What do you think?
Rate this book
The Norothian Cycle #3
The Wind From Miilark
The third volume of the Norothian Cycle, wherein the exile, Jonathan Deskata, returns home to the Islands of Miilark. Sometimes late is not better than never.
With the Trade House disbanded during John's absence and his Law Sister, Rhianne, reduced to poverty, the last of the Deskatas have no choice but to take up the ancient Island right of the blood vendetta, and turn to piracy on the high seas. The people of Miilark say that the Wind governs all lives, and the course upon which John and Rhianne are blown will bring them into conflict with worse things than enemy Houses. But with a little luck, John will cross paths with some old friends as well.
The Norothian Cycle. Muskets, Magic, and Matilda Lanai.
With the Trade House disbanded during John's absence and his Law Sister, Rhianne, reduced to poverty, the last of the Deskatas have no choice but to take up the ancient Island right of the blood vendetta, and turn to piracy on the high seas. The people of Miilark say that the Wind governs all lives, and the course upon which John and Rhianne are blown will bring them into conflict with worse things than enemy Houses. But with a little luck, John will cross paths with some old friends as well.
The Norothian Cycle. Muskets, Magic, and Matilda Lanai.
- GenresFantasyEpic Fantasy
308 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 15, 2011
2 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
M. Edward McNally
17 books92 followersYikes, this page gave me an option to enter my "date of death." That's disheartening. Anyway, North Carolina born Irish/Mexican, grew up Midwestern along I 35 Northbound (KS, IA, MN), now in AZ among the scorpions and javelinas. Studied English Lit and Russian/East European History in school, and at the place where the two bumped together, I wrote some Musket & Magic Fantasy books. Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 30, 2014
The third installment in the highly-enjoyable Norothian Cycle, The Wind From Miilark focuses on John Deskata, who has headed home to Miilark to try to rescue his family's fortune and be reunited with his love Rhianne. The situation when he arrives home is dire, and, vowing to avenge his family's downfall, he sets out with Rhianne, a gangster-assassin named YuPao, and the sailors and fighters who are still loyal to House Deskata to drive the family that ruined his to their own ruin.
This book seems to be a lot heavier on the world-building than previous books in the series, explaining a lot of the historical and political background in McNally's richly-developed world. These explanations kind of bring the story to a halt sometimes, but they're mostly pretty interesting, and help to understand the wars and rivalries that John and his crew find themselves entangled in. The last part of the book is non-stop action, with a powerful and unexpected ending.
To me, the characters are the best part of the Norothian series. Here we learn more about John's forbidden love affair with his adopted sister Rhianne, meet Yu Pao, the gangster hired by John's backers to make sure he and Rhianne don't fall into the wrong hands, and, in my favorite parts, we're reunited with some of the characters from the first two books - Tilda and Zeb, now partners in love and business, and Phin, the wizard who has developed some unusual powers.
Although some of the explanations about the world slowed the book down a bit, The Wind From Miilark is still an exciting and enjoyable installment in the Norothian series and I look forward to reading book 4.
This book seems to be a lot heavier on the world-building than previous books in the series, explaining a lot of the historical and political background in McNally's richly-developed world. These explanations kind of bring the story to a halt sometimes, but they're mostly pretty interesting, and help to understand the wars and rivalries that John and his crew find themselves entangled in. The last part of the book is non-stop action, with a powerful and unexpected ending.
To me, the characters are the best part of the Norothian series. Here we learn more about John's forbidden love affair with his adopted sister Rhianne, meet Yu Pao, the gangster hired by John's backers to make sure he and Rhianne don't fall into the wrong hands, and, in my favorite parts, we're reunited with some of the characters from the first two books - Tilda and Zeb, now partners in love and business, and Phin, the wizard who has developed some unusual powers.
Although some of the explanations about the world slowed the book down a bit, The Wind From Miilark is still an exciting and enjoyable installment in the Norothian series and I look forward to reading book 4.
April 20, 2017
I still really like this series. It gets too bogged down in details at times, but once you learn to skim the 1000 year old history parts the story really goes.
August 13, 2016
Although I normally make small individual reviews, this series has me doing the rare combined review. I LOVED this series. I do mean L.O.V.E. This series NEEDS to skip everyone's to be read lists and go straight to BUY. This series, entirely, had me entranced. I did not stop, not even for air. This series is great for men and women alike. There is no doubt in my mind that this series can easily make for an amazing muti-million (Hundreds) dollar movie series.
With all that being said, on with the review. The writing style was masterfully done. Everything was perfectly balanced. The characters were done flawlessly. Their realistic personalities, combined with the richness in the detailed world, blurred the lines between real and fantasy. The author has an uncanny way of drawing you so far into the story-line that you can easily lose yourself. The pace was unrelenting. It never let me peel my eyes away from the pages of the story. It kept my eyes at bay with the twist and turns, edge of your seat, burst of humor, and the lively playfulness. The plot's climax could bring you to your knees. The only disappointment I had, was like all things, the book came to an end.
All three of these books easily made a 5 star rating, with mind blowing grace.
~~ http://werevampsromance.blogspot.com/
With all that being said, on with the review. The writing style was masterfully done. Everything was perfectly balanced. The characters were done flawlessly. Their realistic personalities, combined with the richness in the detailed world, blurred the lines between real and fantasy. The author has an uncanny way of drawing you so far into the story-line that you can easily lose yourself. The pace was unrelenting. It never let me peel my eyes away from the pages of the story. It kept my eyes at bay with the twist and turns, edge of your seat, burst of humor, and the lively playfulness. The plot's climax could bring you to your knees. The only disappointment I had, was like all things, the book came to an end.
All three of these books easily made a 5 star rating, with mind blowing grace.
~~ http://werevampsromance.blogspot.com/
February 14, 2012
I am still *loving* this series, and I can't wait for volume four. The series has darkened since the first book (which was darkish to start), yet the arcs of the characters feel true. Highly, highly recommended for fans of heroic/epic fantasy.
February 23, 2018
keep reading, it only gets better
absorb the history and geography, you're going to need it. you're going into the culture and minds of the inhabitants of the lands across the channel. now you'll really get to know who/why John Deskata is.
absorb the history and geography, you're going to need it. you're going into the culture and minds of the inhabitants of the lands across the channel. now you'll really get to know who/why John Deskata is.
August 19, 2021
Wow
The book starts off with some action, a lot of political commentary about what is happening around this world. It slowly morphs into non-stop page turning action that left me questioning how the book “ended” so quickly. NEXT!
The book starts off with some action, a lot of political commentary about what is happening around this world. It slowly morphs into non-stop page turning action that left me questioning how the book “ended” so quickly. NEXT!
May 24, 2017
Surprising ending
July 22, 2013
In this 3rd book of the Norothian cycle was not my favorite. The first 10 chapters dealt only with John Deskata and new characters. John has returned to Miilark, too late to stop the dissolution of his family's Trade House. He was exiled because he was sleeping with his "law sister" Rhianne. She was basically adopted by his family, he slept with her and was exiled and she continued to live in luxury, and was beautiful and all the statues on the island were modeled after her "almost indescribable beauty". Barf. Rhianne only seems to care that she's lost her lifestyle and spends the first 10 chapters of the book complaining that she's doing/wearing things that "a lady of her status" would never do. I just found her character to be such a distraction from all of the characters I've come to love in this series. I found the relationship to be creepy - I know they're not blood relatives, but raised as brother and sister, so...yeah. I quit watching Dexter when Deb decided she was "in love" with him, and this is the same skeezy relationship.
Anyhow, John declares a blood feud against the house that pushed to see his family's house disbanded. Along the way, he's sent off in another direction thanks to interfering with the plans of a dragon. Rhianne doesn't like that he's a soldier, doesn't like that his hair is short, doesn't like being on a boat, blah blah blah. John wasn't my favorite character, but still, it was so tiring.
Fortunately, there was a brief appearance by my favorites, Tilda and Zed, and Phin came along for the rest of the journey.
There was a twist at the end that was good, and I hoped it meant Rhianne wouldn't be in anymore books - alas, it seems like she will be. Hopefully we'll shift back to characters I care about - particularly women who are strong on their own, not because they're beautiful and a man protects them.
Anyhow, John declares a blood feud against the house that pushed to see his family's house disbanded. Along the way, he's sent off in another direction thanks to interfering with the plans of a dragon. Rhianne doesn't like that he's a soldier, doesn't like that his hair is short, doesn't like being on a boat, blah blah blah. John wasn't my favorite character, but still, it was so tiring.
Fortunately, there was a brief appearance by my favorites, Tilda and Zed, and Phin came along for the rest of the journey.
There was a twist at the end that was good, and I hoped it meant Rhianne wouldn't be in anymore books - alas, it seems like she will be. Hopefully we'll shift back to characters I care about - particularly women who are strong on their own, not because they're beautiful and a man protects them.
November 6, 2011
Well, I wasn't expecting that! What an absolute barsteward...
Who, what and why, I hear you ask. To find out the who and the why you'll just have to read the what, which happens to be the third mammoth instalment of M Ed McNally's Norothian Cycle series, The Wind From Miilark.
Now, I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I am rather limited in my descriptions of the novel, but I will say it builds on the high standards McNally set with the first two instalments, The Sable City and Death of a Kingdom. Once again, the reader is sucked into a detailed and vivid world, richly portrayed without ever becoming bogged down in detail, and with characters to match, as events hurtle towards their earth-shattering climax.
We're not there yet, though – there's another instalment to come – but the players in this epic fantasy are moving into place in a dramatic and portentous manner as we follow the lives of McNally's heroes and villains struggling to get on with their lives and schemes. Many of them are unaware, though some suspect, the dark times ahead that will change their world forever. Of course, this wouldn't be epic fantasy if it weren't building up to some cataclysmic struggle between good and evil.
In building up to this fateful clash, McNally paces it well, so that it never seems to drag as we share the characters' experiences in their everyday struggles and adventures; and there's more than a few surprises to keep us off balance, as I indicated at the beginning.
If you've already been following the Norothian Cycle, then all you need to know is that The Wind From Miilark is a worthy successor, and if you haven't then that begs the question why not? This is a classy piece of work from a masterful author.
Mark Cantrell,
Author of the novel Citizen Zero
Who, what and why, I hear you ask. To find out the who and the why you'll just have to read the what, which happens to be the third mammoth instalment of M Ed McNally's Norothian Cycle series, The Wind From Miilark.
Now, I don't want to give away any spoilers, so I am rather limited in my descriptions of the novel, but I will say it builds on the high standards McNally set with the first two instalments, The Sable City and Death of a Kingdom. Once again, the reader is sucked into a detailed and vivid world, richly portrayed without ever becoming bogged down in detail, and with characters to match, as events hurtle towards their earth-shattering climax.
We're not there yet, though – there's another instalment to come – but the players in this epic fantasy are moving into place in a dramatic and portentous manner as we follow the lives of McNally's heroes and villains struggling to get on with their lives and schemes. Many of them are unaware, though some suspect, the dark times ahead that will change their world forever. Of course, this wouldn't be epic fantasy if it weren't building up to some cataclysmic struggle between good and evil.
In building up to this fateful clash, McNally paces it well, so that it never seems to drag as we share the characters' experiences in their everyday struggles and adventures; and there's more than a few surprises to keep us off balance, as I indicated at the beginning.
If you've already been following the Norothian Cycle, then all you need to know is that The Wind From Miilark is a worthy successor, and if you haven't then that begs the question why not? This is a classy piece of work from a masterful author.
Mark Cantrell,
Author of the novel Citizen Zero
October 16, 2012
In a way, it's silly to start a review from scratch on the third book in any series. Because you're not going to look at this unless you've already read the first two, right?
So, let me say that if you HAVE read the first two (and if you haven't, and you love epic fantasy, you'd better get right on it) this book will not disappoint you.
We open on John Deskata returning to Miilark and his only love, Rhianne (remember her?). We didn't know much about her in the first two, but now we go deep. She's a lady's lady. Well-educated. Refined. Erudite. And at this point, after eight years of geographical separation, about as emotionally separated from the rough warlike John Deskata as she could be.
So the initial tension is, can these two find love again?
Stuff happens, and it all makes sense in the story. There's a war with the Lokendah, there's other cultures over Interminable seas. There are books and prophecies. And that's all interesting and fascinating and readable. But it's the question of that relationship that got me to turn the page.
There's plenty of history and description, and I admit to skimming through that. That's just me. But I don't mind skimming to get into a riveting, character-driven piece of world-making.
So, let me say that if you HAVE read the first two (and if you haven't, and you love epic fantasy, you'd better get right on it) this book will not disappoint you.
We open on John Deskata returning to Miilark and his only love, Rhianne (remember her?). We didn't know much about her in the first two, but now we go deep. She's a lady's lady. Well-educated. Refined. Erudite. And at this point, after eight years of geographical separation, about as emotionally separated from the rough warlike John Deskata as she could be.
So the initial tension is, can these two find love again?
Stuff happens, and it all makes sense in the story. There's a war with the Lokendah, there's other cultures over Interminable seas. There are books and prophecies. And that's all interesting and fascinating and readable. But it's the question of that relationship that got me to turn the page.
There's plenty of history and description, and I admit to skimming through that. That's just me. But I don't mind skimming to get into a riveting, character-driven piece of world-making.
April 6, 2012
It has taken me a few days to try to find the right words to sum up how I feel about The Wind from Miilark. Sadly, I doubt any review I write can do the third book in this saga justice. I humbly realize now, that unlike M. Edward McNally, I am not that great a wordsmith.
The characters in this novel often times refer to their fates as being unpredictable, and they are metaphorically speaking, blown by the wind. As I read The Wind from Miilark, I felt as if I was being blown about in a storm. Just as I suspected the scene would play out in a certain way, I was blown off course, as the novel sailed in a completely different direction.
To say the least, reading such an unpredictable novel was both exciting and refreshing.
The ending was shocking, horrifying and utterly brilliant. But, honestly, the whole novel was brilliant. This fantasy saga has been without a doubt the best in the genre I've ever read. In fact, these are the best books I've read. Ever.
I am anxiously awaiting the fouth installment.
The characters in this novel often times refer to their fates as being unpredictable, and they are metaphorically speaking, blown by the wind. As I read The Wind from Miilark, I felt as if I was being blown about in a storm. Just as I suspected the scene would play out in a certain way, I was blown off course, as the novel sailed in a completely different direction.
To say the least, reading such an unpredictable novel was both exciting and refreshing.
The ending was shocking, horrifying and utterly brilliant. But, honestly, the whole novel was brilliant. This fantasy saga has been without a doubt the best in the genre I've ever read. In fact, these are the best books I've read. Ever.
I am anxiously awaiting the fouth installment.
January 9, 2013
point of no return.
That's what happens in The Wind from Miilark. The characters we have come to know and love throughout the first two books of McNally's Norothian Cycle come to a point from which they'll never be the same. Just like the title might suggest, the winds of change - the winds by which the Miilarkians live their lives - bring about terror, destruction, and even the hope for a new future.
This book is hard. It deals with hard themes, and it ends on a note even more difficult than you could ever imagine. McNally is not only the kind of writer whose books could very well go down in history like Tolkien, but he's the kind of writer that creates a world and its people, and makes you fall in love with it/them.
Before this book, I was already invested in the series. After, you couldn't pry it from my cold dead fingers.
That's what happens in The Wind from Miilark. The characters we have come to know and love throughout the first two books of McNally's Norothian Cycle come to a point from which they'll never be the same. Just like the title might suggest, the winds of change - the winds by which the Miilarkians live their lives - bring about terror, destruction, and even the hope for a new future.
This book is hard. It deals with hard themes, and it ends on a note even more difficult than you could ever imagine. McNally is not only the kind of writer whose books could very well go down in history like Tolkien, but he's the kind of writer that creates a world and its people, and makes you fall in love with it/them.
Before this book, I was already invested in the series. After, you couldn't pry it from my cold dead fingers.
August 9, 2012
McNally has once again provided readers with a crackling good time.
In the third installment of his Norothian Cycle, John Deskata goes home to Miilark to find his ancestral home being dismantled by Miilark's new ruling house. With help from allies -- including Rhianne, his foster sister and the love of his life -- he procures a pirate ship and embarks on a war against his new foes.
Despite some old friends turning up along the way, things don't go exactly according to plan.
And Rhianne must get to know this new, battle-hardened John, and decide whether he is still the man she once loved.
In the third installment of his Norothian Cycle, John Deskata goes home to Miilark to find his ancestral home being dismantled by Miilark's new ruling house. With help from allies -- including Rhianne, his foster sister and the love of his life -- he procures a pirate ship and embarks on a war against his new foes.
Despite some old friends turning up along the way, things don't go exactly according to plan.
And Rhianne must get to know this new, battle-hardened John, and decide whether he is still the man she once loved.
May 29, 2016
2.5 stars.
My least favorite so far. The way events eventually unfolded are hardly credible
NB: The numerous typos were distracting to say the least...
My least favorite so far. The way events eventually unfolded are hardly credible
NB: The numerous typos were distracting to say the least...
June 2, 2012
the twist at the end was excellent.
a great read and a great series
a great read and a great series
July 15, 2012
My review for this series can be found here...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews