The demons were a thousand flickering lights around him, the ur-destraas above a raging bonfire.
The author sent me an ARC for an honest review. The final version of the book has minor changes.
Introduction
‘The White Song’ is written by Phil Tucker. It is the fifth and last book in ‘The Chronicles of the Black Gate’ series. The earlier book ‘The Iron Circlet’ (read the review here) left us at a cliff hanger, with Starkadr falling and this is the point ‘The White Song’ resumes from.
Recommendation
I strongly recommend ‘The White Song’ to fantasy readers. The series has been excellent and ‘The White Song’ is its fitting climax. Readers of this series know what to expect. I would suggest that newbies to this series start at book one and work their way through.
‘The White Song’ sets a furious pace which is somehow even faster than earlier books in the series. It was so gripping that I actually finished the book in one sitting when I received the ARC. There are numerous action sequences; my favorite being the air to air combat (Believe me – you will love it when you read it).
Since it the concluding book in the series, we can expect the major characters to have some resolution to their arc. And it does not disappoint. We have happy endings, tragic ending, endings in a blaze of glory and endings in a whimper. Almost all of these are satisfying and bring a sense of contentment.
This series has been a great read throughout and I recommend it once again.
Other Thoughts (Spoilers warning)
Spoilers below. Continue reading at your peril.
The one aspect of the book I did not like (and this is just a personal choice) is that Asho lives. I would have loved for him to have gone out in a blaze of glory. But I can understand why Phil Tucker chose this ending. Thurok’s death is great and shows off his character. Poor Audsley has to live with the consequences of dealing with demons.
There are still loose ends that need resolving – what happens to the ascendancy, the Krags, Kyrra etc. – Phil has said that he is brainstorming a new series to tackle this.
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