Book Review - Wrath (The Faithful and the Fallen #4) by John Gwynne

This review should be free of major spoilers but as it is the review of a sequel it will contain some very minor spoilers akin to the blurb on the back of each book - but nothing major - Enjoy

The final instalment of John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen is Wrath, an incomparable conclusion to a stunning series.

Corban has been captured. Veradis and Nathair have made their choices. The last book as the name suggests left everything in ruin so I was intrigued to discover how our heroes could possibly pull victory from the jaws of oblivion and defeat. Gar does some super cool stuff in this book, as does Coralen. Maquin and Fidele have a heart-breaking storyline. Maquin is truly epic in his own right. The giants play a huge role in this final chapter and the various clans hold some final surprises. Alcyon has been one of my favourite characters throughout the series and he is great in Wrath. Lykos is possibly my favourite villain. This final book pulls no punches, even more of our favourite characters are going to die. There are some great twists. We finally get the huge Godwar payoff we have been building up to the entire series, but at a heavy cost. The battles are huge, in particular Drasil. The smaller fights are pivotal and full of jeopardy for the characters involved. It was such a fast paced page turner, I devoured it in superfast time, one of those books you don’t want to put down but you know will leave a hole in your book-soul when it’s finished.

As this is the final book in the series, the series highlights for me have been the characters, Veradis, Maquin, Alcyon, Camlin, Coralen, Gar and of course Storm. As villains, Lykos and Rhin I think I liked enjoyed most. The Kadoshim were awesome and the changing perception of the Giants over the series was really well done. The battles and fight scenes were excellently written and also gave an insight into the author’s impressive knowledge of combat and swordplay. There were so many great characters and plot arcs woven into the overall story it’s hard to choose my one favourite part. The other thing that stood out about the series is Gwynne’s prose, his writing and narrative voice is fantastic, I always felt the setting was beautifully described and found my self immersed and attached to each of the characters.

The Faithful and the Fallen has secured itself on my shortlist of favourite fantasy books of all time. If you haven’t read it I recommend you do. Go and start your journey into The Banished Lands, I wish I could forget it all and do it again.

Thanks for reading

Lee

Book Review - Ruin (The Faithful and the Fallen #3) by John Gwynne

This review should be free of major spoilers but as it is the review of a sequel it will contain some very minor spoilers akin to the blurb on the back of each book - but nothing major - Enjoy

Ruin is the third book in John Gwynne’s The Faithful and the Fallen series and it doesn’t disappoint.

Corban is emerging as a true leader of men, his destiny as the Seren Disglair now revealed and known. The identity of the Black Sun, the great enemy, although known to the reader, is finally revealed to the character in question. The fight to attain the seven giant Starstone relics takes precedence in Ruin as whomever can gather them all together will surely emerge victorious in the Godwar.

The end of Valour sees a great evil unleashed upon the Banished Lands, the Kadoshim, the demon servants of Asroth. In Ruin Calidus and the servants of Asroth now march to assert an evil dominion over the realms of men.

Reunited with his sister Cywen, but at heavy cost, Corban must make the decision to march south to aid Edana and liberate Ardan or follow the prophecy to Drasil. Nathair struggles with the great deception against him and his own place in the prophecy. Maquin is on the run from his enemies and rebellion is brewing. Maquin has become one of the most kick-ass characters in the series for me, along with Veradis, but he was always kick-ass.

The books are still gradually getting darker. There are some more gruesome parts than we have seen so far that come with the emergence of the Kadoshim. There are battles and plenty of well written fight sequences, as we have come to enjoy from Gwynne’s work. The ending chapters of ruin literally had me shouting out loud, there are some emotional moments, and the book leaves us on a tragic and uncertain cliff-hanger, more so than the previous endings which left me immediately wanting more. Gwynne is slowly notching up every aspect of The Faithful and the Fallen and in this third book the great and powerful forces we have been building up to are finally aligned against each other. If you loved the first two books, Ruin will not disappoint.

Thanks for reading

Lee

Book Review - Valour (The Faithful and the Fallen, #2) by John Gwynne

This review should be free of major spoilers but as it is the review of a sequel it will contain some very minor spoilers akin to the blurb on the back of each book - but nothing major - Enjoy

The next instalment of The Faithful and the Fallen is Valour and I dived in immediately after finishing Malice, eager to discover the fate of my favourite characters.

The story picks up immediately after the tragic events at the end of Malice. Corban and his companions flee Ardan, exiled from their homes they take a perilous journey to find safer lands. Queen Rhin continues her conquest and turns her eyes north to the remaining free realms in the west, and allied with Nathair their combined armies pose a formidable military threat to the Banished Lands.

We also get some new point of view characters, we get giants!! We have Uthas one of the Benothi giants in the far northwest, these giants guard the cauldron which Calidus and Evnis are so eager to get their hands on. So a further glimpse into the ancient culture of the giant clans is interesting. We have Maquin’s point of view now after the events with Kastell. We have Tukul also, who leads the Jehar not sworn to Nathair and introduces us to the lost fortress city of Drassil from the prophecy. We also get chapters from Fidele, Nathair’s mother, as she holds Tenebral in her son’s absence. We also meet Coralen, a giant hunter from Domhain who seems quite kick ass.

All our favourite characters who survived Malice are still in play. Lykos continues to slink around with his lack of morals and ruthless ambition and has point of view chapters. Cywen has a good storyline in Valour too. We get to discover more about Corban’s destiny, Gar also, and the brothers Halion and Connall’s backstory comes to the fore in this book.

In this sequel we again have some cool battles, the action is certainly not scant, nor is the deadly jeopardy of our heroes. There is a lot going on but it has been again expertly woven together by Gwynne without losing any of his elegant prose. The writing really transports you into his world of the Banished Lands and there’s a real empathy and attachment to the characters, or in case of a few a real loathing.

The story is slowly edging into darker places. The ending is both exciting and heroic and yet completely leaves us in dire circumstances as dark forces manoeuvre against our heroes, setting us up to eagerly dive straight into the next book.

Valour is another fantastic book, continuing what is turning into one of my favourite series’ of all time.

Thanks for reading

Lee C. Conley