It has been a long time coming, gang.
After reading & reviewing Spine Of The Dragon back in 2019 (read that review HERE), I was eagerly awaiting the the sequels.
The time has finally come, the battle is upon us.
After mulling it over for just under 4 years (due only to my own brokedness), imagining how the multiple stories may continue, I’m ready to dive in and find out how this growing conflict is actually going to play out.
This is your blood fueled and official ***SPOILER ALERT*** for both Vengewar & Spine Of The Dragon, act accordingly.
When we last left off, the meeting between Konag Conndur of The Commonwealth & Empra Iluris of Ishara ended with the Konag murdered and the Empra comatose after a severe head wound, both leaders were attacked by their allies and framed to blame the other side.
Also, the 2 Wreth factions were building resources for their coming conflict.
We also had a young girl trapped in a wreth camp, a mystery man trying to understand his originals, and another girl on a personal quest for knowledge.
And one of the things I dig the most would be how smoothly the transition between the two books is, in all honesty it doesn’t really feel like two separate books to me.
Anderson does a pretty damn good job making it feel like one cohesive story, every storyline is followed up on, some get far more focus than others, obviously.
I’m curious and hopeful that same feeling of consistent continuity will continue into the third and final book.
I will say, in the first quarter to third I was a bit let down at the lack of action, he spends a decent amount of time trying to get you caught up and eased back into the world.
It makes sense due to the wait time between installments, but I wanna make sure you know going in that it’s not gonna be a balls out blood bath from the jump.
Once it does get into the action, he does well making each battle feel different and distinct.
There’s a good ship battle with the new Konag being forced to grow into the role, an attack on the Frostwreth’s fortress, and what could be the kick off of another civil war.
There are some calmer story threads to balance it out.
Though they too have some action to keep you interested, so you know they’re not just downbeats for the sake of downbeats.
Following up on Empra Iluris and her close circle of supporters has a pretty good sense of tension that breaks up some of the more talkie talkie and stabby stabby bits, and that plotline ends in a place that is sure to thrust the story forward.
I just wish there had been a bit more than the waiting, I think the girl that Iluris brought in off the streets should have made a bit more movement toward taking up the Empra mantle before the end.
I’ve always felt that TV shows spend a lot of the first season focused on setting up the world, season two tends to spend a lot of time just living in and exploring the world a bit more, and season three on tends to feel like they wanna build on the foundation of the first two and do different shit.
The middle volume tends to be forgotten because they generally want to make sure you understand all of the shit that was set up last time and, in service of that, tends to just be a bit of wheel spinning non-sense.
This very much breaks that mold because this book does a much better job of moving things forward than most second installments.
Look, if you’ve been following the reviews on this site you knew I’d be in the bag for a KJA book, but that doesn’t mean it can’t stand up under the judgmental microscope on it’s own.
The magic and dargony aspects are definitely upped this go round, making for a far more satisfactory fantasy outing
I know I spent a good deal of wordage pondering where things will go, but again I think that’s just a by-product of being the middle child.
If you’re looking for some good, well written fantasy, that moves at a brisk pace, from an author you know can deliver, this fills that order thoroughly.
Special thanks to @ACFerrell1976 for her continued editorial assistance.
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And finally, given the state of the world, do what you can to leave it a little bit better than you found it.
As difficult as that may be currently, it can have an impact far greater than you know.
Until next time, stay safe out there, gang.
