tansy's review
adventurous
mysterious
4.25
I thoroughly enjoyed the end to this trilogy, although I did also find the plotting odd. Not much really happens for the bulk of the book - it's mostly people travelling - and then quite a lot happens quite abruptly. It concludes Isyllt's story in a satisfying way and I loved the weird, eldritch turn to the proceedings, but one of the main antagonists of this book is not really in the book, which seems bananas. Also, Downum tends to repeat certain unusual words - "carnelian" for example, gets a lot of use in this book - which I find distracting as I'm often watching for them as I read.
concertina's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
mkpatter's review
2.0
tfw you really like this series but this is one of the most anticlimactic books ever. Like that's it?
curgoth's review
3.0
He's a fae-touched warrior rescued from a terrible Turkish-ish prison. She's a necromancer spy mourning a lost mentor and lover. The other he is a djinn trapped in human flesh struggling with the politics of a vast empire! They're all feeling Too Old For This Shit!
With the third book of her Necromancer Chronicles, Downum brings back two of my favourites from The Drowning City, Asheris al-Seth the demon wizard, and Adam, the lethal mercenary.
One of the interesting things about this series is that it looks like standard heroic fantasy, but it keeps subverting and avoiding tropes. The standard model has the heroes getting injured, having thier powers lost or weakened, but in the end, their injuries don't get in the way, their power returns, stronger than ever, and the heroes stride into the sunset, badass and wounded aesthetically.
Downum's heroes win, but at great personal cost. Isyllt's hand never recovers from the first book in the series, and Adam's health is about what you'd expect from someone who spent a good chunk of time in a terrible Turkish-ish prison. It stands out for me, because three books in, we don't see the characters levelling up to increasing levels of badass; they have the same, or sometimes less to work with to face the threats they're presented with. I'm curious to see if this trend continues, or if they eventually start to recover what they've lost and/or gain awesome new power. I believe the series is continuing, and I like the characters enough to keep reading either way - it's just a nice twist on standard epic fantasy tropes.
With the third book of her Necromancer Chronicles, Downum brings back two of my favourites from The Drowning City, Asheris al-Seth the demon wizard, and Adam, the lethal mercenary.
One of the interesting things about this series is that it looks like standard heroic fantasy, but it keeps subverting and avoiding tropes. The standard model has the heroes getting injured, having thier powers lost or weakened, but in the end, their injuries don't get in the way, their power returns, stronger than ever, and the heroes stride into the sunset, badass and wounded aesthetically.
Downum's heroes win, but at great personal cost. Isyllt's hand never recovers from the first book in the series, and Adam's health is about what you'd expect from someone who spent a good chunk of time in a terrible Turkish-ish prison. It stands out for me, because three books in, we don't see the characters levelling up to increasing levels of badass; they have the same, or sometimes less to work with to face the threats they're presented with. I'm curious to see if this trend continues, or if they eventually start to recover what they've lost and/or gain awesome new power. I believe the series is continuing, and I like the characters enough to keep reading either way - it's just a nice twist on standard epic fantasy tropes.
cupiscent's review
4.0
Not as tight-wound and compelling as [b:The Bone Palace|7822865|The Bone Palace (The Necromancer Chronicles, #2)|Amanda Downum|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327927870s/7822865.jpg|10865183], but still lyrically written, deftly characterised and a fun and interesting read. I love how hard the characters live, and how they do not emerge from that unscathed, and how they carry their scars, and heal. It's realistic and it's beautiful and it's not made easy or gratuitously sexy. (Though, that said, she writes some of the most meaningful and intimate sex scenes I've ever read, and rarely are they even slightly explicit.)
laurla's review against another edition
"he wanted to use me. i always knew that. he saw a mage with no family, nowhere to go, and he knew he could turn me into a tool. and i wanted it, wanted to be something useful. something dangerous. not to be scared and alone anymore."
"when do i become myself, and not all these shadows you cast on me?"
"i thought i wanted choices, but choices just make you miserable, dont they?"
"whats wrong? besides the dozen obvious things."
"when do i become myself, and not all these shadows you cast on me?"
"i thought i wanted choices, but choices just make you miserable, dont they?"
"whats wrong? besides the dozen obvious things."
elaineg's review
3.0
There was a whole plot thread and threat that the book did nothing with, in the opposing faction of the church leaders and the curse on Asheris. Not bad, but book 2 of the series was brilliant.
relliem08's review
4.0
Strong, intelligent, sarcastic, witty female lead characters who aren't damsels in distress, trying to be one of the guys, or making incredibly stupid decisions out of some misguided attempt at "twuu wuv" (true love)!
No Insta!Love!
Smart, funny, charming male characters that aren't flaming jerks!
Incredible world-building!
Intrigue!
Action!
Realistic relationships (platonic and romantic)!
*happy sigh*
This was fantasy done well and I'm truly sad to see this series end.
...Bone Palace (book 2) was my favorite, by the way.
No Insta!Love!
Smart, funny, charming male characters that aren't flaming jerks!
Incredible world-building!
Intrigue!
Action!
Realistic relationships (platonic and romantic)!
*happy sigh*
This was fantasy done well and I'm truly sad to see this series end.
...Bone Palace (book 2) was my favorite, by the way.