The Sword's Elegy (The Sorcerer's Song #3) by Brain D. Anderson

  

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language

 

The doom of humankind has at last been realized. Belkar's prison is broken and his army is on the move. The nations of Lamoria, unaware of the greater danger, look to repel the aggression of Ralmarstad.

Mariyah and Lem, certain that only the magic of the Bards can save them, desperately search for that lost knowledge. But friends and allies are what they need to complete their task. And they are in short supply. For, while peril often brings out the best in us, it also brings out the worst.

In the end, it is not great power, terrible armies, or mighty warriors who will influence the course of fate. But two lovers and the unbreakable bond they share. All questions are answered. All mysteries revealed. And even Belkar will learn that fate, once tempted, cannot be denied.

 

After loving the first two books in this series I was excited to read this last one and find out how it all ends. Unfortunately, this one fell a little flat for me. While I enjoyed things about this book, it just didn't have the same feel as the other two. One thing that was missing was the danger and intrigue. I was never sure how things would end up when I was reading the other two books, but with this one I never really got that feeling. I also felt like the book took too much time focusing on side plots and characters. At this point I didn't want to be reading chapters about Shemi that didn't really feel like they needed to be there for the overarching story. I was also a bit disappointed in the way things were resolved. I had hoped that the music would play an even bigger role in this book and the way the magic worked through it, but I didn't get as much of that as I wanted. 

Also, Mariyah’s  behavior became very concerning to me, she was way too merciless, and didn't seem to have much of a conscience. That's not the way I remember the character from the other two books. The thing I loved about the first two books was how devoted Lem and Mariyah were to each other even through all the changes and hardships they went through. They loved each other and were determined to be together. They never lost focus of that. It was a beautiful thing, but somehow this last book kind of turned that beautiful thing into, doing whatever it took, at whatever cost, no matter who else had to die, in order for them to be together. I get that saving the word was also involved and those are really high stakes, but I feel like Mariyah just wasn't herself anymore and she went too far. On top of that she felt very overpowered, and I wanted the balance of power between Mariyah and Lem to be more even and interdependent to defeat the antagonist. In the end the final battle was too simple with nothing big really happening. It was clever, and I could appreciate that, but it wasn't what I was expecting.