ronpayne's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
I'm very happy to have finally gotten to the final book in the Empires of Dust, a grimdark series notable for its excellent prose, and for leaning away from the voyeurism you often see in the genre, and instead leaning into the tragedy of it all. I often describe these books as beautiful writing about terrible people doing terrible things. All the bad stuff happens on the page, so if that's not your thing, these books aren't for you.
the_coycaterpillar_reads's review against another edition
4.0
The House of Sacrifice was absolutely brilliant – unsettling, brutal and tragic. A masterpiece of intrigue and Anna Smith Spark has crazy talent.
The House of Sacrifice concludes the Empires of Dust trilogy and can I say what a wild ride it was. I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t believe it took me this long to pick it up. I deserve a slap across the wrists for that misdemeanour. The prose is outstanding…seriously beautiful in its brutal sense of realism. At no point did I struggle to get lost in the story, I was there in that moment, living the consequences of those characters. Spark has a way with words and I can’t wait to see what she pulls out of her bag next. I don’t doubt that its going to be just as powerful and just as memorable as The Empires of Dust Trilogy. This author has a lifelong fan.
Do you want a trilogy that leaves you breathless in its sublime conclusion? Then this is the story for you. Its almost impossible to please everyone but Spark does a stellar job for making the ending satisfying.
One thing I think that Spark has done especially well is displaying Marith’s decent into chaos in terms of his mental health. It’s a well contested topic and is extremely difficult to get right. Author’s have been known to get it wrong, unintentionally, and using stereotypes further conflicts the readers ability to appreciate where the author is coming from. Spark hasn’t fallen into that trap and investigates just what Marith’s actions would do to a person. He’s accomplished everything he set out to do and more. There is no one to stand up to him, no one to inflict consequence upon his terrifying reign. He’s killed people that he loved, people that have the label, family. Seeing the light go out on those you have loved and cared for must eat away at you. Their lives have ended at your hands, I think those images would haunt both my waking and sleeping moments. Thalia is still at his side, gone is the woman who served as the High Priestess, that woman has been buried, in its place is now Thalia, Queen of the White Isles and Marith’s wife. Those two make up some of the most screwed up, dysfunctional couples I’ve ever read about. It was wrong but somehow it seemed so right.
The first half of the story was of a quieter, slower pace. It wasn’t boring not for a minute, but it had a sense of caution, it gave a real idea of what happens in between sieges and battles. The chat between soldiers, the worry, the pain and I think the story certainly benefited from those powerful scenes. Although not a lot happened, reading them went quickly and before you knew it, you were in the midst of another siege and the story careened onwards with the force of a battering ram. This is a story that I won’t quickly forget, it was memorable in its morally grey characters and world building that was second to none.
The House of Sacrifice concludes the Empires of Dust trilogy and can I say what a wild ride it was. I enjoyed every minute of it and can’t believe it took me this long to pick it up. I deserve a slap across the wrists for that misdemeanour. The prose is outstanding…seriously beautiful in its brutal sense of realism. At no point did I struggle to get lost in the story, I was there in that moment, living the consequences of those characters. Spark has a way with words and I can’t wait to see what she pulls out of her bag next. I don’t doubt that its going to be just as powerful and just as memorable as The Empires of Dust Trilogy. This author has a lifelong fan.
Do you want a trilogy that leaves you breathless in its sublime conclusion? Then this is the story for you. Its almost impossible to please everyone but Spark does a stellar job for making the ending satisfying.
One thing I think that Spark has done especially well is displaying Marith’s decent into chaos in terms of his mental health. It’s a well contested topic and is extremely difficult to get right. Author’s have been known to get it wrong, unintentionally, and using stereotypes further conflicts the readers ability to appreciate where the author is coming from. Spark hasn’t fallen into that trap and investigates just what Marith’s actions would do to a person. He’s accomplished everything he set out to do and more. There is no one to stand up to him, no one to inflict consequence upon his terrifying reign. He’s killed people that he loved, people that have the label, family. Seeing the light go out on those you have loved and cared for must eat away at you. Their lives have ended at your hands, I think those images would haunt both my waking and sleeping moments. Thalia is still at his side, gone is the woman who served as the High Priestess, that woman has been buried, in its place is now Thalia, Queen of the White Isles and Marith’s wife. Those two make up some of the most screwed up, dysfunctional couples I’ve ever read about. It was wrong but somehow it seemed so right.
The first half of the story was of a quieter, slower pace. It wasn’t boring not for a minute, but it had a sense of caution, it gave a real idea of what happens in between sieges and battles. The chat between soldiers, the worry, the pain and I think the story certainly benefited from those powerful scenes. Although not a lot happened, reading them went quickly and before you knew it, you were in the midst of another siege and the story careened onwards with the force of a battering ram. This is a story that I won’t quickly forget, it was memorable in its morally grey characters and world building that was second to none.
thedashdude's review against another edition
5.0
The Court of Broken Knives: 5/5
The pacing was all over the place, but in the best possible way. I never quite understood what direction the story was going, but it always went there with spectacle and wonderful writing.
The Tower of Living and Dying: 5/5
Delivered on the epic conclusion to book 1, intrigue and bloodshed aplenty. Always delivered well.
The House of Sacrifice: 5/5
Epic conclusion to the series. Meandering and with enough atmosphere to carry it through to an ending that shouldn't have worked but landed perfectly and was practically comical in its aptness.
The series never had normal pacing, but was always entertaining. The endings were always great. Anna Smith Spark has an impeccable sense of style. Moody, poetic, and grand.
Why we march and why we die,
And what life means... it’s all a lie.
Death! Death! Death!
The pacing was all over the place, but in the best possible way. I never quite understood what direction the story was going, but it always went there with spectacle and wonderful writing.
The Tower of Living and Dying: 5/5
Delivered on the epic conclusion to book 1, intrigue and bloodshed aplenty. Always delivered well.
The House of Sacrifice: 5/5
Epic conclusion to the series. Meandering and with enough atmosphere to carry it through to an ending that shouldn't have worked but landed perfectly and was practically comical in its aptness.
The series never had normal pacing, but was always entertaining. The endings were always great. Anna Smith Spark has an impeccable sense of style. Moody, poetic, and grand.
Why we march and why we die,
And what life means... it’s all a lie.
Death! Death! Death!
randomseed's review
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
brents's review
1.0
What the hell even was that? Might be the worst conclusion to a trilogy I have read. Not a single compelling storyline in the entire book. No plot or overall point. Things that seemed like they were being worked towards in book 2 just went nowhere. Not even a hint of a satisfying conclusion. No character development. Repetitive writing that really got very old 3 books in. Do not recommended.
jenni_t_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Usually we get sweet or bitter sweet endings, but this was just bitter. It made me sad and I loved it.
At this point after reading all the books in this series, I've bocome a huge fan of Anna's writing style. In my opinion, it worked perfectly on audiobook format and Colin Mace has become one of my favourite narrators.
At this point after reading all the books in this series, I've bocome a huge fan of Anna's writing style. In my opinion, it worked perfectly on audiobook format and Colin Mace has become one of my favourite narrators.
ababoglo's review
4.0
Proper review to follow. But this was... dark. Dark and brutal.
Leonard Coen produced a mood-perfect soundtrack:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3jeTB3j3QmUs8SPIVleHtU
Leonard Coen produced a mood-perfect soundtrack:
https://open.spotify.com/album/3jeTB3j3QmUs8SPIVleHtU
bigchipper's review against another edition
3.0
Brutal. Queen of Grimdark indeed!
Smith writes like an impressionist painter paints...little dabs here, little brushes there. It may not suit all readers, but if you find the rhythm of her prose, it's fairly enjoyable. Ultimately, the story wasn't as engaging as the first and to some extent the second books.
Smith writes like an impressionist painter paints...little dabs here, little brushes there. It may not suit all readers, but if you find the rhythm of her prose, it's fairly enjoyable. Ultimately, the story wasn't as engaging as the first and to some extent the second books.
jennieartemis's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
TL;DR: A brutal grimdark finale that is messy in all the right ways but in a few more iffy ways as well
Reading House of Sacrifice was a constant back and forth. At points, I felt on the verge of a grand revelation, cementing this series as profound and making a real message about fantasy, war, and violence. At other points, I was fearful that the book was slipping into pointless nihilism. This made the actual reading of it a bit uncomfortable, as I was constantly re-evaluating the narrative. But ultimately I think it managed to be something special, and leave on a message that was not hopeful (which would have not been fitting), but was definitely meaningful in its tragedy. This is a series that has really challenged my reading of fantasy; it is beautiful and powerful and messy, even if there are some things I would want changed about its handling of plot and focus.
9/10 in personal rating system
Reading House of Sacrifice was a constant back and forth. At points, I felt on the verge of a grand revelation, cementing this series as profound and making a real message about fantasy, war, and violence. At other points, I was fearful that the book was slipping into pointless nihilism. This made the actual reading of it a bit uncomfortable, as I was constantly re-evaluating the narrative. But ultimately I think it managed to be something special, and leave on a message that was not hopeful (which would have not been fitting), but was definitely meaningful in its tragedy. This is a series that has really challenged my reading of fantasy; it is beautiful and powerful and messy, even if there are some things I would want changed about its handling of plot and focus.
9/10 in personal rating system