Fulminata reviewed King of Scars by Lauren Fortgang
Review of 'King of Scars' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This book was probably going to get a five star rating up to the ending. I think it's possible that I might re-evaluate the rating if I read the next book, and it redeems this ending.
Until the ending it's a good read that follows some of the author's more interesting characters in situations that feel fresh.
My thoughts on the ending are hidden in the spoilers:
Two things were wrong with the ending, the death of Isaak and the return of the Darkling.
The lesser issue was the death of Isaak. His death is essentially meaningless except to remind the reader that it's a dangerous world. His death has little impact on the remaining characters, since they barely knew him. With the return of Nikolai, the need for him to be a focus character is gone, so killing him off actually makes the author's job easier. If he lives, …
This book was probably going to get a five star rating up to the ending. I think it's possible that I might re-evaluate the rating if I read the next book, and it redeems this ending.
Until the ending it's a good read that follows some of the author's more interesting characters in situations that feel fresh.
My thoughts on the ending are hidden in the spoilers:
Two things were wrong with the ending, the death of Isaak and the return of the Darkling.
The lesser issue was the death of Isaak. His death is essentially meaningless except to remind the reader that it's a dangerous world. His death has little impact on the remaining characters, since they barely knew him. With the return of Nikolai, the need for him to be a focus character is gone, so killing him off actually makes the author's job easier. If he lives, then the author has to come up with how else to phase him out of the spotlight, or come up with reasons to keep him in the spotlight. Killing him feels lazy.
If this had been it, I probably wouldn't have lowered my rating. It's definitely the second thing that was a bigger disappointment. Bringing back the Darkling is a mistake. There's already more than enough threats in play to make it unnecessary to add more. The defeat of the Darkling was the entire point of the original trilogy. Bringing him back undoes that victory.
Edit: Having now finished the Rule of Wolves, I still think bringing back the Darkling was a mistake, but at least it didn't become the focus of the next book. Raising my rating of this book to 4 stars to reflect that.
