The Blurb: After his pyrrhic victory at Moorview, King Emin learns the truth about the child Ruhen - but he is powerless to act. Instead, he must mourn his dead friends while his enemy promises the beleaguered peoples of the Land a new age of peace. The past year has taken a grave toll: the remaining Menin troops seek revenge upon Emin, daemons freely walk the Land, and Ruhen's power is increasing daily. And yet, a glimmer of hope remains. There is one final, desperate chance for victory: a weapon, so terrible only a dead man could wield it, and only a madman would try. But if they do not grasp this opportunity, King Emin and his allies will be obliterated as Ruhen's millennia-old plans are about to bear terrible fruit. If his power continues unchecked, Ruhen will achieve total dominion - and not just over mankind, but over the Gods themselves. One way or another, the future of the Land will be decided now - written in the blood of men.
I know I have not reviewed his previous books on my site yet, but I'm planning a massive Series Spanning review for later in this year. The Twilight Reign really deserves it, its beautifully complex without getting smug about it. That's why I'm not going to go into real depth here, this is just a shortened review today.
So, this was the final novel in the Twilight Reign series by Tom Lloyd. From the start it's been marketed as five books, and it stuck with that. No part one/part two nonsense that seems so prevalent these days. I really applaud him for sticking to this, since there are more than enough to this world to stretch the story out indefinitely.
What a damn perfect ending. Lloyd has tortured all of his main characters over five books. There aren't any present who does not have serious mental and usually physical injuries and scars. Start with Stormcaller and you would not stop until you reach the end of Dusk Watchman, that's a promise. The twists he worked into the series are massive and unexpected, and as a reader I enjoyed being surprised by good storytelling in stead of a magic bullet to sort out a problem or someone doing something brainless to afford another character an opening.
This is the most underrated fantasy series out there. The characters are amazing, the sacrifices stupefying, the world is beautiful, the violence brutal.
The Twilight Reign has been on my Favourite Series list since I read Stormcaller years ago. It deserves it place right at the top, with this insanely epic final book.
10/10
I have to be honest some of the covers reminded me of an RA Salvator book... Is this an unfair assessment on my part or is this series somewhat "darker"?
ReplyDeleteI loved the covers, but then Larry Rostant does some damn good work.
DeleteThis series is full of sacrifice and loss, loads of battles, but no unnecessary killing of main characters just to shock. The underlying theme is hope and trust, even though hope should be long gone.
The Twilight Reign gets compared to Erikson's Malazan books alot, but in my opinion it is better.