a review by Jade Hounsell
I don’t normally do this but I have decided to do a combined review for these two books together as I read them very close and am finding it hard to remember what happened in what book. So first off here is the blurb from both books
The Wall at World’s End has been destroyed and Levaal stands naked again before its twin world. The Arch Mage seeks to unseat Vous before he joins the gods, but loyalties are fractured, within the Castle and among the Free Cities, as war and chaos looms. And a dragon may have escaped its sky prison, while a new alien force is rising by the name of Shadow.
When Eric Albright opened a door and entered Levaal he was truly a stranger in a strange land. Now the Pilgrim seeks answers, on the dragons, the gods, the demon being called Tormentors, and on the disturbing link between himself and the being known as Shadow … between our world and Levaal
World’s End-
Vous has ascended to godhood in a way not even the dragons predicted. Now Eric and Aziel return to the castle to defeat the Arch Mage, as the dragons bid them. They are offered a throne and objects of great power, but what do the dragons want in return? Meanwhile at World s End, the new people have made contact. They call themselves Haiyens, they know many new arts, and they have dealt with dragons before. Have they really come to help or do they have other reasons? Siel and Far Gaze must find the answer, while Eric must accept or reject an offer of immense power.
The reason I am finding it difficult to remember the difference between the two is because I read one straight after the other, kind of like holding your nose and just swallowing some disgusting medicine or drink. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the first book in this series, Pilgrim, and was expecting much the same for the next in the series and was sorely disappointed. The first three quarters of the second book lost me totally and I cannot really pinpoint why, just that I found it sooooo boring. I mean NOTHING seemed to happen…at all. The first book was so fast flowing, lots of action and a smooth introduction to this new world and quirky characters it never once left me wanting or wondering why.
For one of the first times in my life I was actually loathed to pick up a book and in this case it was both of them. Yes all the questions did get answered in the final book, however I feel most of it was done in the last few chapters. Speaking of I found the final battle to be…ummm… disappointing to say the least. It actually seemed to me that the second book, (actually now I think on it, so could most of the third), really could have been left out completely. The blurb on the back cover (and above) really explains most of what the author spends 300 odd pages doing.
Now I think some of the problem may lie in me, I mean really who am I to judge? Not like I have ever written a popular series of books, but I do know what I like and this series, well these two books especially, is not it. In saying that I also feel I must point out that this series does seem to have some good reviews floating around, so maybe I just missed the point but I REALLY am not willing to reread to find out.