Book Review: Tears of the Maelstrom by Timothy Wolff
Genre(s): Epic Fantasy
Book Synopsis:
The realm has been saved, but at what cost?
With Vaynex on the brink of civil war, Tempest Claw struggles for peace among his people, many of whom seek vengeance for their lost deity. As the recession grows deeper, one thing remains clear: Tempest will either find common ground with his brethren, or a tomb buried within the sand.
Serenna Morgan struggles in her new role as Guardian leader. With insufficient time to mend the emotional scars from the last Harbinger, she must prepare a scattered team to defend the realm from old enemies reemerging in the South, along with a new divine nemesis scheming in the West.
David Williams finds service to a goddess much like his time as a Guardian: endless and hopeless. With their growing influence infecting every kingdom, he goes rogue for a new purpose:
To create a realm without gods
Review:
This was a much more complicated book than the first in the series was. It’s hard to put some of my thoughts together without giving too much away, but I’ll try.
The main cast from Platinum Tinted Darkness is back: Serenna, David, Pyith, Tempest, Francis, Mary, Sardonyx… Seven months have passed since the end of book 1, and for some characters, a lot has changed.
One of my favorite characters from book one was Sardonyx, but we definitely got to see a different side of him early in book two, one that wasn’t so glorious. I really felt bad for Tempest, having to grow up with that… By the midway point of this book, I think Tempest was easily my favorite, but his story is pretty heartbreaking. I’ll leave it at that.
Wisdom is still around too. If there was ever a “most obnoxious deity” award, it would go to him. I really hope someone finds a means to, ah, dispatch him in the last book. Can we just summon a Harbinger to take him out? Pretty please?
Speaking of Harbingers, there are a couple more big Harbinger battles in this book. They still have the same MMORPG-raid boss feel to them, but there was a bit more chaos in some of the fights this time around. People not listening, people ignoring orders… You know, all the fun stuff that can cause plans to completely disintegrate. And the stakes are higher than ever.
But there are some light-hearted moments too, and one scene at the end of the book involving a certain Zephum that made me laugh out loud. (If you know, you know.)
This was a great sequel, and I have high hopes for book three.
Author’s Amazon Page: Timothy Wolff
Amazon link: Tears of the Maelstrom
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