lizzy_22's review against another edition
4.0
Great ending, tying up loose ends without straining credibility (too much!) I liked the small message of hope at the ending since . I would love to read a novella set in the future updating us on the characters and the fallout from Harbinger's events.
Spoiler
I think that Sorcha deserves a hopeful futureangrywombat's review against another edition
3.0
Strangely, this was the most dissatisfying of the Order books.
Ms Ballantine gave us more of the same in this, the 4th in the main Order books, and a semi-satisfying conclusion. I think that the biggest problem of this installment is that it is the last installment - and endings are always hard to do right.
Our ever favorite characters: Sorcha, Merrick, Raed and the Rossin are back and in top form. I really loved the challenge raised by the ending of the last book - the Rossin trying to escape - made me almost think that it was the Rossin that was going to be the big-bad of this book. But that was only a lovingly planted red herring! All of our characters were up to their familiar escapades as we followed them in the battle for the Empire against the evil geists. It was like being wrapped up in a warm blanket, having all these familiar personalities facing and overcoming challenges as they have done in previous books.
But the let down was the villain. Yes, he was powerful, and yes he was smart. But the plot he had spun, along with his motivations just didn't ring true. He felt too much like a gloating evil caricature, and quite unlike the other enemies we had seen in the previous books. I never really felt I could understand or empathize with him. Because of that, the ending felt very overdone and unbelievable. The big confrontation was very sudden, and all our characters had been moved around like chess pieces, and not truly of their own will. This really pulled a lot of the power away from what should have been the climax of the whole series.
But other than the last 1/4, the book was filled with excitement and hard choices for all the characters I'd come to know and love over this series. I think Ms Ballantine excels at writing personal stories, with the added flair of the fantastical. But the attempt to push the story into the mould of an epic fantasy did it some disservice.
That being said, I think I will look for some other stories by this author, and see how well she does there.
Ms Ballantine gave us more of the same in this, the 4th in the main Order books, and a semi-satisfying conclusion. I think that the biggest problem of this installment is that it is the last installment - and endings are always hard to do right.
Our ever favorite characters: Sorcha, Merrick, Raed and the Rossin are back and in top form. I really loved the challenge raised by the ending of the last book - the Rossin trying to escape - made me almost think that it was the Rossin that was going to be the big-bad of this book. But that was only a lovingly planted red herring! All of our characters were up to their familiar escapades as we followed them in the battle for the Empire against the evil geists. It was like being wrapped up in a warm blanket, having all these familiar personalities facing and overcoming challenges as they have done in previous books.
But the let down was the villain. Yes, he was powerful, and yes he was smart. But the plot he had spun, along with his motivations just didn't ring true. He felt too much like a gloating evil caricature, and quite unlike the other enemies we had seen in the previous books. I never really felt I could understand or empathize with him. Because of that, the ending felt very overdone and unbelievable. The big confrontation was very sudden, and all our characters had been moved around like chess pieces, and not truly of their own will. This really pulled a lot of the power away from what should have been the climax of the whole series.
But other than the last 1/4, the book was filled with excitement and hard choices for all the characters I'd come to know and love over this series. I think Ms Ballantine excels at writing personal stories, with the added flair of the fantastical. But the attempt to push the story into the mould of an epic fantasy did it some disservice.
That being said, I think I will look for some other stories by this author, and see how well she does there.
xphile's review
4.0
Though short, this book was a great ending to the series. I felt that all of the loose ends had come together, but plenty of room was left for further adventures.
hawkeyegonzalez's review
2.0
I would give this book 2/5 stars. It's okay, but it's nothing special. I like most of the characters here, but it just feels like everyone is going through the motions. I never felt emotionally invested or feared for anyone. I also like the overall story as well, although Derodak's ultimate goal and the way he has it planned out seems very convoluted.
This series is good for someone looking to pass the time, but that's about it. While I was entertained for the most part, it's not something that will stick with me as time goes on.
This series is good for someone looking to pass the time, but that's about it. While I was entertained for the most part, it's not something that will stick with me as time goes on.
tashachowdory's review
3.0
This hasn't received 5 stars like previous books mainly because I felt that this book didn't live up to expectations. :( Which I'm quite upset about because I loved Sorcha Faris's character but in this book - quite likely because of the revelation in Wrayth she's not herself. :s Merrick is more annoying than normal.
In fact the best character out of the lot was the Rossin as he's the only that appeared to develop beyond being a character with one set of emotions for the whole book. There are few standout scenes but it's still a fun read and I like that I know what happened to everyone. But if I'm honest this was a rather anticlimactic end to what was an excellent series with brilliant world-building.
Also..merlion. Best part. :p
In fact the best character out of the lot was the Rossin as he's the only that appeared to develop beyond being a character with one set of emotions for the whole book. There are few standout scenes but it's still a fun read and I like that I know what happened to everyone. But if I'm honest this was a rather anticlimactic end to what was an excellent series with brilliant world-building.
Also..merlion. Best part. :p
shutupnread's review
3.0
Link: https://holedupinabook.blogspot.com/2016/10/book-of-order-series-by-philippa.html
I’m not sure why this series is labeled as steampunk on Goodreads because it isn’t really…I would consider this more of high fantasy as opposed to regular fantasy especially with all the geistlords and creatures running amok in this series. Also, I have mixed feelings about this book/series. This was my first high fantasy novel, I think, at least in a while, and it’s not a genre that I’m supremely familiar with or fond of so it was a little slow going for me to get into the characters and the plot.
First things first, there were way too many characters, names, creatures and whatnot going on. I felt like I was constantly confused or simply two steps behind when someone appears. Other than the core crew: Sorcha, Merrick, Raed and later, Zofiya, I was thrown around when someone else appeared. I just felt like there were too many different terminologies and names that it just felt really disorganized. For example, there’s the geist world out there but apparently each geistlord has their own name and that’s in addition to the lesser geists out there and their names. Then there are also the normal people and the Deacons who go by either Deacon [last name] or just simply the first name. And, none of the names are common names so it was even harder for me to connect the dots.
As for the plot itself, the first two books essentially had very different plot lines with different characters (other than the core ones) with a few underlying similarities whereas book 3 and 4 were definitely more correlated and seemed to immediately start up where the other left off. I mean, generally, the books connected in the core elements but I definitely felt as if the first two novels were more of building up the actual plot so you can either look at it positively as if the author is spending a lot of time plot and world building or you can look at it negatively by stating it was very slow especially from the beginning. So if that’s something up your alley, you would enjoy this series.
The three main characters: Sorcha, Merrick and Raed as a whole were well-rounded. I found that some characteristics that one might be lacking would be found in another character. For example, Sorcha was very quick tempered and not at all political whereas Merrick and even Raed knew how to say things in a manner that would cool the flames. Also, I was so sure that there was supposed to be some sort of romantic relationship between Sorcha and Merrick but there wasn’t so I was a little disappointed at that but then again, I guess that would be too cliché maybe.
The one thing that confused me was the relationship between Raed and the Rossin (which apparently isn’t even his real name since Rossin is technically Raed’s last name but the author always went by this name to portray the geistlord which is also another confusing element). I’m not sure what the dynamic was and it seemed that in the beginning that the Rossin controlled Raed during the change but as the books went by, the dynamic changed but it wasn’t exactly equal. I just wish this was something that was portrayed a bit more.
Overall, it was an okay series on my end but then again, I’m not really into high fantasy novels so if that’s something you really like this take a go at this one.
I’m not sure why this series is labeled as steampunk on Goodreads because it isn’t really…I would consider this more of high fantasy as opposed to regular fantasy especially with all the geistlords and creatures running amok in this series. Also, I have mixed feelings about this book/series. This was my first high fantasy novel, I think, at least in a while, and it’s not a genre that I’m supremely familiar with or fond of so it was a little slow going for me to get into the characters and the plot.
First things first, there were way too many characters, names, creatures and whatnot going on. I felt like I was constantly confused or simply two steps behind when someone appears. Other than the core crew: Sorcha, Merrick, Raed and later, Zofiya, I was thrown around when someone else appeared. I just felt like there were too many different terminologies and names that it just felt really disorganized. For example, there’s the geist world out there but apparently each geistlord has their own name and that’s in addition to the lesser geists out there and their names. Then there are also the normal people and the Deacons who go by either Deacon [last name] or just simply the first name. And, none of the names are common names so it was even harder for me to connect the dots.
As for the plot itself, the first two books essentially had very different plot lines with different characters (other than the core ones) with a few underlying similarities whereas book 3 and 4 were definitely more correlated and seemed to immediately start up where the other left off. I mean, generally, the books connected in the core elements but I definitely felt as if the first two novels were more of building up the actual plot so you can either look at it positively as if the author is spending a lot of time plot and world building or you can look at it negatively by stating it was very slow especially from the beginning. So if that’s something up your alley, you would enjoy this series.
The three main characters: Sorcha, Merrick and Raed as a whole were well-rounded. I found that some characteristics that one might be lacking would be found in another character. For example, Sorcha was very quick tempered and not at all political whereas Merrick and even Raed knew how to say things in a manner that would cool the flames. Also, I was so sure that there was supposed to be some sort of romantic relationship between Sorcha and Merrick but there wasn’t so I was a little disappointed at that but then again, I guess that would be too cliché maybe.
The one thing that confused me was the relationship between Raed and the Rossin (which apparently isn’t even his real name since Rossin is technically Raed’s last name but the author always went by this name to portray the geistlord which is also another confusing element). I’m not sure what the dynamic was and it seemed that in the beginning that the Rossin controlled Raed during the change but as the books went by, the dynamic changed but it wasn’t exactly equal. I just wish this was something that was portrayed a bit more.
Overall, it was an okay series on my end but then again, I’m not really into high fantasy novels so if that’s something you really like this take a go at this one.
mashara's review
I doubt I'll be picking this book up again, so I'm taking it off my pending list without a rating, since I can barely remember what was happening by the time I gave up.
I do remember liking Sorcha an awful lot, but she is basically the only character's name I can even remember, and I remember plot points from my high-school mandatory reading.
I do remember liking Sorcha an awful lot, but she is basically the only character's name I can even remember, and I remember plot points from my high-school mandatory reading.
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