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A review by tani
The Guns of Empire by Django Wexler
4.0
I am shocked and appalled to only be giving this book 4 stars. And yet, much though I love this series, I just can't justify a five star rating for this particular book. I'm not saying that it was bad. Not at all! I thought it was excellent! But. It never quite captured me the way that the other books in this series have. Now, this could be partially my own fault. I sat on this book for a long time, so I may have built it up in my head too much. I've also been moderately sick for the entire time that I was reading it. It's really hard to get drawn into anything when your head is set at a constant dull ache. But mostly, I think that the fault lies with the book itself. This felt like a set-up book, like the second book in a trilogy. I feel like it spent a lot of time laying out the groundwork for the final book in the series, and not quite enough time having its own plot and action.
That said, there was still a lot to love in this book. There were a lot of quiet character-based moments, for one. I really enjoyed seeing the emotional growth of everyone here. As you can guess from the prior book's ending, Winter has a lot of issues to struggle through. Marcus and Raesinia are faced with not only their attraction to each other, but also the issue of what place Janus has in each of their lives. Marcus also has to deal with the revelations about the fate of his family, whereas Raesinia is faced with what her role should be in this newly reshaped country, as well as the choice between expedience and what is right.
In addition, there are some major revelations for the reader in this book. I can't really say what they are, obviously, but I can say that some of the things that I discovered during this book have me really looking forward to the final book in the series, to say the least!
In addition, there was the theme. This time, Wexler takes on religious wars and the power that religion can wield within a government, especially when the religion forms the basis of the lives of the poor. It's a really thought-provoking topic, and one that I think is pretty timely. The inclusion of it definitely made me more interested in the book, and I'm excited to see if it continues to be a theme in the final book of the series.
In short, I definitely enjoyed this book, but I wish it had been focused a little less on set-up and more on actual action. Of course, it does mean that the final book is truly going to be in a good position to ramp things up on an epic scale, and I certainly can't complain about that!
That said, there was still a lot to love in this book. There were a lot of quiet character-based moments, for one. I really enjoyed seeing the emotional growth of everyone here. As you can guess from the prior book's ending, Winter has a lot of issues to struggle through. Marcus and Raesinia are faced with not only their attraction to each other, but also the issue of what place Janus has in each of their lives. Marcus also has to deal with the revelations about the fate of his family, whereas Raesinia is faced with what her role should be in this newly reshaped country, as well as the choice between expedience and what is right.
In addition, there are some major revelations for the reader in this book. I can't really say what they are, obviously, but I can say that some of the things that I discovered during this book have me really looking forward to the final book in the series, to say the least!
In addition, there was the theme. This time, Wexler takes on religious wars and the power that religion can wield within a government, especially when the religion forms the basis of the lives of the poor. It's a really thought-provoking topic, and one that I think is pretty timely. The inclusion of it definitely made me more interested in the book, and I'm excited to see if it continues to be a theme in the final book of the series.
In short, I definitely enjoyed this book, but I wish it had been focused a little less on set-up and more on actual action. Of course, it does mean that the final book is truly going to be in a good position to ramp things up on an epic scale, and I certainly can't complain about that!