Sean Gursky reviewed Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan
Review of 'Wrath of Empire' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The vengeance was only in his head. But then again, that's all that ever mattered.
Yup, this book is excellent. Middle books in trilogies are tricky and their inability to be memorable can hurt the series but Wrath of Empire hit all the marks. It picks up the pieces from its predecessor and works to set up the finale nicely.
The characters are spread out and their POV's help drive the story forward. I never found myself tired of a chapter or story line even if some are exposition and not explosions.
They say Death walks in your footsteps just to find an easier road. Some of them fear you. Some hate you. Some like you.
I really enjoyed the character development of Styke. He question his motives, wrestles with the notion of being a hypocrite and doing so while fighting Dragonmen. The character growth isn't left to Styke, Michel …
The vengeance was only in his head. But then again, that's all that ever mattered.
Yup, this book is excellent. Middle books in trilogies are tricky and their inability to be memorable can hurt the series but Wrath of Empire hit all the marks. It picks up the pieces from its predecessor and works to set up the finale nicely.
The characters are spread out and their POV's help drive the story forward. I never found myself tired of a chapter or story line even if some are exposition and not explosions.
They say Death walks in your footsteps just to find an easier road. Some of them fear you. Some hate you. Some like you.
I really enjoyed the character development of Styke. He question his motives, wrestles with the notion of being a hypocrite and doing so while fighting Dragonmen. The character growth isn't left to Styke, Michel has entertaining chapters as he struggles with his position in an enemy occupied Landfall.
"What's your plan?"
"You ever see someone slice a baguette in half lengthwise to make a sandwich?"
Taniel's eyebrows rose. "Yes?"
"I'm going to slice straight down the column."
How about some epic Bone Eye and Powder Mage battles? You bet! McClellan delivered this in spades and I was grinning like a kid on Christmas with some of the sequences. Outside of the smash and grab battles I also enjoy some military strategy with Olem or Vlora to spice things up too and Wrath of Empire didn't disappoint there.
It's no surprise but I'm going to march straight in to the final book, and if you've made it this far in the series you probably will too.
