Reviews

There’s a good book hidden in here somewhere, but this read like a poorly written first draft. All the time spent on Tyrak felt repetitive and utterly pointless, and I was disappointed that the characters we followed in the first book are barely present in the background. Debating whether I should bother with the conclusion to this trilogy.

bookswithjk's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

While lush and vivid in its prose and worldbuilding, I was a bit disappointed at how pushed back the women in this book were. The title of the book is “A Dark Queen Rises”, and yet we spend a long time focusing on male violence and male conquests. I had to skim pages of Tyrak’s fights at the end of the book because I wanted to see more of Krushni.

I am still looking forward to the finale though (is it true this series was changed from 10/12 books to just three books?!). I’d love to see the princess from the first book meet up with the dark queen. Based on the title, I will assume they are!

Content Warnings

lopab94's review

Go to review page

5.0

The saga continues from [b:Upon a Burning Throne|37570597|Upon a Burning Throne (Burnt Empire Saga, #1)|Ashok K. Banker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525807593l/37570597._SY75_.jpg|55748474] and I loved it as much as the first! I love the new twists on this old story that I've known since I was a toddler. Fell in love with Krushita and Drishya and can't wait to see where this goes. [a:Ashok K. Banker|3387850|Ashok K. Banker|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1580782809p2/3387850.jpg] has quickly become on of my favorite authors and I look forward to seeing how the Burn Empire Saga ends and read much more by him.

sagelund's review

Go to review page

dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

The series longs to set up grand and intricate political scheming with powerful high-fantasy magic, something akin to a religious epic. However, the author seemed to forget nearly all mention of the principle characters of the first book, and continues to dredge new solutions out of nowhere because characters have relations to gods or can tap into magics. It's a series of impossible situations and impossible solutions wrought from powers never set-up or explained. Cool things happen because the author says so and you're to just accept it with a shrug and a "that's cool I guess."

More...