes the feel and red thread of the trilogy better.

Spoiler

The use of the Black Star was, unfortunately, easy to spot, but I like that friendship meant more than anything else when it really mattered. The theft from first Dante and then Blays was very nice!

The leading up to and the actual ending was very well handled and the last 20% went by very fast.

fouroffivewits's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed it but man, Blays contempt for Dante and the city he leads make no sense. Is he bitter that Dante's action caused the death of Lira? Barely comes up but apparently all of sudden he thinks Dante is an egomaniac, selfish, and uncaring. When Blays goes after Dante to make sure he doesn't get the Black Star he comes off as a big naive baby. He would have a point about caring whether people live or die if he didn't approach it like lawful good toddler who's been confronted with the first moral quandaries in his life, completely ignoring his own actions in the last two books.

kbeyer's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

My least favorite of the series. Extremely frustrating to see their friendship broken up over this, and the demanded character development felt pointless. 

amberx19's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

pemdas97's review against another edition

adventurous dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

woahno's review

3.0

In this episode of “my expectations were different from reality” we have The Black Star, the final book of The Cycle of Arawn. I was expecting more sarcasm and witty banter and got it. I was expecting more adventures with Dante and Blays and got that too. I was even expecting a ramping up of the magic and the stakes for our characters and that was here as well. However, I was also expecting more closure. I wanted this to tie the three books together in a way that made for a good stopping point in the wild and crazy adventures of Dante and Blays. I don't think I got that. This felt a lot more like another good and entertaining episode. And while there is nothing wrong with that I am left wanting more. It leaves me in this weird spot in considering the next escapade of these two in The Cycle of Galand. Is this just going to be the constant and continuing reasons for these two characters to go gallivanting around this fun fantasy world? Honestly, I'm probably up for more of that. I just wonder if I will start to tire of it.

mylhibug's review

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

4.25

flaunah's review

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

bpontius's review

5.0

Robertson keeps getting better. This book is definitely the best in the Cycle of Arawn trilogy, with far more world-building and in-depth character development as Blays and Dante separate paths for a time.