“For a decade Darrow led a revolution against the corrupt color-coded Society. Now, outlawed by the very Republic he founded, he wages a rogue war on Mercury in hopes that he can still salvage the dream of Eo. But as he leaves death and destruction in his wake, is he still the hero who broke the chains? Or will another legend rise to take his place?
Lysander au Lune, the heir in exile, has returned to the Core. Determined to bring peace back to mankind at the edge of his sword, he must overcome or unite the treacherous Gold families of the Core and face down Darrow over the skies of war-torn Mercury.
But theirs are not the only fates hanging in the balance.
On Luna, Mustang, Sovereign of the Republic, campaigns to unite the Republic behind her husband. Beset by political and criminal enemies, can she outwit her opponents in time to save him?
Once a Red refugee, young Lyria now stands accused of treason, and her only hope is a desperate escape with unlikely new allies.
Abducted by a new threat to the Republic, Pax and Electra, the children of Darrow and Sevro, must trust in Ephraim, a thief, for their salvation—and Ephraim must look to them for his chance at redemption.
As alliances shift, break, and re-form—and power is seized, lost, and reclaimed—every player is at risk in a game of conquest that could turn the Rising into a new Dark Age.”
So this is book five in a series that I started for a friend that I am no longer friends with. That is usually enough for me to quit a series, especially one as dense as this. Instead I am hooked. For some reason I can’t get enough of this world. Even when I was bored out of my mind reading this book, I refused to read anything else of substance. I needed to find out what happened.
It took about 500 pages before I was really enjoying the story. I didn’t need to reward myself every twenty pages once I got that far. I still couldn’t devour it like I can some books. I have to really sit there and focus. Every line has a purpose and every line could be the line that defined what happened in a story like this. The book is dense. There is no way that someone could jump into this book and understand fully what had happened in the other books. Brown doesn’t rehash the last plots. You either know or you don’t. That is on you. This is something I can appreciate, since the book is already almost eight hundred pages. Though it did mean that I probably missed some details. There are a ton of things that happen in each book. It is fair to say that I do not remember them all. It is fair to say that I am terrible at names and often have to be reminded who characters are. So If you are good at remembering complex plots and a lot of names, then you may enjoy this book more than I did.
The book focuses more on the politics of what is happening, instead of the war. Darrow is no longer the main character, instead he is just one voice. I loved how the book followed different groups of characters. It made the story feel more full and complex. I also just really liked seeing things from different perspectives. Darrow’s ideas are great and all, but there is a lot to be said for how Virginia has grown and what power she wields. I still adore her. I loved that I was able to really read from her point of view and see what strengths she has.
With a book this complex, I can’t ever guess what is going to happen. There is a lot that does happen that I wouldn’t have expected even if it wasn’t super political. Some of the issues are the world is also very complex and has technology that I wouldn’t have dreamed of. There is no way that I would have thought of the Storm Gods plot line, since I didn’t know what they were or how they worked. The twist ending that Brown seems to have locked down, just didn’t do anything for me this time. It clearly opened the way to a next book, but the last chapter was just eh. It felt like Brown was trying too hard to be like “AHA! Gotcha” with his idea. I would have been fine with Virginia’s last chapter being the last chapter of the book. There was a vow, there was a plan. It would have been enough.
This book is a lot. It is dense. It will not be a light read. It is still one that I am glad I read. I will pick up the next book in the series when it comes out.
4 out of 5 stars. I would recommend this book.
You can buy the book here.
~Isaiah
MI Book Reviews 