Lord of Ashes : (Steelhaven: Book Three)

Lord of Ashes is a disappointing end to the Steelhaven saga. The writing is still top notch, and I'm left wanting more from the characters and setting, but the overall quality of plot isn't quite up to the standards of the previous two novels. Additionally, one would expect a lot from two books worth of build up, and as a fan, I got none of the closure I wanted.

I'm hopeful the author picks up with Steelhaven #4, and may revise my rating from three to four stars if this isn't the conclusion. If this is all there is though, the series ends with a whimper.

On with the spoiler discussion:
My primary complaint is that a number of major treachery plots weren't uncovered by the plethora of characters, and it was so bad, that the author had to introduce new (temporary) narration characters in order to fill in the gaps. Steelhaven has been consistently about treachery, and the amount of it left unresolved is truly stunning.

The Chancellor and the Head of the Inquisition is at the top of my angst list - effectively none of the main characters even realized they were traitors. We required an abrupt switch to the Chancellor's viewpoint in order to even realize what was happening. We know nothing of what happened to either character at the tend, though it appears Rogan came out on top as the new regent. Considering they effectively killed the Queen, this is a massive failing.

We follow this with the Temple treachery subplot, which again came out of nowhere. Kyra's sister showed no foreshadowing, and suddenly there was a civil war within the sisters. Somehow it matters that the Temple was where Amon Tugha trapped the Queen, though I didn't see how. He could have met her on the field of battle for all it mattered, since his armies had crushed and breached Steelhaven's walls in multiple areas by the time he tried to kill her. Seriously - we have a former sister as a key narrator and we don't get any insight into the workings of the Temple? Terrible.

And so we finalize with the return of the evil Necromancer, whose powers were never explained, and he ends up saving the city with the Ghouls that were stopped at the climax of Herald of the Storm. Again - no foreshadowing that he was alive, and worse, it entirely made the Magister arc from Shattered Crown irrelevant. There was effectively no need for the Red Witch to get the Mages to help Steelhaven, since their contribution was pitiful (not critical to victory) and ultimately the winning blow was to release one evil to combat the other. Yes, very grimdark, but something they could have done at anytime.

I will then shift the plots that were mediocre - Kyra and the Queen both contributed very little to this novel. As much as I hoped the Queen would lead her armies, we were given nearly no screen time to see the top brass of Steelhaven fight the siege. We get yet another stupid assassination ploy, an absolutely unbelievable "sacrifice yourself for the greater good and rescue" plot, and the two go out fighting. All that but I really did not care because they never even knew of the traitors in their midst.

River's return to narration was also lacklustre. He gave us lots of screen time with Amon Tugha, but otherwise had no interaction with the Queen and showed up to kill the big bad like the plot device he was. His plot briefly intertwined with the Elarian woman, which was actually interesting but we didn't spend sufficient time in her head to recognize her as a main character, and her character arc never even got an ending. Yet more bad writing.

And then Rag... she really is the doom of the Guild. Yet there just wasn't enough screen time for Bastion to be scary, and abrupt heel-face turn of Frederick's old crew to protect the city from the Guild's treachery at the Lichgate was quite unbelievable. Her storyline ends with lame scenes of her running away from Bastion in the tunnels, to be saved by not one, but TWO plot devices (the Ghouls killing Bastion and then being pulled back by Weyland). And then her final words are "I have an idea". Is she taking over the Guild? Like what the actual fuck kind of ending is that.

So we turn to the good stuff: Merrick had the character arc that we all hoped for. No matter what he thinks of himself mentally, his acts of valor are incredible and he ends up giving us some of the best final scenes (with him and Rogan, and then with Kyra). It's incredible how far he's come since Herald of the Storm.

Regulus - omg Regulus's storyline is the stuff of tears. I felt each of his losses and cheered at his defeating of the Elarian second. His relationship with Noble is the stuff of legend and these two really saved the book. Noble's storyline wins top marks in my book -- he defeats two of the three major warlords in single combat, and his ending is some of the most grimdark shit this side of WH40k. The idea that Regulus is going to rescue Noble is a story I desperately want to see...

So that's it. What a waste.

Let's hope there's a fourth book to bring closure.