This is a good read. And i'd never suspected it, especially after book 1 and 2 were so longwinded that they tested my patience. The whole trilogy would have worked so much better in an abridged version. I liked this third installment best. The plot is finally moving forward (jerkily and rushed, but hey who's complaining?) and suspense is building up. The underlying story is entertaining. However, there are almost no unexpected twists and turns, and I was a bit disappointed that real villains only showed up in this last installment (towards the end).I also encountered most of my pet peeves, so please bear with my venting. Canavan introduces several characters that do absolutely nothing, starts storylines that lead nowhere and snaps her fingers to magically remodel every character so he/she fits the story and everything can add up nicely, while the inconsistencies keep piling up.(view spoiler)[I don't get the whole romance thing between Sonea and Akkarin. For two books and several years of her life, she was in love with someone else; moreover she fears him, loathes him and doesn't give him the benefit of a doubt. And then she falls for him, because there is a reason, why he was so cruel to her?!? Okay either she is a sucker for punishment or do I have to presume a Stockholm syndrome? (Sorry, I’m not convinced and it’s not too endearing either)And the whole storyline with Dannyl doesn't amount to anything. At first a whole lot of nothing happens, except for him travelling. Everything he finds is never truly explained or relevant to the story in any way. And then nothing continues to happen, when he finally admits to be gay. All this secrecy, because of the rumor about his not so alleged homosexuality, that suddenly and ultimately no one is interested in? And then he finds some rebels. Whoa, he’s finally got some action! No, no hold your horses they are totally irrelevant. It's the book on dark arts that he finds which is important. Everybody gets bend out of shape, because of this book and in the end it is ... well also irrelevant. All of that does neither help them to fight the big bad nor defeat it. So why the big fuss, why have I just read several 100 pages of backstory? A big chunk of the book reads like an essay on the creation and use of bloodstones of the pros and cons. Fine. Interesting. Whatever. Akkarin and Sonea make them for each other. Aww ,romantic. But why? They never really use it for the intended purpose, and Akkarin doesn't use his at all, especially not in the crucial moments. So why feed the reader with all this info, setting up a storyline, if you're not using it? Oh and there is also a boatload of completely superfluous characters like Savara, the spy, etc. The few things which they contributed to the story are negligible and could have easily been incorporated in other ways. Why introduce so many characters that you are not going to use, or explain... And ultimately, I really didn't get the ending. Akkarin's completely unnecessary sacrifice, even though they haven't yet reached the end of the rope, was so far-fetched. By all means kill a main character, but to do it prematurely just doesn't ring true. After meticulously explaining the draining of energy, why not let them use the energy of the Arena and then kill him off despite their best effort? And please don't get me started on the cheesy epilogue that would befit only a really bad romance novel. Sorry, I’m digressing. The story really isn’t as bad as I make it seem, but it hit most of my pet peeves, so I am in a vengeful mood. (hide spoiler)]
This last book in the trilogy is the best by far. I really enjoyed it. I'd recommend reading the trilogy together and in order, which is probably something normal people would do anyway. I think while each one has a complete story arc, they form a much more complex and satisfying whole all together. Normally I advocate reading books haphazardly and maniaclly, but really, these could be just one big long novel if people were willing to carry around a 1000 page book. The character development across all three books is compelling and I found myself more invested in the characters and the outcome than I thought I would be. There are a lot of unexpected plot twists but enough that's archetypal and familiar so that the books don't leave you feeling lost or out of context. The good guys win in the end, though neither the good guys nor the bad guys are who you thought they would be. I approve of the romantic storylines, too, which weren't superfluous or ham-handed or smutty. Though I'm not turning up my nose at ham-handed smut. I'd recommend Trudi Canavan to virtually anybody, and I'm going to go hunt down other things she's written.
What do You think about The High Lord (2004)?
I was disappointed at the end of the book. I can't say I was fond of High Lord but it ended in the worst possible way. My heart was shattered to pieces as well. It's because there were so many things that shouldn't have happened and so many that should. Authors will strickes again. When I read the story it should have a life on it's own. This one didn't. I enjoyed the whole trilogy greatly, I read the whole thing in three days and at the end I just couldn't believe... It didn't make any sense to me. The whole romance was pretty much strange and very forced. I was aware of it before I started reading books and for first two I could not find any explanation for what was supposed to happen. She could have eneded with Regin, it would be the same. I don't like when authors overuse Stockholm syndrome. (view spoiler)[Okay okay, I admit, I'm bitter cause he died, I didn't want him to die. I wanted to see what they would do with them. (hide spoiler)]
—Salva
5.5/10This was no worse than the previous two books and did actually have some things going on it as apposed to the previous two novels in this series but I still didn't care for it overall. I resorted to skimming to finish the book as I wasn't invested in the characters at all and whilst there were a few things to be cleared up I didn't care how they would be resolved.If the series had cut out large portions of the first book, the whole of the second book and just used some of the plot devices from the third, it could have been a relatively enjoyable read as a standalone novel but as it stood I've read 1500+ pages split over three books where barely anything happens. One thing I found in this book is that with me skimming a lot of the text it was quite noticeable that the author doesn't have a sense of urgency and spends a lot of time describing possible outcomes for various characters actions as supposed to letting them get on with something and describe events. It really slowed and bogged things down for me.So whilst this third book was slightly better than the previous two I won't read anymore by this author, she's just not my cup of tea. I won't be recommending the books to anyone either.If you enjoyed this try: "The Spooks Apprentice" by Joseph Delaney
—Richard
I cannot even with the horrid heap of crap that this was.First of all, a bunch of people died for no reason. Then, a bunch of storylines were left untied.And the absolute worst of all, for which Trudi Canavan should get repeatedly hit in the back of the neck with a book by Professor Snape, is that of all the couples she wrote that were constantly having sex and making out and talking about how much they loved each other, the gay one was the only one who didn't.Yes, you heard me right. Gay men do not kiss, nor have sex, and neither do they refer to each other as partners or boyfriends or lovers or whatever term of endearment might be applicable. No. Even in the safety of their own heads, they still refer to each other as "friends".Fuck you, Trudi Canavan. If you can't properly handle a subject, then don't write about it at all.And goodbye.
—Bern
