Lowly’s Book Blog

This book has been on my reading list for months. It was released in January, but somehow it never appealed. Part of the reason is that this is clearly a continuation of a fantasy saga and regular readers will know how I feel about that. In fact it appears that the author had finished a double trilogy about The Raven, and now there is just one more book. To me that smacks of a publisher’s push for a story that never needed telling but certainly needed selling.

I haven’t read anything from the previous trilogy, but very quickly Barclay reminds his readers that he had killed off most of The Raven, his band of heroes. Only two survive and they have established lives and careers very different from their mercenary ways. But one day the dead refuse to die! Gradually dead bodies, each animated by the soul of a Raven, gather in Sol’s inn. It seems there is one more evil for them to fight.

The evil is very impressive. Imagine huge machines, each supported by indestructible soldiers, that suddenly appear out of nowhere and proceed to harvest mana. The process virtually sucks all life from that area. Complete and total devastation. The whole planet is under attack. And the last continent for harvest is where Sol lives.

But how do a band of dead bodies fight, let alone destroy the indestructible. And where do these monsters come from? Therein lies the tale, and I will go no further.

I found this book amazing. The action scenes were riveting. The characters, including the heroes, were flawed and very believable. Barclay’s novel is not only an incredible action adventure, but he has taken the time to portray the political and philosophical background to his tale. That simply ground the story very solidly. At time I would have loved a map, but as I moved through the book, it really didn’t matter. And the final scene is just so right.

This was an excellent fantasy novel written by a master of the genre.