I'm generally a fantasy person, not steampunk - but this was a nice change of pace without drawing me far out of my comfort zone. The cast is a manageable size; viewpoint characters are sympathetic and easy to root for but with their own secrets, struggles, and other issues, and things don't always go according to their plans. The quest for a dangerous artefact moves through an expansive world, from slums, pirates, and the criminal underworld to palaces and navies to planets, moons, and gods.
The God of Creation is missing, but pirate captain Adi Crestone has more immediateproblems. Caught between her criminal past and her maternal instincts, she struggles to protecther son from the Blood Queen. Buffeted by inner demons and external foes, she must decidewhat she is willing to sacrifice for freedom and family, all while navigating treacherous alliancesthat force her to confront her own past.Theo Vanguard is an Imperial naval officer entangled in familial duty and politicalmachinations. Trapped between his personal desires and his noble father’s expectations, he iscaptured by pirates and descends into the seedy underbelly of the city of Solvigant.…
This is basically the first-half climax of the series, and the end of the book delivers with several very large developments that also expand the theater for future action enormously. The heroes' attempts to strategize and outmaneuver their opponents (including the divine variety) is still one of the series' main strengths, and that element is central to this book, where the good guys have to decide how to manage their time before the duel scheduled at the end of the previous book - who will go where, what are they allowed to do under the terms of the ceasefire, and what can really be accomplished in such a short time?
Characters are well established by now, but they don't always evolve in expected ways, which keeps things interesting. Though I have appreciatee the focus on mental illness in its various guises, I am starting to get tired of the idea that *every* character is "broken" somehow. (I reread the series before this entry, so the repetition of the theme stood out.)
I also have mixed feelings about the crossover elements - the references to characters from other books - though I know that's always been a presumption of the series. I just don't feel like different adventures in different worlds have to be in the same universe, but maybe I'll see the sense of it as the series continues.
The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the Number One New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive.
Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare-and the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium's place has thrown everything into disarray.
Desperate fighting continues simultaneously worldwide-Adolin in Azimir, Sigzil and Venli at the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah at Thaylen City. The former assassin, Szeth, must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the…
I'm rereading this series now. The style is a bit different from what I'm normally used to (limited third person; this one bops around from one PoV to another). The focus is on the titular character, an unassuming boy of high rank with extraordinary potential in military strategy and leadership. But he's also a victim of political intrigue among different factions and princedoms with their own amibitous as well as hereditary feuds. The culture is an interesting one - dominant, warlike, but backwards in certain ways and aware of it. It has its own habits and tics, as it were, which are contrasted with those of other cultures as the characters venture abroad.
There's also a combination of military and maritime themes that you don't often find in one book. The principal action has to do with cavalry and the defense of castles, but then there are also pirates, a vague threat of dark magic from the underworld, and a mysterious servant thereof who goes around disappearing people. (Oh, and the occasional ghost.) There's just a lot going on for a trilogy, but you don't get lost in the jumble of names and places.
Acclaimed Inda series within Sherwood Smith's epic fantasy Sartorias-deles universe * Military fantasy woven with courtly politics, vast worldbuilding, and diverse characters
Indevan-Dal is the second son of the Prince and Princess of Choraed Elgaer, destined to become his elder brother Tanrid's Shield Arm-his military champion. Like all second sons, he is to be privately trained at home by Tanrid, the brother whose lands he will one day protect.
When the King's Voice comes to summon Inda to the Military Academy, he might well feel foreboding, or even fear-war is imminent-yet youthful Inda feels only excitement. But there are things…
Caleb Tholstan wakes up in the forest one afternoon with a dead man's blood dripping on him, a headache, and no memory of what happened. But the dead man belonged to a nation of raiders, now encroaching on Caleb's homeland. As cadets are trained, soldiers rushed to the front lines, and civilians evacuated, Caleb still finds himself tormented by dreams that tickle at the edges of that lost memory of the murder in the forest. He must discover why that day in the woods troubles him so persistently - before the nightmares unhinge him altogether.
