The Iron Temple

Rifter #9

by Ginn Hale

When John opens a letter addressed to his missing roommate, Kyle, he expects to find a house key, but instead he is swept into a strange realm of magic, mysticism, revolutionaries and assassins. Though he struggles to escape, John is drawn steadily closer to a fate he share with Kyle—to wake the destroyer god, the Rifter, and shatter a world.

Genres: Fantasy, M M Romance, Romance, LGBT, Magic, M M Fantasy, Queer

134 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 8, 2011

Reviews

[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was just a tease (with an anxiety ridden cliffhanger) right before the finale!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Son of a b….cliff! One hell of a cliff here!

This story ends with the wonderful and wicked words “to be continued…” So have book ten ready to go! I DID NOT. *said with clenched jaw*

Every battle blow, splatter, “hiss of Gray Space”, kiss, and caress held me on the edge of my seat. I’m all tensed up waiting for the end. At the moment, I’m holding my breath and trying my damnedest to hold my heart in one piece. Even though I know what’s coming---well I think I do. Haha…Actually I have no idea what I know here.

*True Spoiler* & My Prediction

Oh, Ravishan! This is going to hurt, isn’t it? I don’t want you to go.

The Iron Temple, book nine in the Rifter series, is action packed! Lots of blood, battles, and characters to have fun with in this chapter. Hey Fenn—Love your flirting, but back off! John and Ravishan don’t get much alone time between the warring and action, but when they do share the page—they fill it with power and passion.

”I’ve been so in love with the man that you are that I failed to see how much more you really are.”

One development surprised me here. Not sure “surprise” is even the right word. I just did not feel it coming. It felt out of place to me. As you can tell, I’m trying not to spoil. When I re-read this (and I know I will) maybe I’ll find the words and way to explain how I feel about it, but for now…I can’t.

Sorry this is a jagged, odds ‘n ends quickie review, but I want to get on with the final book. Just know I am scared, excited, and glowing with that “oh-my-gods-this-is-really-the-end” feeling!

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jahn may have begun as the lamb, but he's become the lion.

The earth trembles with his roar. As desperation sets in, those opposed to Jahn commit horrible acts. Anything his past fellows may have been is lost as they compound their persecution with atrocities.

It hurt the way killing a friend ought to ache and burn.

In any battle there are losses, victory is not gained without sacrifice.



How much is too much?

Left on the brink of devastation, the reader teeters, awaiting the inevitable. The last book has got to be an enormous undertaking as the roads to traverse to bring all the lines back in order and find peace or destruction are many and pained. I approach the end with both elation and sorrow.

[Meags · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

As Dr. Strange once proclaimed:

[Elena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This felt like a filler book, but in the best of ways. It showed how many things that have already been mentioned or implied in the future timeline actually happened, and offered some updates on secondary characters, which I appreciated.
I missed Kahlil in this book, even though Ravishan’s page time was very impactful despite, or maybe because of, how little of it there was.
Some more questions have been answered and now it’s time for the final part. I’m already sad at the thought of this amazing story being over, even though I can’t wait to find out how everything is going to end.

[Optimist ♰King's Wench♰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread 10/12/19

forgot how romantic this was.
i *may* have swooned a time or two even.

ΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩΩ

Not as balanced as the others but the ending...



Prolly 3.5 stars but I'll round up because that ending...



Here we go! Once more unto the breach! 👋

[Sun · Rating 5 out of 5]

JFC...this series is going to BREAK me...

I can't handle this book. GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

^^^^^...all meant in the BEST F*CKING WAYS POSSIBLE!

Only 1 book left...I can't...

[Heather K (dentist in my spare time) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5 stars? I found myself skimming a bit. I'm ready for book 10!

[Linda ~ they got the mustard out! ~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy crap, John!

There's so little of this left and so much still to tie together and resolve. I'm worried it's going to feel rushed, but we'll see.

This is a terrible review but I just want to get to the next one. :D

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so book 9 didn't bring me back to where I wanted to be. It still left me with that 'why you no love me? and throw me off the cliff?' feeling because I still need to know a few things the most important being 'what the hell is happening to Kyle/Kahlil in the present?' really, seriously I need to know this. In spite of this I ate book 9 up. I enjoyed every freakin' word of it and yep, damned if it didn't leave me sitting on the edge of the cliff with poor Kyle again.

I think right now the burning question for me is 'How many death or near death experiences can a body have before it says "I'm done guys. Enough is enough and I'm just tired of being abused. I'm just going to lie down and die now so I can have some peace" I mean I get that John takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. After all he's not just some mere mortal. Even still I gotta' say John "You really need to quite abusing your body like you do. I mean damn it man those Godhammers, bullets and arrows and all that other shit have got to hurt, right?"

Ok, I'm off to book 10 His Holy Bones (Psst, I'm not sure I like the sounds of this one) I'm crossing my fingers this is the last book and even though I don't normally need it, I need a big red bow tying this one up...please? pretty please?

[Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an action packed installment as Jath'ibaye finally starts to realize the strength of his Rifter power. I'm now heading for book 10 His Holy Bones and the conclusion to this amazing series. I'm not sure how Ginn Hale will wrap everything up, as there's still so much left uncertain, but I have complete faith in her abilities!

[Mare SLiTsReaD Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-Read 2018
The end of the ride. last book up next

Mare~Slitsread

Omg the ride is almost over. 1 more book. Need to know how this ends.

[tracie reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Help, I need to know what happens but I don't want this to end! This is installment 9/10. The stakes are high. Lots of action, tension, emotions. My heart is pounding... This world is amazing! On to number 10. Sorry sleep, you will probably suffer tonight!

[Lady*M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whoa! This was a good installment - action, action, action!. It starts where the last one left off and it's entirely happening in the past.

In Gisa, Fai'daum smuggle guns. Saimura avoids John, because John used his talisman and destroyed barriers between Saimura and talisman. Saimura was feeling John inside him, taking what he needed. Ji calls them to Sheb'yu's farm. It takes them six day to go there. They found out that ushiri'im are accusing women for witchcraft, then they are raping them. Because they become pregnant they cannot burn. Basically, Ushiri'im want more issusha'im and new ushiri'im, especially new Kahlil.

John infiltrates the prison. He uses his powers to free the prisoners and kill Ashan’ahma (previously his friend who gave him the pen) who was one of the rapists. Fai'daum free the women. John and Saimura make up.

They return to Gisa where a daughter of wealthy and respected family was arrested. Her husband owns a train station, so trains don't run anymore. There are protests in other towns too over women's arrests. Ravishan comes and informs John that Laurie's child was born and killed and she is prepared to become issusha'im. John is overpowered with grief. His Rifter powers grow.

John accidentally meets Hann'yu in the tavern. Hann'yu informed the public about rapes and fled with his wife and son. I was glad Hann'yu turned better than some other rashan'im. Rashan'im want to take the women from Gisa. People protest in front of the prison. Fai'daum join them and John fights rashan'im. Wah'roa arrives with kahlirash’im and sides with people. He frees the women. Jathi'baye's fame grows.

John senses Ravishan with kahlirash’im. They are chased by rashan'im. Bousim lay siege to Vundomu because kahlirash'im rebelled against Payshmura. Ravisham goes to fight with kahlirash’im and John runs to Vundomu. Ravisham realized John was Rifter. He asked him to protect Vundomu. Ravishan is wounded and John wants to bear his wound.

I particularly liked how Ravishan's personality started resembling Kyle's. The relationship between Fenn and Saimura was really cute. I liked the development of secondary characters, Fai'daum in particular. It's amazing that Hale could make me care for them after only 130+ pages. Very satisfactory installment. And now - the final installment. ~_^

[Borderstar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment...I am just zooming through these now. Part of me wants to rate every installment with ALL the stars, but I feel like sometimes there is a bit TOO much detail about the various things happening. I mean it is brilliant as we get such a sense for the world, the characters, the events, but then other times I wonder how important it was to spend so many pages on something that could maybe have been a brief mention to speed it up a bit. I am so impatient to get through to the end to find out what happens, as we have seen glimpses all across the timeline and so whilst being left on a cliffhanger for the very ending, I also want to fill some gaps in the history that we have yet to understand... ...Saying that, I am conflicted, because I am sad that this will come to an end - this is going to end up as a re-read for sure.

SO MUCH has happened through this series so far, with multiple worlds and timelines, that I feel like we've had multiple stories within this too. Some really cool stuff is happening right now and I can feel the ending building! I love the way all of these strands have been building and woven through each other so that everything will be brought to a conclusion for the final act. Rushing straight on to the final part in what promises to be an epic finale!

[Dreamer · Rating 5 out of 5]

John and Ravishan are separated in this book fighting in different areas for the Fai'daum revolution. We follow John (renamed Jath'ibaye) as he exercises more of his incredible powers.

"You have come from across the worlds for this," Ravishan said gently. He stood and stepped back from the bed. "I should have realized sooner. I should have told you and made you ready for this battle. I've been so in love with the man that you are that i failed to see how much more you really are. But when I heard of all that you've done, in Yah'hali and here in Gisa, I couldn't ignore the truth. Jahn, you were brought to me not just as a lover but as Parfir's incarnation. You are the Rifter."

[Scarletine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5
This has been the best book in the series so far, a lot of things fell into place, and the shit hit the fan in a major way. Angst-tastic! I am fascinated to read the final book and find out how Ginn Hale pulls the story together and completes the series.

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
I am in awe of the author's imagination, even as I want to scream with the intense stress this story is putting me through.

[˗ˏˋ eg ˎˊ˗ · Rating 5 out of 5]

fuckfuckfuckkkkkwhatthefuck

[Katharina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my Gods!!! Holy bloody hell!!!! ... I'm not very coherent right now, but... read this. Read these books. Lock yourself in, throw the key out and don't even think about leaving before you've read them all.

[Alicja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, damn, damn, damn... Can't put this down, no way, not right now. My life is on a permanent pause until I finish the last one. Ugh, the tears and chills and foreboding... this is the very definition of awesomeness!

[L.M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

T^T OMG. WHAT DID I JUST READ???? CLIFF HANGER OF DEATH! My heart! How is there only one book left? How will I survive without this series??

After my reread : Knowing what's coming... My heart is already broken and full of emotions...

[Dosia · Rating 5 out of 5]

AAAAAA

[Ran ♠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars



Dang man!
This book's ending totally amazed me. The last chapter was so thrilling and terrifying at the same time. This book gave so much feelings I'm still a little overwhelmed right now. Jath'ibaye's power was just really amazing and his love... oh I feel for him. His fear for Ravishan is so strong I wouldn't be surprised if he chose to destroy Basawar if Ravishan dies. Which did happen. My stomach tingles just thinking of what's going to happen in next and final book of this series!



No one could even fathom how much pain and grief John was suffering in this book. I'm so sad and sorry for him that he has to do what he has to do…even to kill his old friends. Although for what they did, they deserved it.
The protest in Gisa was heartening and it almost brought me to tears when they were singing and standing for their own people despite the danger of it.

“Through storm and snow,
never cry, my child.
I’ll never let you go.”

I love John. In the previous books, I felt his love for Ravishan but in this book I understood how strong and deep it is. And I dread what's going to happen next.

ETA 10/13/15:Review for whole Rifter series

[Sonia ~Ruber's fiancé in Crystal Court universe~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 9th book in the Rifter series brings us up to date, past and present finally make sense and with it Jahn's powers as the Rifter become more and more obvious. It's excruciating to see how much the make him feel conflicted, he wants to save everybody.. he needs to be more than the power of destruction, but all the while he fins himself helpless to save the only people he loves. The scenes between Jahn and Ravishan are so achingly sweet, and you can almost feel their love as a living things. It's simply beautiful...The last battle scene was heartbreaking...

[Julio Genao · Rating 5 out of 5]

In-fucking-credible. I'm talking to my iPad like ghetto folk at the movies, tapping and tapping, racing to finish. What a story.

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down

I liked it, but suffers from the same issue in the previous book, wherein nothing really seems to happen. Again, the entire book is in John's past timeline, and though I did enjoy it, and we do get some additional details--the stuff with Laurie, meeting some more people from Jahn's past, developments with Samsira--we already know the big plot points, so the lead up really sort of just feels like filler. Enjoyable filler, and it probably wouldn't feel like quite so much filler if the author didn't split this into a serial and force us to go through 2 books of it after such a massive cliffhanger in the present timeline, but there you go.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spring 2023 (April);

Doing a full-on set for all ten/eleven of these novellas, read for another game. They were an entertaining but very simplistic read. I did love seeing how everything came together toward the end, slotting details in from the beginning, but there were a number of problems with only a handful of people spotlighted and a lot of details about them unknown, too.

[Riina Y.T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was basically one entire book full of war. Fights, death, more fight and more death and destruction. Not that I mind but it was just too much war strategy and too little else to stay fun until the last page.

[Tünde Kasza tóth · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading about tragedy after tragedy and atrocity after atrocity, I think it loses the intended purpose and instead of being outraged and disgusted and heart broken over and over again the reader just becones numb to it all.