Age of Death
The Legends of the First Empire series, Book 5
Michael J. Sullivan
Riyria Enterprises, LLC
Fiction, Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: As another winter comes, the war between the humans and the elves looks more hopeless than ever. With the human's only trained mystic Suri a captive of Lothian - probably even now being tortured into giving up the secrets of the "dragon" that has defended the army - and the desperate expedition to rescue her lost in the Swamp of Ith, it seems only a matter of time before the Rhunes and their "traitor" elven allies are swept from the land. In this dark hour, Malcolm finally returns... but he brings little hope or comfort to a people on the verge of the ultimate defeat.
In Phyre, the land of death, eight people still struggle to follow the thin trail left by Malcolm's cryptic words that might turn the tide of the war - but things have gone terribly wrong in the afterlife, threatening their journey. When they draw the unwanted attention of the gods lording over Rel and the depths of Nifrel, doom seems all but certain...
REVIEW: Yes, I just reviewed the forth book about a week ago. I did not like being left on a cliffhanger, so I checked Libby for the next audiobook... only to find that the only copy available through my library was an e-book (except for an abridged "graphic audio" edition, and I avoid abridged editions if I can at all help it). So this is technically the first book in the series that I read in print. Whether that affected my reaction or not, I cannot say, but I did start to detect a certain stretched feeling, which makes me wonder if this "second trilogy" in the series really needed three full books to tell its story.
On the plus side, the pacing and characterization continues more or less at the same pace it has been, as new threats are revealed and twists and revelations unfold. The two realms of death that Tressa, Brin, Roan, Gifford, and the rest visit are intriguing takes on familiar tropes; the deeper realm of "Nifrel" isn't so much a place for the worst people, but those who are too ambitious and greedy in some aspect to settle for the more peaceful but undeniably duller ordinary afterlife of Rel, which is mostly like the living world only without death or hunger or other inconveniences; Nifrel, by contrast, is a chaotic fiery chasm of endless battles and repeated deaths. Nor are afterlives segregated by races, even if only one god presides over each realm; elves, dwarves, humans, and even goblins and others can be found in any realm that suits their soul's disposition. Just where each soul in the adventuring party "deserves" to be creates some inner tensions, and more than one pairing discovers that their permanent afterlives (assuming Malcolm spoke truly and they'll be able to return to life after their trek through all three realms of death) may not be the happily ever after they anticipated. During their journey, they encounter lost loved ones and relatives, as well as ancestors and cultural heroes, and have the expected perils and tight scrapes and the odd betrayal. Along the way, Keeper Brin finally works out some of Malcolm's secrets, which make her doubt the man's intentions even more, but they have little choice but to continue following his breadcrumb trail now that they've literally committed their souls to its completion.
In the land of the living, not too much happens on the human side of things. Persephone and Nyphron react to their ongoing stalemate in different ways, but have little to actually do. On the elven side of the river, Suri finds some unexpected allies, and Imalya progresses her plan to challenge an increasingly insane Lothian for the Forest Throne, while the mysterious figure Trilos still lurks and makes cryptic comments; more backstory on him, the creator gods of the races, and Malcolm is filled in around the edges, though I admit to some name overload here and won't pretend I'm keeping everyone straight in my head. And, yes, the spoiled prince Manwyndule continues to be whiny and spoiled and cluelessly self-absorbed.
Where this installment lost its half star was in some continued and excessive wallowing by the characters - rolling in their helplessness and miseries and such without advancing the plot or actually attempting to change the thing about themselves or their situations that's causing them so much distress - and the fact that, once again, Sullivan ends on a cliffhanger, which is a trick you can only pull so many times before the reader starts mistrusting you. Since there is only one more volume in the series, and since I'm still enjoying it more than not, I'll be reading on, but I'll probably take a longer break between installments this time.
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