5/5 stars
Synopsis
Warning! This section contains spoilers, if you would like to avoid these spoilers, jump to the review below.
After the main character escaped the dungeon at the end of book 3, he woke a guardian statue on accident and received a quest from it. He left that area, but was then ambushed by assassins. He fought the assassins, and quickly realized that they wanted to capture him, not kill him. To evade capture, he threw himself on a sword so he would die and be respawned in the safe zone. Then he went to speak to a Dark power.
Michael, through his schemes, got Loken to remove the tracking spell that he had put on Michael.
He went and completed some bounties, which led to him meeting a werewolf. Michael needed to go check on the sector with the dire wolves, so after instructing the werewolf to stay put, he arranged to be teleported there. He found out that the tavern he owned was having a hard time because players were intimidating other players and warning them to stay away. He also found out that the Powers were fighting for control of the valley.
Michael started hunting the players who were intimidating other players and wiped them all out. He then discovered the dire wolf pack was in trouble.
Michael had to get some people and the fire wolves to safety but he had to take them through nether-infested territory, which was incredibly dangerous. He concocted a plan to get them through but it partially failed.
One of Michael’s companions got stuck in the nether infested region, so he went after her. He was attacked by a Stygian overlord, which he wasn’t able to fight, and so he had to run away from it. He escaped it by going through an unexplored dungeon portal.
Review
I liked the book. I liked how in-depth the world building was, and I liked how well Michael had been developed as a character.
I really enjoyed reading about his fight with one of the bounties he had to complete. It was fun seeing his trap making skills in action. It was also really amusing reading about him hunting down the people who had been intimidating other players to prevent them from going to the tavern he owned. He said he was going to kill the leader slowly, and so he poisoned him before stabbing him, but I felt like that was a bit anticlimactic. It would have been nice if he had done it with more…pizzazz, but it worked out in the end because he had to deal with some enemies who were returning to the encampment and couldn’t spend much time with the leader.
Michael seemed to have good try/fail cycles in the book. He didn’t have everything as well put together in this book than in the previous books. His plans fell apart more, especially towards the end of the book, which brought tension to the story. It was enjoyable to watch him struggle through his mistakes and try to find other ways to complete his tasks.
I enjoyed the slow trickle of information the author provided as I made my way through the books. It made me feel like I was slowly peeling layers back, gradually revealing the bigger picture. It makes me want to know more. For example, the guardian statue that Michael woke up revealed more information regarding Michael’s bloodline, why it was important, and why the Powers would kill him if they found out he was awakening it. One of the Powers did figure out that Michael was following the bloodline, but not the whole truth. I felt like this was another try/fail cycle. Michael did his best to hide what he was becoming from the Powers, but ultimately, he failed, and one figured it out. What will this Power do in the upcoming book? Why didn’t he eliminate Michael immediately? And what will Michael do about it?
One thing that bothered me was that Michael seemed to frequently forget about the people that he was working with or had made promises to. For example, he seemed to completely forget that he had left a person he said he would help. He remembered a few days later, but it was still a little jarring. He acknowledged that he had a problem with being a leader and taking care of those under his care, and that he needed to be better, so hopefully in the next book he will grow to be more of a leader.
Another thing that had me scratching my head in confusion was the dungeon portal that Michael used to escape the stygian horror. I do not recall the dungeon being mentioned in the previous books. I felt like it came out of nowhere, and it felt too convenient.
I’m excited to see what trouble Michael will get himself into in the next book. I have really been enjoying this series.
Fireheart Books 