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Tide Lords #4
The Chaos Crystal
The magical Tide has turned and the Immortal Lords once again have their full power. The Immortal Lord Cayal welcomes this power as a means to an end--his end, preferably. Cayal has wanted to cease his existence for longer than human history and it looks like he might finally get his wish. Rumors swirl that the Chaos Crystal, the mysterious prism that brought the Immortals to the world, has been found. Cayal is determined to seize the gem.
Among those who search for this long-lost object is Cayal’s former lover, the very mortal Lady Arkady. She’s been captured by Jaxyn, a Tide Lord who is decidedly against Cayal and is seeking the Crystal for his own nefarious schemes. Arkady escapes, and is off on her desperate search…for if the gem falls into the hands of the Immortals, what will become of humanity?
The stakes are high, with mortal and immortal fighting to grasp this ultimate prize. Whoever holds the Crystal can decide the fate of the world.
Among those who search for this long-lost object is Cayal’s former lover, the very mortal Lady Arkady. She’s been captured by Jaxyn, a Tide Lord who is decidedly against Cayal and is seeking the Crystal for his own nefarious schemes. Arkady escapes, and is off on her desperate search…for if the gem falls into the hands of the Immortals, what will become of humanity?
The stakes are high, with mortal and immortal fighting to grasp this ultimate prize. Whoever holds the Crystal can decide the fate of the world.
477 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
28 people are currently reading
926 people want to read
About the author
Jennifer Fallon
64 books1,121 followersFallon is the author of 17 full-length bestselling novels and a number of published short stories in genres ranging from horror to science fiction.
In addition to 4 complete fantasy series - The Demon Child trilogy, The Hythrun Chronicles, the Second Sons Trilogy,The Tide Lords Quadrilogy and the Rift Runners series - Fallon has written both a tie-novel and short fiction for the TV series, Stargate SG1, an official Zorro story, a novella for the Legends of Australian Fantasy Anthology and has a superhero - The Violet Valet (CHICKS IN CAPES).
Fallon has a Masters Degree from the Creative Arts faculty of QUT. A computer trainer and application specialist, Fallon currently works in the IT industry and spends at least a month each year working at Scott Base in Antarctica.
In addition to 4 complete fantasy series - The Demon Child trilogy, The Hythrun Chronicles, the Second Sons Trilogy,The Tide Lords Quadrilogy and the Rift Runners series - Fallon has written both a tie-novel and short fiction for the TV series, Stargate SG1, an official Zorro story, a novella for the Legends of Australian Fantasy Anthology and has a superhero - The Violet Valet (CHICKS IN CAPES).
Fallon has a Masters Degree from the Creative Arts faculty of QUT. A computer trainer and application specialist, Fallon currently works in the IT industry and spends at least a month each year working at Scott Base in Antarctica.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 158 reviews
August 5, 2024
➽ And the moral of this reread is: I thought I'd enjoy this installment a bit more the second time around. And that I wouldn't be as pissed off. Spoiler alert: I was wrong. Bloody shrimping hell of the stinking fish, Jennifer Fallon, what the squid were you thinking when you wrote this book?!
👋 Until next time. Then again maybe not.
· Book 1: The Immortal Prince ★★★★
· Book 2: The Gods of Amyrantha ★★★★★
· Book 3: The Palace of Impossible Dreams ★★★★★
[June 2018]
🗡Let's See How Much Malevolent Villainy and Evil Scheming Fallon Can Pack Into This One Buddy Read (LSHMMVaESFCPITOBR™) with my fellow BB&B Falloniacs Choko, Emily and Robin🗡
🔥 Disasters of Epic Proportions Productions proudly present 🔥
The Chaos Crystal of Spontaneous Series Combustion (CCoSSC™)! An endeavour so disastrous it nearly rivals the Sirantha Jax Debacle of Complete and Total Ruination (SJDoCaTR™)! Okay, I might be slightly (and very uncharacteristically, of course) over-exaggerating here. Because no book can rival the SJDoCaTR™. That is just not humanly (or shrimpily, for that matter) possible. Come to think of it, if such a book was indeed written, I’m pretty sure it would it would mean utter and absolutely annihilation of all life on this planet and its neighbouring galaxies and stuff. But I digress.
Okay, I have a question for Ms. Fallon, whom I have the most shrimptastic respect for because she wrote the Second Sons trigoly which I kinda sorta enjoyed a little and also because the first three instalments in the present series where kinda sorta entertaining and damn it all to decapodic hell WHY WHY WHY but excuse me it seems I’m getting ahead of myself and I better ask my question before this paragraph reaches unprecedented lengths and you all fall victim to slow painful death by total lack of punctuation and stuff:
WHAT
THE
BLOODY
STINKING
FISH
WERE
YOU
THINKING,
JENNIFER FALLON???!!!
WHY make us go through all this only to have it all end like THIS?! What was the bloody shrimping point of us reading the series to have it come to THIS conclusion?! Why create this fantastic, creative world full of amazing characters—and so NOT amazing characters who should have died in the first 10 pages *waves at Arkady* but more on that later—only to bloody fishing RUIN IT ALL in the very last chapters?!
I believe this is live footage of the author shooting herself in the foot while writing The Chaos Crystal of Spontaneous Series Combustion.
Swear to my murderous shrimpy god, this book has to be one of the most infuriating, unsatisfying, uninspired, ridiculous, frustrating, mediocre series finales in the history of most infuriating, unsatisfying, uninspired, ridiculous, frustrating, mediocre series finales. Not to mention one of the major cop outs in the history of major cop outs. Then again, this is a perfectly understandable move on Fallon’s part. I mean,why bother to resolve the plot you just spent FOUR BLOODY SHRIMPING BOOKS developing, when you can just gloriously end it all by
WHAT
THE
BLOODY
STINKING
FISH
WERE
YOU
THINKING,
JENNIFER FALLON???!!!
And what the shrimping hell is up with that
WHAT
THE
BLOODY
STINKING
FISH
WERE
YOU
THINKING,
JENNIFER FALLON???!!!
Thought I’d ask again. You know, just in case and stuff.
➽ And the moral of this Now If You’ll Excuse Me, I’ll Go Dive Head First in a Barrel of Single Malt Whisky Pretty Sure It Will Make Up for the Time my Black Withered Heart Wasted Getting Emotionally Involved in this World Then Again Maybe Not Crappy Non Review (NIYEMIGDHFiaBoSMWPSIWMUftTmBWHWGEIitWTAMNCNR™) is: were you thinking of reading this series, my Little Naïve Arthropods? Do your little selves a favour. Don’t.
[Pre-review nonsense]
What the bloody fishing kind of a stinking ending is THAT?! We went through all this for THIS?! Seriously?!
I'm somewhat slightly angry right now. Not much, mind you. Just a teensy little bit.
➽ Full Jennifer Fallon I Am Not Amused Crappy Non Review (JFIANACNR™) to come.
👋 Until next time. Then again maybe not.
· Book 1: The Immortal Prince ★★★★
· Book 2: The Gods of Amyrantha ★★★★★
· Book 3: The Palace of Impossible Dreams ★★★★★
[June 2018]
🗡Let's See How Much Malevolent Villainy and Evil Scheming Fallon Can Pack Into This One Buddy Read (LSHMMVaESFCPITOBR™) with my fellow BB&B Falloniacs Choko, Emily and Robin🗡
🔥 Disasters of Epic Proportions Productions proudly present 🔥
The Chaos Crystal of Spontaneous Series Combustion (CCoSSC™)! An endeavour so disastrous it nearly rivals the Sirantha Jax Debacle of Complete and Total Ruination (SJDoCaTR™)! Okay, I might be slightly (and very uncharacteristically, of course) over-exaggerating here. Because no book can rival the SJDoCaTR™. That is just not humanly (or shrimpily, for that matter) possible. Come to think of it, if such a book was indeed written, I’m pretty sure it would it would mean utter and absolutely annihilation of all life on this planet and its neighbouring galaxies and stuff. But I digress.
Okay, I have a question for Ms. Fallon, whom I have the most shrimptastic respect for because she wrote the Second Sons trigoly which I kinda sorta enjoyed a little and also because the first three instalments in the present series where kinda sorta entertaining and damn it all to decapodic hell WHY WHY WHY but excuse me it seems I’m getting ahead of myself and I better ask my question before this paragraph reaches unprecedented lengths and you all fall victim to slow painful death by total lack of punctuation and stuff:
WHAT
THE
BLOODY
STINKING
FISH
WERE
YOU
THINKING,
JENNIFER FALLON???!!!
WHY make us go through all this only to have it all end like THIS?! What was the bloody shrimping point of us reading the series to have it come to THIS conclusion?! Why create this fantastic, creative world full of amazing characters—and so NOT amazing characters who should have died in the first 10 pages *waves at Arkady* but more on that later—only to bloody fishing RUIN IT ALL in the very last chapters?!
I believe this is live footage of the author shooting herself in the foot while writing The Chaos Crystal of Spontaneous Series Combustion.
Swear to my murderous shrimpy god, this book has to be one of the most infuriating, unsatisfying, uninspired, ridiculous, frustrating, mediocre series finales in the history of most infuriating, unsatisfying, uninspired, ridiculous, frustrating, mediocre series finales. Not to mention one of the major cop outs in the history of major cop outs. Then again, this is a perfectly understandable move on Fallon’s part. I mean,why bother to resolve the plot you just spent FOUR BLOODY SHRIMPING BOOKS developing, when you can just gloriously end it all by
WHAT
THE
BLOODY
STINKING
FISH
WERE
YOU
THINKING,
JENNIFER FALLON???!!!
And what the shrimping hell is up with that
WHAT
THE
BLOODY
STINKING
FISH
WERE
YOU
THINKING,
JENNIFER FALLON???!!!
Thought I’d ask again. You know, just in case and stuff.
➽ And the moral of this Now If You’ll Excuse Me, I’ll Go Dive Head First in a Barrel of Single Malt Whisky Pretty Sure It Will Make Up for the Time my Black Withered Heart Wasted Getting Emotionally Involved in this World Then Again Maybe Not Crappy Non Review (NIYEMIGDHFiaBoSMWPSIWMUftTmBWHWGEIitWTAMNCNR™) is: were you thinking of reading this series, my Little Naïve Arthropods? Do your little selves a favour. Don’t.
[Pre-review nonsense]
What the bloody fishing kind of a stinking ending is THAT?! We went through all this for THIS?! Seriously?!
I'm somewhat slightly angry right now. Not much, mind you. Just a teensy little bit.
➽ Full Jennifer Fallon I Am Not Amused Crappy Non Review (JFIANACNR™) to come.
November 13, 2012
The most infuriating ending to a series EVER!!! My God I don't think I've ever been so disappointed, mainly because I know the author is capable of amazing things a but also because this was just ridiculously sub par!! It's shocking to think that the author of this is the same woman who gave us the staggeringly brilliant and epic Demon Child Trilogy. I feel like crying. Never did I think I would be giving this kind of review to a book by Jennifer Fallon. But I cannot lie, as much as the truth pains me. Here we go.
So, the specifics. Firstly, for a properly published novel, there were a ridiculous amount of errors. Not so much the grammatical, though there were a few extra words here and there. No, this book had the sort of mistakes that really shouldn't have made it to final print. Full stops and commas in the wrong places, words given capital letters after commas...it gave off the impression that the book was still in the drafting stage. Not what I would expect from a novel printed and published by a quite well known publishing house.
Then there was the writing. Now I'm going to be mentioning a bit, but one of my favourite series EVER, is the Demon Child trilogy by the same author. It is quite simply spectacular. So I know what this author is capable of. Her prose might not be elegant or lyrical but it is extremely gripping and ridiculously readable. But in this series, it's like she's lost her touch. Nothing really flowed. I got the overwhelming impression that perhaps the authors heart wasn't really in it. Maybe she had her mind on other things and wasn't solely focused, but again, it felt like the story was still in it's early stages of development. The author had got as far as laying down the basic story, but was waiting to go back through it with a fine tooth comb to add the wit and sparkle that I know she can produce when it accidently got printed before it was finished.
And my God, did she repeat herself a lot. I wish I had counted the amount of times we were reminded that Immortals don't feel the cold. Every flippin' paragraph there would be a mention of the weather and without fail she'd pop in a little reminder, just in case we'd forgotten. We are not morons!! There were other occasions as well too numerous for me to go through them all, but in some cases the repetition would come in the same goddamn sentence. That's the only reason why this book's as long as it is, because it's just the same points made over and over again.
The characters weren't up to her usual standard either and I can't help but feel that the author thinks that the only way a female character can be strong is if they had some sort of shady past that either involves being raped or selling themselves. Which is so completely and utterly WRONG!!!
And the problem with Arkady, the female lead, is that despite the fact that we were supposed to see her as a strong, independent, intelligent woman, she was actually anything but. I can only speculate, but if a woman sold herself to men the way Arkady did, rather than go on and on about it whenever we were reading from her perspective, she'd be so ashamed of herself that she'd want to push the memories from her mind and never think about them again. She's supposed to proud, unwilling to submit to the men that would govern and rule her, a scientist full of curiosity and brimming with her own ideas and opinions, but the amount of times she seems to think the only way to get herself out of trouble is to offer up her body, is just ridiculous. If she's supposed to be so smart, surely she could have figured out other ways to outsmart these stupid men that all seem to lust after her. To me she came across as weak willed and a bit of an attention seeker. 'Oh poor me, look at all the bad things that have happened to me, feel sorry for me and love me and think I'm wonderful because I've managed to persevere,' blah, blah, blah. It got seriously boring, ridiculously quickly. In the end I just wanted to smack her for being so pathetic and spineless.
WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK YET AS I GIVE AWAY QUITE A LOT OF THE ENDING!!!!
The ending was just beyond ridiculous. It was frustrating, unsatisfying and quite honestly, just plain crap. Ahhhhh, it still makes me angry. The main problem? The author leaves it completely open, as if she's going to back to it and continue the story. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? I'VE JUST HAD TO READ FOUR BOOKS WORTH OF POOR WRITING, TYPOS AND IRRITATING CHARACTERS, FOR AN ENDING THAT'S A COMPLETE AND UTTER LET DOWN AND YOU'RE EXPECTING ME TO READ MORE?...NOT A FUCKING CHANCE.
In conclusion if you are thinking of starting this series DON'T. Read the Demon Child Trilogy instead, it's miles better than this!!!!
So, the specifics. Firstly, for a properly published novel, there were a ridiculous amount of errors. Not so much the grammatical, though there were a few extra words here and there. No, this book had the sort of mistakes that really shouldn't have made it to final print. Full stops and commas in the wrong places, words given capital letters after commas...it gave off the impression that the book was still in the drafting stage. Not what I would expect from a novel printed and published by a quite well known publishing house.
Then there was the writing. Now I'm going to be mentioning a bit, but one of my favourite series EVER, is the Demon Child trilogy by the same author. It is quite simply spectacular. So I know what this author is capable of. Her prose might not be elegant or lyrical but it is extremely gripping and ridiculously readable. But in this series, it's like she's lost her touch. Nothing really flowed. I got the overwhelming impression that perhaps the authors heart wasn't really in it. Maybe she had her mind on other things and wasn't solely focused, but again, it felt like the story was still in it's early stages of development. The author had got as far as laying down the basic story, but was waiting to go back through it with a fine tooth comb to add the wit and sparkle that I know she can produce when it accidently got printed before it was finished.
And my God, did she repeat herself a lot. I wish I had counted the amount of times we were reminded that Immortals don't feel the cold. Every flippin' paragraph there would be a mention of the weather and without fail she'd pop in a little reminder, just in case we'd forgotten. We are not morons!! There were other occasions as well too numerous for me to go through them all, but in some cases the repetition would come in the same goddamn sentence. That's the only reason why this book's as long as it is, because it's just the same points made over and over again.
The characters weren't up to her usual standard either and I can't help but feel that the author thinks that the only way a female character can be strong is if they had some sort of shady past that either involves being raped or selling themselves. Which is so completely and utterly WRONG!!!
And the problem with Arkady, the female lead, is that despite the fact that we were supposed to see her as a strong, independent, intelligent woman, she was actually anything but. I can only speculate, but if a woman sold herself to men the way Arkady did, rather than go on and on about it whenever we were reading from her perspective, she'd be so ashamed of herself that she'd want to push the memories from her mind and never think about them again. She's supposed to proud, unwilling to submit to the men that would govern and rule her, a scientist full of curiosity and brimming with her own ideas and opinions, but the amount of times she seems to think the only way to get herself out of trouble is to offer up her body, is just ridiculous. If she's supposed to be so smart, surely she could have figured out other ways to outsmart these stupid men that all seem to lust after her. To me she came across as weak willed and a bit of an attention seeker. 'Oh poor me, look at all the bad things that have happened to me, feel sorry for me and love me and think I'm wonderful because I've managed to persevere,' blah, blah, blah. It got seriously boring, ridiculously quickly. In the end I just wanted to smack her for being so pathetic and spineless.
WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK YET AS I GIVE AWAY QUITE A LOT OF THE ENDING!!!!
The ending was just beyond ridiculous. It was frustrating, unsatisfying and quite honestly, just plain crap. Ahhhhh, it still makes me angry. The main problem? The author leaves it completely open, as if she's going to back to it and continue the story. WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT? I'VE JUST HAD TO READ FOUR BOOKS WORTH OF POOR WRITING, TYPOS AND IRRITATING CHARACTERS, FOR AN ENDING THAT'S A COMPLETE AND UTTER LET DOWN AND YOU'RE EXPECTING ME TO READ MORE?...NOT A FUCKING CHANCE.
In conclusion if you are thinking of starting this series DON'T. Read the Demon Child Trilogy instead, it's miles better than this!!!!
August 1, 2018
What the hell kind of ending was that.
The Chaos Crystal or maybe it should be called Immortality Blows.
I really liked the first three books of this series which is a little amazing since there are practically no redeeming characters. Every single one of them was horrible in some way and hard to really like. I think Declan the would be new immortal was the most likeable of any of them. But he is slowly losing his humanity and so you know that isn’t going to last.
So again we have our immortals who aren’t very likable doing horrible things to each other, to the general population etc..etc. If you were looking for some kind of redemption for all some or actually any of the immortals it didn’t happen. What did happen was a little unexpected on my part and that is most likely my fault since I naively thought there would be some kind of end to the cycle. I mean looking back I should have seen it coming but I really didn’t and that made it all the worse when it did.
My disappointment is that I spent four books with these characters and a dreaded semi-love-triangle only to have it all mean nothing in the end in my humble opinion and have a love triangle that last for an eternity. It was so difficult to read through the last chapters after the big climax happened. I kept waiting for the ending to change and sadly it didn’t.
I will give Fallon props for going a very unconventional route for her ending. But I personally hated the ending and so it really diminished the enjoyment of the series for me. Second Sons is still by far my favorite series written by Fallon. I will still try some of her other series in the future I’m just not as excited about them now.
June 21, 2018
The Chaos Crystal by Jennifer Fallon
***3.5***
Well, upon re reading this series I actually think I have to lower my initial rating with that ending, not exactly what I remembered. I'm torn really, because there were aspects of this book that I really loved. There was still lots of humour (thought this time not much from Tiji)
"Naturally. Because if we can't trust Lukys with unlimited power, the obvious choice is your sexually frustrated daughter," Jaxyn suggested.
Cayal's reactions to Elyssa were priceless.
Don't worry, lover. I'll never leave you behind. Not ever, she'd said.
"Don't you threatened me," he muttered.
I was truly laughing out loud at parts of this book. Unfortunately I laughed the hardest when I reached the end. That ending, just....wow. I've read these books before, so I knew how it ended. At least I had a vague memory of how it ended and I was ok with that. I really caught on to the foreshadowing in the book this time.
This isn't the first, or last clue in the book as to how it will all turn out for our immortal friends. And again, parts of me were ok with the ending. These characters are immortal after all. Fallon quite deliberately went into detail about the immortals and the myriad ways Cayal had tried to kill himself, or others had tried to kill an immortal only to end up torturing them because they can't be killed. They're immortal. All that was good. And the foreshadowing of how an immortal might be killed was clearly laid out, even though it spelled doom for our beloved characters (and by characters plural I'm talking like maybe three....). But the way in which said ending came about......
I almost had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard. Unlike my co-buddy readers I was not angered by this, I just couldn't stop laughing. So as much as I loved the series as a whole, and the last book was still ok but not nearly as gripping as its predecessors (particularly book three) I just can't find it in my heart to keep this rating at a four star. The last quarter of the book was really dragging for me and then to top it off with that ending. I'm disappointed for sure. Do I still think this series is good and worth a read? Yes, I actually do. But I once again challenge you to create your own ending to this wonderful series.
**********Original Review*************
I love Jennifer Fallon, so all I can say is that this was an extremely disappointing ending to an absolutely fantastic quadrilogy. I loved the entire book and all of its prequels up until the very last chapter. A lame cop-out to an otherwise great story. Even though the ending angered me, I still think this is a story worth reading. Jennifer Fallon is an exceptional story teller and this is no exception. Just make your own ending. So close to five stars it's depressing.
***3.5***
Well, upon re reading this series I actually think I have to lower my initial rating with that ending, not exactly what I remembered. I'm torn really, because there were aspects of this book that I really loved. There was still lots of humour (thought this time not much from Tiji)
"Naturally. Because if we can't trust Lukys with unlimited power, the obvious choice is your sexually frustrated daughter," Jaxyn suggested.
Cayal's reactions to Elyssa were priceless.
Don't worry, lover. I'll never leave you behind. Not ever, she'd said.
"Don't you threatened me," he muttered.
I was truly laughing out loud at parts of this book. Unfortunately I laughed the hardest when I reached the end. That ending, just....wow. I've read these books before, so I knew how it ended. At least I had a vague memory of how it ended and I was ok with that. I really caught on to the foreshadowing in the book this time.
This isn't the first, or last clue in the book as to how it will all turn out for our immortal friends. And again, parts of me were ok with the ending. These characters are immortal after all. Fallon quite deliberately went into detail about the immortals and the myriad ways Cayal had tried to kill himself, or others had tried to kill an immortal only to end up torturing them because they can't be killed. They're immortal. All that was good. And the foreshadowing of how an immortal might be killed was clearly laid out, even though it spelled doom for our beloved characters (and by characters plural I'm talking like maybe three....). But the way in which said ending came about......
I almost had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard. Unlike my co-buddy readers I was not angered by this, I just couldn't stop laughing. So as much as I loved the series as a whole, and the last book was still ok but not nearly as gripping as its predecessors (particularly book three) I just can't find it in my heart to keep this rating at a four star. The last quarter of the book was really dragging for me and then to top it off with that ending. I'm disappointed for sure. Do I still think this series is good and worth a read? Yes, I actually do. But I once again challenge you to create your own ending to this wonderful series.
**********Original Review*************
I love Jennifer Fallon, so all I can say is that this was an extremely disappointing ending to an absolutely fantastic quadrilogy. I loved the entire book and all of its prequels up until the very last chapter. A lame cop-out to an otherwise great story. Even though the ending angered me, I still think this is a story worth reading. Jennifer Fallon is an exceptional story teller and this is no exception. Just make your own ending. So close to five stars it's depressing.
September 3, 2021
This fourth and final instalment of Jennifer Fallon’s Tide Lords was a fantastic conclusion to what has been a great fantasy series!
The final book was packed with crazy twists and turns and really delved into the true scope of the nature of immortality in a really fun and interesting way. The best thing was none of that hurt the flow of the story or the characters as both of them were as compelling and interesting to follow as ever.
The ending was crazy and unexpected. I think I like it on the whole even if I did still have a few more questions! I’d love a sequel series.
All in all this was fantastic. The whole series was great and this was a great way to conclude the story. I’ve no idea why Fallon is not more popular. Her stories are always super compelling reads and she mostly offers some very unique characters (with great depth) and cool secondary worlds and magic systems.
Rating: An easy 5 stars!
Audio Note: John Telfer gave a fantastic performance of every book in this series.
The final book was packed with crazy twists and turns and really delved into the true scope of the nature of immortality in a really fun and interesting way. The best thing was none of that hurt the flow of the story or the characters as both of them were as compelling and interesting to follow as ever.
The ending was crazy and unexpected. I think I like it on the whole even if I did still have a few more questions! I’d love a sequel series.
All in all this was fantastic. The whole series was great and this was a great way to conclude the story. I’ve no idea why Fallon is not more popular. Her stories are always super compelling reads and she mostly offers some very unique characters (with great depth) and cool secondary worlds and magic systems.
Rating: An easy 5 stars!
Audio Note: John Telfer gave a fantastic performance of every book in this series.
October 2, 2018
Okay, this one was back on form for me in many ways compared to the last in the series. I am happy to say that the drama that book 3 lacked was certainly included here, and THAT ENDING I did not see coming but I loved!
In this book we're following the same characters as in our previous books, but this time they have banded together into various groups in order to try their luck at changing to a new world. The aftershock of this event could be catastrophic for the world they currently live on, but the chance to rid the world of Immortals and see how life may be is quite the chance...
What I liked about this one, and this series in general, is that the twists always surprised me and this one is no exception. I found that there were quite a few 'wow!' moments and I loved getting to follow the same group and see just how they planned to resolve things. There were even a few moments where I wasn't sure that we would see the end of the series in this book as it didn't seem like enough time, but because of the way Fallon planned to end it it all worked out after all.
Sadly, besides the role Arkady plays in this book the other ladies are a little bit background to me. Arkady and the Krasii characters are the only ones who really get a chance to have any development, and even then I feel like they became Mary Sue's and they just didn't get the chance to shine like I know and wish the could have. I hope if I read future Fallon books she makes better use of her females.
In the end I gave this a solid 4*s as there were a few slower bits and the female characters irked me, but overall I really enjoyed the story and experience of reading these books. I definitely think I would still recommend the series despite its downfalls.
In this book we're following the same characters as in our previous books, but this time they have banded together into various groups in order to try their luck at changing to a new world. The aftershock of this event could be catastrophic for the world they currently live on, but the chance to rid the world of Immortals and see how life may be is quite the chance...
What I liked about this one, and this series in general, is that the twists always surprised me and this one is no exception. I found that there were quite a few 'wow!' moments and I loved getting to follow the same group and see just how they planned to resolve things. There were even a few moments where I wasn't sure that we would see the end of the series in this book as it didn't seem like enough time, but because of the way Fallon planned to end it it all worked out after all.
Sadly, besides the role Arkady plays in this book the other ladies are a little bit background to me. Arkady and the Krasii characters are the only ones who really get a chance to have any development, and even then I feel like they became Mary Sue's and they just didn't get the chance to shine like I know and wish the could have. I hope if I read future Fallon books she makes better use of her females.
In the end I gave this a solid 4*s as there were a few slower bits and the female characters irked me, but overall I really enjoyed the story and experience of reading these books. I definitely think I would still recommend the series despite its downfalls.
January 11, 2021
Update Jan 2021: I've reflected on this book a lot over the years as one of those ones that disappointed me when I finished it. With all of my personal affections for characters and investment in their world and fates having evaporated over the years, I only have enough memories to really reflect on the shocking ending. With this sort of unemotional hindsight, I am less bothered than I was, and actually have a lot of respect for the way Fallon pulled the rug out from under me as a reader. I am more amused than anything by how that story ended - almost cleverly- rather than be upset. I still think that, were I to read the books all over again and form emotional attachments, I'd be left feeling much the same way as I did the first time - disappointed and wondering why I bothered if I had known. I am not sure this is the kind of feeling Fallon would want to evoke from her readers, and in that sense she may have failed. But I do think this story, taken without those attachments, is an interesting piece of literature in the way it bucks the traditional narrative ending in Fantasy, and honestly lends to philosophical lore about Immortality and Eternity. And I've got to admire Fallon for her guts.
Original Review (2011)
Until the last couple chapters which completely changed the direction of the story, The Tide Lords was one of the best things I've ever read. And then I got to those last chapters, and I finished them, and it felt something like this:
Imagine reading something like the Illiad (for those who hated it, pretend it was enjoyable), that has some epic premise and keeps building and building, and you're so excited to see how the heroes will resolve the conflict--who will live, who will die--and everything is finally coming together, and then all of a sudden-- BAM in the midst of everything, little blue aliens with butterfly wings from the planet Fluttercon descend upon the earth and squash all of Troy and the surrounding battlefield with their flying saucer.
That is precisely what this ending felt like, to me. And while certainly the actual ending within the context of the Tide Lords universe and story wasn't actually as left-field, wild, or unrealistic as imagery above, it completely changed my entire sense of what the story was about. I'd invested a lot in the idea of a struggle of mortality against immortality, only to read the conclusion and feel that the story was not about the struggle at all: it was simply a picture of eternity.
Fallon's ending is clever, believable, and even the viable beginning of a whole new story. But it also left me dissatisfied, as if everything I'd read was for not. While it is still an exciting book and still very much worth the read, I wish I could chop off those last chapters.
Original Review (2011)
Until the last couple chapters which completely changed the direction of the story, The Tide Lords was one of the best things I've ever read. And then I got to those last chapters, and I finished them, and it felt something like this:
Imagine reading something like the Illiad (for those who hated it, pretend it was enjoyable), that has some epic premise and keeps building and building, and you're so excited to see how the heroes will resolve the conflict--who will live, who will die--and everything is finally coming together, and then all of a sudden-- BAM in the midst of everything, little blue aliens with butterfly wings from the planet Fluttercon descend upon the earth and squash all of Troy and the surrounding battlefield with their flying saucer.
That is precisely what this ending felt like, to me. And while certainly the actual ending within the context of the Tide Lords universe and story wasn't actually as left-field, wild, or unrealistic as imagery above, it completely changed my entire sense of what the story was about. I'd invested a lot in the idea of a struggle of mortality against immortality, only to read the conclusion and feel that the story was not about the struggle at all: it was simply a picture of eternity.
Fallon's ending is clever, believable, and even the viable beginning of a whole new story. But it also left me dissatisfied, as if everything I'd read was for not. While it is still an exciting book and still very much worth the read, I wish I could chop off those last chapters.
September 23, 2009
This series was great, with magic and life and love and so many points in time where it was almost painful to read because you cared so much about what was going to happen. But the ending made nearly everything in the series pointless. With one swipe, Jennifer Fallon killed off not only half her main characters, but an entire world. I'm just so overwhelmed by the pointlessness of writing this huge saga and then completely destroying everything that mattered to all those characters.
And so I wonder whether that was Jennifer Fallon's point--making some huge statement about the pointlessness of all the politics and family fights and so on. If so, I am still very annoyed at the ending, no matter how good the rest of the series was.
At the very least, Jennifer Fallon could have done a fifth book, about Arkady and the rest of the Immortals on Earth. I felt like... the book just stopped, hanging on the edge of a huge new story, like you're a drowning person who just received this one gasp of air before you died. An extreme metaphor, I guess, but I really didn't like the ending. I loved the series, but just not the way it ended. I just felt like I needed something more to give me some sort of resolution.
And so I wonder whether that was Jennifer Fallon's point--making some huge statement about the pointlessness of all the politics and family fights and so on. If so, I am still very annoyed at the ending, no matter how good the rest of the series was.
At the very least, Jennifer Fallon could have done a fifth book, about Arkady and the rest of the Immortals on Earth. I felt like... the book just stopped, hanging on the edge of a huge new story, like you're a drowning person who just received this one gasp of air before you died. An extreme metaphor, I guess, but I really didn't like the ending. I loved the series, but just not the way it ended. I just felt like I needed something more to give me some sort of resolution.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 17, 2019
4.5 Sterne für ein großartiges Finale! In der ersten Hälfte manchmal etwas zu sehr ins Detail gegangen, aber in der zweiten Hälfte extrem an Spannung gewonnen: und vor allem ein grandioses Ende!
Die Idee der Unsterblichkeit in Büchern ist ja nicht neu, hier aber genial verflochten mit den "Gezeiten der Magie", die über einen jahrhundertelangen Zeitraum steigen und fallen. Somit sind diese Unsterblichen bei Flut zwar so mächtig, ganze Länder unterwerfen zu können, bei Ebbe jedoch zu nicht mehr imstande als jeder gewöhnliche Mensch.
Außerdem ist der Gebrauch der Gezeitenmagie ab einem gewissen Punkt nicht mehr kontrollierbar und in der Vergangenheit wurde schon ein paarmal ein "Weltenende" ausgelöst, dass zwar nicht die Welt zerstört hat, aber doch in einer Art Armageddon endete.
Diese Erfahrungen lassen sie vorsichtig handeln, denn auch wenn sie nicht sterblich sind, sind sie doch schmerzempfindlich und wollen schließlich über ein Reich herrschen, in dem es sich auch bequem leben lässt. Deshalb intrigieren sie beim Steigen der Flut, sichern sich die machtvollsten Positionen um auf dem Höhepunkt der magischen Kraft ihre Trümpfe auszuspielen.
Bisher hatten die Unsterblichen auf Amyrantha immer ihr eigenes Süppchen gekocht. Jetzt aber ziehen sich die Fäden zusammen und ein ganze neues Bild entsteht, während die Suche nach dem Kristall des Chaos schnell klarmacht, das einiges mehr auf dem Spiel steht, als jeder von ihnen geahnt hätte.
In den drei vorherigen Bänden hat man viel über die Gezeitenmagie und die Unsterblichen erfahren, doch jetzt, im Abschlussband, gehts ans Eingemachte. Die Autorin gewährt endlich einen Einblick hinter die Kulissen, auf deren Bühne schön langsam der letzte Vorhang fällt. Eine wirklich grandiose Idee, die alle Zusammenhänge gekonnt verknüpft und einen Überraschungseffekt bereit hält, der in einem phänomenalen Finale endet.
Wie auch in den drei Bänden zuvor ist die Schreibweise sehr flüssig zu lesen, verliert sich aber in der ersten Hälfte manchmal etwas in den Details. Da hätte man für mich noch etwas mehr straffen können. Insgesamt entwickelt sich aber alles außergewöhnlich spannend und auch wenn man weiß, welche Ziele verfolgt werden, hatte ich keine Ahnung wie das ganze wohl enden könnte. Alle Figuren finden einen Platz in der Entwicklung und sind bis zum Schluss aktiv am Geschehen beteilgt. Das hat mir sehr gut gefallen, denn man konnte jeden von ihnen von Anfang an begleiten und ihre Geschichte miterleben.
Die Spannung steigert sich gegen Ende jedenfalls immer mehr und verblüfft mit einer wirklich außergewöhnlichen Auflösung, mit der ich überhaupt nicht gerechnet hatte und die Geschichte perfekt abgerundet hat.
Ich kann die Bücher jedem Fantasy Fan nur ans Herz legen - man fliegt einfach nur so durch die Seiten!
© Aleshanee
Weltenwanderer
Die Idee der Unsterblichkeit in Büchern ist ja nicht neu, hier aber genial verflochten mit den "Gezeiten der Magie", die über einen jahrhundertelangen Zeitraum steigen und fallen. Somit sind diese Unsterblichen bei Flut zwar so mächtig, ganze Länder unterwerfen zu können, bei Ebbe jedoch zu nicht mehr imstande als jeder gewöhnliche Mensch.
Außerdem ist der Gebrauch der Gezeitenmagie ab einem gewissen Punkt nicht mehr kontrollierbar und in der Vergangenheit wurde schon ein paarmal ein "Weltenende" ausgelöst, dass zwar nicht die Welt zerstört hat, aber doch in einer Art Armageddon endete.
Diese Erfahrungen lassen sie vorsichtig handeln, denn auch wenn sie nicht sterblich sind, sind sie doch schmerzempfindlich und wollen schließlich über ein Reich herrschen, in dem es sich auch bequem leben lässt. Deshalb intrigieren sie beim Steigen der Flut, sichern sich die machtvollsten Positionen um auf dem Höhepunkt der magischen Kraft ihre Trümpfe auszuspielen.
Bisher hatten die Unsterblichen auf Amyrantha immer ihr eigenes Süppchen gekocht. Jetzt aber ziehen sich die Fäden zusammen und ein ganze neues Bild entsteht, während die Suche nach dem Kristall des Chaos schnell klarmacht, das einiges mehr auf dem Spiel steht, als jeder von ihnen geahnt hätte.
In den drei vorherigen Bänden hat man viel über die Gezeitenmagie und die Unsterblichen erfahren, doch jetzt, im Abschlussband, gehts ans Eingemachte. Die Autorin gewährt endlich einen Einblick hinter die Kulissen, auf deren Bühne schön langsam der letzte Vorhang fällt. Eine wirklich grandiose Idee, die alle Zusammenhänge gekonnt verknüpft und einen Überraschungseffekt bereit hält, der in einem phänomenalen Finale endet.
Wie auch in den drei Bänden zuvor ist die Schreibweise sehr flüssig zu lesen, verliert sich aber in der ersten Hälfte manchmal etwas in den Details. Da hätte man für mich noch etwas mehr straffen können. Insgesamt entwickelt sich aber alles außergewöhnlich spannend und auch wenn man weiß, welche Ziele verfolgt werden, hatte ich keine Ahnung wie das ganze wohl enden könnte. Alle Figuren finden einen Platz in der Entwicklung und sind bis zum Schluss aktiv am Geschehen beteilgt. Das hat mir sehr gut gefallen, denn man konnte jeden von ihnen von Anfang an begleiten und ihre Geschichte miterleben.
Die Spannung steigert sich gegen Ende jedenfalls immer mehr und verblüfft mit einer wirklich außergewöhnlichen Auflösung, mit der ich überhaupt nicht gerechnet hatte und die Geschichte perfekt abgerundet hat.
Ich kann die Bücher jedem Fantasy Fan nur ans Herz legen - man fliegt einfach nur so durch die Seiten!
© Aleshanee
Weltenwanderer
August 17, 2010
I don't understand the high reviews for this book. Did people stop reading before the last few chapters? Here is a letter i wrote to Jennifer. She didn't reply, so if anyone can respond, please do. (note, i'm quite angry haha).
I read 3 books to get to this and was so disappointed. This review is about the fourth one, not my view of all four (which is what everyone seems to do).
So, all this reading and it's like the author just couldn't give a damn what happened, she just wanted to wrap up the story.
So many things wrong with this fourth book, from repeating the same story over and over from varying characters perspectives, giving away the juicy plot point (the whole rift idea) early in the beginning, to the horrible ending where the world you'd come to love and characters you'd thought were decent are completely destroyed by monstrous characters you never really cared about because they were so unlikeable.
And then there is the Arkady phenonemon. THANKS for the thorough explanation as to her sudden reappearance and immortality?! Why isn't this explained? It's the end of the book and you can't just leave it like that and expect the reader to be satisfied with a cliffhanger ending that is never going to be resolved and that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever! How is she immortal now, how, how, HOW? Yes we can speculate, but that's not how these things work, they need to make legitmate sense when we have been reading these books and come to understand YOUR rules as to what laws govern the realities of this universe you created. It's a terrible cop out to quickly sum up a book, just to give it an ending that works in your head but certainly not the readers.
Such a tragic disappointment to someone who loves fantasy and especially Aussie fantasy writers.
I know writing books is hard, but you just can't do this to your readers, no matter how confident you feel of your style. We dedicated our imaginations and time to your story and you give us this really, really bad ending that kinda makes me angry and so disheartened.
The first three books were quite good so thankyou for allowing my imagination to see these worlds and characters and fascinating ideas of immortality and how people would deal with it, but the fourth is a failure and thus ruins the series.
You just shouldn't have written the fourth as you did, you should have known better and if you were on some publishers deadline and that's why you had to wrap it up so atrociously, then you should have said 'stuff them!' and wrote something that made some freakin sense!
So sad it sucked.
I read 3 books to get to this and was so disappointed. This review is about the fourth one, not my view of all four (which is what everyone seems to do).
So, all this reading and it's like the author just couldn't give a damn what happened, she just wanted to wrap up the story.
So many things wrong with this fourth book, from repeating the same story over and over from varying characters perspectives, giving away the juicy plot point (the whole rift idea) early in the beginning, to the horrible ending where the world you'd come to love and characters you'd thought were decent are completely destroyed by monstrous characters you never really cared about because they were so unlikeable.
And then there is the Arkady phenonemon. THANKS for the thorough explanation as to her sudden reappearance and immortality?! Why isn't this explained? It's the end of the book and you can't just leave it like that and expect the reader to be satisfied with a cliffhanger ending that is never going to be resolved and that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever! How is she immortal now, how, how, HOW? Yes we can speculate, but that's not how these things work, they need to make legitmate sense when we have been reading these books and come to understand YOUR rules as to what laws govern the realities of this universe you created. It's a terrible cop out to quickly sum up a book, just to give it an ending that works in your head but certainly not the readers.
Such a tragic disappointment to someone who loves fantasy and especially Aussie fantasy writers.
I know writing books is hard, but you just can't do this to your readers, no matter how confident you feel of your style. We dedicated our imaginations and time to your story and you give us this really, really bad ending that kinda makes me angry and so disheartened.
The first three books were quite good so thankyou for allowing my imagination to see these worlds and characters and fascinating ideas of immortality and how people would deal with it, but the fourth is a failure and thus ruins the series.
You just shouldn't have written the fourth as you did, you should have known better and if you were on some publishers deadline and that's why you had to wrap it up so atrociously, then you should have said 'stuff them!' and wrote something that made some freakin sense!
So sad it sucked.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2014
When I started this series, I was awed by it.
I love the characters, the world building, the ideas behind everything. It was so refreshing to read a series and be totally engulfed by it. Especially after so many Blah series,lately. Their at books were amazing and I recommended them to everyone I could.
Until this book. Wtf was the author thinking? I love plot twists but this just make me want to scream. No, it's not a "Wow, the author really got me thinking! What an amazing and crazy turn of events! I didn't see that coming! Good job!" Kind of thing. It's more of a WHY THE F*K WAS THE POINT OF READING THE SERIES?!
She killed the entire planet off. Not to mention the stupid Arakady epic fail plot.
After all that, the author got lazy and was just like " IM GOING TO SCREW MY FANS BUT TRY TO MAKE IT SEEMS LIKE IM A CREATIVE AUTHOR." No, you lost one diehard fan.. Probably more than one.
I returned the book from amazon. I did. Nope, I refuse to pay for that garbage.
How dare you, Ms. Fallon. We are not idiots, please don't teat us like one. The was 100% NO closure, no even bittersweet ending, nothing. It was a giant screw you in the face.
I love the characters, the world building, the ideas behind everything. It was so refreshing to read a series and be totally engulfed by it. Especially after so many Blah series,lately. Their at books were amazing and I recommended them to everyone I could.
Until this book. Wtf was the author thinking? I love plot twists but this just make me want to scream. No, it's not a "Wow, the author really got me thinking! What an amazing and crazy turn of events! I didn't see that coming! Good job!" Kind of thing. It's more of a WHY THE F*K WAS THE POINT OF READING THE SERIES?!
She killed the entire planet off. Not to mention the stupid Arakady epic fail plot.
After all that, the author got lazy and was just like " IM GOING TO SCREW MY FANS BUT TRY TO MAKE IT SEEMS LIKE IM A CREATIVE AUTHOR." No, you lost one diehard fan.. Probably more than one.
I returned the book from amazon. I did. Nope, I refuse to pay for that garbage.
How dare you, Ms. Fallon. We are not idiots, please don't teat us like one. The was 100% NO closure, no even bittersweet ending, nothing. It was a giant screw you in the face.
August 4, 2011
Now that was a fun ride regardless of the WTF ending. I had read other reviews that said the ending was confusing and they were 100% right. Had I not known that, Chaos Crystal would have been thrown against the wall. I disagree with some reviewers that there might be another book. I feel like it's done, not cleanly, but it's done. In all honesty, I have seen much worst attempts to end a series with shock and awe. The recently completed 'Dark Days' series comes to mind as a good example. I won't deny Ms. Fallon her due -- she delivers the shock but forgot the awe.
I was happy with the outcome for the most part although the fate of many key players was left for speculation. I am not an academic and really don't like to read a book that requires I join some sort of support/discussion group to figure out what the hell the writer didn't bother to tell me. So I am going to take what she did say and run with that as all she cared about telling me. I don't love it but it is what it is.
I had fun with these characters as they sorted out all the plots within plots. I didn't appreciate that this hard earned knowledge came with no benefit. The truth wasn't pretty and too many characters became disposable but that's fantasy. In my review of book 3, I commented that Ms. Fallon is unwilling to truly harm her chacters, well I was wrong and unnecessarly worried about that. The body count eventually caught up with the plot. I should have known that fantasy writers are big on karma. With that said, I am not sure I understand Arkady's (heroine) status at the very end but it's better than it could have been, I suppose. I feel like Ms. Fallon had that ending already worked out and it did not matter what she told us on the way there, she was gonna keep that ending. There is genius in the premise/concept and sadistic twists in the execution.
If you need a nice neat ending, really need it -- skip the series. You will not be happy. If you can take some major loose ends -- go for it. As for Ms. Fallon's writing style, I can only speak to this series. I found her to be lite-fantasy with excellent characterization. I don't know that I would trust reading more of her work after the ending of this one. The ending had a level of indifferece that is more than I care to deal with. I use the word indifference because it's not creative to write 4 full length novels totally dependent on the strength of the characters then not clarify what happened to them all. I suppose she gave a big hint when she named the book -- The Chaos Crystal. Major clue there. It's still a solid 4 stars with only one star removed for the ending.
I was happy with the outcome for the most part although the fate of many key players was left for speculation. I am not an academic and really don't like to read a book that requires I join some sort of support/discussion group to figure out what the hell the writer didn't bother to tell me. So I am going to take what she did say and run with that as all she cared about telling me. I don't love it but it is what it is.
I had fun with these characters as they sorted out all the plots within plots. I didn't appreciate that this hard earned knowledge came with no benefit. The truth wasn't pretty and too many characters became disposable but that's fantasy. In my review of book 3, I commented that Ms. Fallon is unwilling to truly harm her chacters, well I was wrong and unnecessarly worried about that. The body count eventually caught up with the plot. I should have known that fantasy writers are big on karma. With that said, I am not sure I understand Arkady's (heroine) status at the very end but it's better than it could have been, I suppose. I feel like Ms. Fallon had that ending already worked out and it did not matter what she told us on the way there, she was gonna keep that ending. There is genius in the premise/concept and sadistic twists in the execution.
If you need a nice neat ending, really need it -- skip the series. You will not be happy. If you can take some major loose ends -- go for it. As for Ms. Fallon's writing style, I can only speak to this series. I found her to be lite-fantasy with excellent characterization. I don't know that I would trust reading more of her work after the ending of this one. The ending had a level of indifferece that is more than I care to deal with. I use the word indifference because it's not creative to write 4 full length novels totally dependent on the strength of the characters then not clarify what happened to them all. I suppose she gave a big hint when she named the book -- The Chaos Crystal. Major clue there. It's still a solid 4 stars with only one star removed for the ending.
December 3, 2009
Well, at least it's over with. Yet another poorly-written installment in this series. The biggest "surprise" of the book was blown by some poor copy-editing, as far as I can tell (it's not a secret if you've written the character's name a page earlier!). And the ending was pretty lousy, although to be fair, the author had good and painted herself into a corner. Ah, well.
December 24, 2008
Excellent ending! God, I want to know more.
January 17, 2014
WARNING!!! THIS IS A RANT NOT A REVIEW THAT CONTAINS MORE THEN A FEW F-BOMBS
I HATED THE ENDING OF THIS SERIES!!! What was that exactly??? Surely you're not calling that an ending?!? HOW CAN YOU EVER CALL THAT AN ENDING???
Im sorry but I felt like Id been robbed of something great with the end of this book!! Seriously! I spent all this time reading and really getting into the story and the characters... but wth?!? Where was the action? There was no final showdown! Where were the life altering decisions? There is no final choice anyone has to make and are we seriously calling that a happy ending??? We literally get diddly-fucking-squat from this book! Nothing - except a wtf ending that made my head wanna explode. Fallon seriously ruined the series with that joke of a conclusion.
WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CONCLUDE???
And I know I should have expected this ending, especially after Declan in GOA... but DAMN IT!! WHY?!?
Another huge issue I had was the way Fallon resolved the conflict of the world in general. THAT WAS A SERIOUS FUCKING COP OUT!!!
This book was such a let down. I swear for days afterwards I was still in a rage. When my grandmother asked how I liked the book once I finished, I promise you - this was my response:
I HATED THE ENDING OF THIS SERIES!!! What was that exactly??? Surely you're not calling that an ending?!? HOW CAN YOU EVER CALL THAT AN ENDING???
Im sorry but I felt like Id been robbed of something great with the end of this book!! Seriously! I spent all this time reading and really getting into the story and the characters... but wth?!? Where was the action? There was no final showdown! Where were the life altering decisions? There is no final choice anyone has to make and are we seriously calling that a happy ending??? We literally get diddly-fucking-squat from this book! Nothing - except a wtf ending that made my head wanna explode. Fallon seriously ruined the series with that joke of a conclusion.
WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CONCLUDE???
And I know I should have expected this ending, especially after Declan in GOA... but DAMN IT!! WHY?!?
Another huge issue I had was the way Fallon resolved the conflict of the world in general. THAT WAS A SERIOUS FUCKING COP OUT!!!
This book was such a let down. I swear for days afterwards I was still in a rage. When my grandmother asked how I liked the book once I finished, I promise you - this was my response:
November 2, 2012
4.5 stars
I came to this book not expecting much because I had read reviews pertaining to how 'horribly' Jennifer Fallon chose to resolve the series. Essentially, I daresay I had sufficient time to prepare myself mentally for a disappointing ending.
Unexpectedly, I find myself enjoying this book even more than the previous book, The Palace of Impossible Dream. The revelations that occurred in the book were reasonable and rightly integrates with hints provided in earlier entries of the quartet, revealing a well-thought out plot from the beginning.
The evolution of Declan Hawkes was a truly confounding element for the entire series. As revealed in her thesis (exegenesis) Introducing Mr Perky: Subverting the trope of immortality in contemporary speculative fiction, Declan Hawkes was not initially intended to be a major character, and certainly not a rival for the Immortal Prince Cayal, who was up until the end of Book 2 still the Hero of the series.
Declan's rise in prominance in Book 3 was especially disorienting. Perhaps to give Declan Hawkes room for romantic contributions to the storyline, Fallon maneuvered Cayal into behaving selfishly and immaturely, this is contrasted starkly against Declan's undying devotion to Arkady, in the process forcefully skewing audience sympathy towards Declan. That said, Declan's continued to play a very prominent role in Book 4.
Although the end of BOok 4 did not give me the level of closure I want, I would gladly read any future follow up to the series. As Fallon clearly demonstrated over the past 4 books, immortality is a very complicated concept in her world and it cannot be easily resolved within a few chapters. Only a full series would provide justice to Arkaday's adjustment to her current situation and the new adventures of a contemporary King Tide.
As of now, I am contented with how the series concluded its theme of immortality and the origins of immortals. Compared to how The Deathly Hallows ended, this is definitely an improvement.
I came to this book not expecting much because I had read reviews pertaining to how 'horribly' Jennifer Fallon chose to resolve the series. Essentially, I daresay I had sufficient time to prepare myself mentally for a disappointing ending.
Unexpectedly, I find myself enjoying this book even more than the previous book, The Palace of Impossible Dream. The revelations that occurred in the book were reasonable and rightly integrates with hints provided in earlier entries of the quartet, revealing a well-thought out plot from the beginning.
The evolution of Declan Hawkes was a truly confounding element for the entire series. As revealed in her thesis (exegenesis) Introducing Mr Perky: Subverting the trope of immortality in contemporary speculative fiction, Declan Hawkes was not initially intended to be a major character, and certainly not a rival for the Immortal Prince Cayal, who was up until the end of Book 2 still the Hero of the series.
Declan's rise in prominance in Book 3 was especially disorienting. Perhaps to give Declan Hawkes room for romantic contributions to the storyline, Fallon maneuvered Cayal into behaving selfishly and immaturely, this is contrasted starkly against Declan's undying devotion to Arkady, in the process forcefully skewing audience sympathy towards Declan. That said, Declan's continued to play a very prominent role in Book 4.
Although the end of BOok 4 did not give me the level of closure I want, I would gladly read any future follow up to the series. As Fallon clearly demonstrated over the past 4 books, immortality is a very complicated concept in her world and it cannot be easily resolved within a few chapters. Only a full series would provide justice to Arkaday's adjustment to her current situation and the new adventures of a contemporary King Tide.
As of now, I am contented with how the series concluded its theme of immortality and the origins of immortals. Compared to how The Deathly Hallows ended, this is definitely an improvement.
September 1, 2010
Ask me my opinion of this book in a couple of years. I loved everything about it. It was action packed and awesome. Just... the ending.
There's evil. And then there's this ending.
JF Quote: "Of course, you'll get to the end of this one and then realise it's a four book series, and then get to the end of the fourth book and email me saying "What??? Is that it???", but... well, I love messing with people's heads. LOL"
It would be like if Beethoven finished a symphony on a V-I-V-I-V. Or better yet, modulated to an entirely different key and thematic content and gave you just enough interest that you really wanted to hear how it played out, then he stopped at a vii042/V chord.
It's enough to make me recommend someone not read this series until we know for certain that there's not going to be a follow up series.
Evil.
There's evil. And then there's this ending.
JF Quote: "Of course, you'll get to the end of this one and then realise it's a four book series, and then get to the end of the fourth book and email me saying "What??? Is that it???", but... well, I love messing with people's heads. LOL"
It would be like if Beethoven finished a symphony on a V-I-V-I-V. Or better yet, modulated to an entirely different key and thematic content and gave you just enough interest that you really wanted to hear how it played out, then he stopped at a vii042/V chord.
It's enough to make me recommend someone not read this series until we know for certain that there's not going to be a follow up series.
Evil.
January 19, 2009
Superb ending for the series and superb ending for the book!
Has four major twists at the end, two by two related, or if you want a major twist regarding the general story, composed from two parts, and a major twist related to a main character also composed of two parts. I saw half of each but the second half of each just dumbfounded me, though both are brilliant...
The only complaint I have about the series is that though the ending wraps things up, it still truly begs a sequel - why, I cannot say more without revealing too much, but when you read it, you will see why...
Has four major twists at the end, two by two related, or if you want a major twist regarding the general story, composed from two parts, and a major twist related to a main character also composed of two parts. I saw half of each but the second half of each just dumbfounded me, though both are brilliant...
The only complaint I have about the series is that though the ending wraps things up, it still truly begs a sequel - why, I cannot say more without revealing too much, but when you read it, you will see why...
July 18, 2025
This is one of the most garbage endings to an utterly pointless series that I've had the misfortune of reading. I'm officially swearing off this author.
July 5, 2016
I loved the first three books and was thrilled to finally be able to read the fourth and final book.
And I just have three words for this: WORST ENDING EVER!
The series was between 4-5 stars in total. But those last chapters ruined all. I am so frustrated right now. Don't know if I will ever be able to enjoy this series when I reread it. If I reread it.
I never read something that left me this speechless and unsatisfied. This book wouldn't be worth one star if it were just for the ending. I liked it so much the whole time. But for now everything is ruined.
And I just have three words for this: WORST ENDING EVER!
The series was between 4-5 stars in total. But those last chapters ruined all. I am so frustrated right now. Don't know if I will ever be able to enjoy this series when I reread it. If I reread it.
I never read something that left me this speechless and unsatisfied. This book wouldn't be worth one star if it were just for the ending. I liked it so much the whole time. But for now everything is ruined.
January 5, 2011
The ending was a little disappointing - it seemed very much as though the author just couldn't figure out a way to tie up all the problems she'd created, and so she resolved to just dissolve them all and start anew. It was a let down to have the 'arkady' plot line developed throughout the whole four book series - finally, an intelligent, resourceful, adult (not teen) female protagonist - to just leave it as a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. I don't feel that this character got the ending the reader deserved after investing so much time and interest in her.
On the whole however, a very intelligent and intriguing fantasy, with an interesting and well-created world, although some of the characters did seem alarmingly one-dimensional for people who have supposedly been alive for thousands, if not millions, of years... It was definitely gripping though, I got through the whole series in less than five days.
On the whole however, a very intelligent and intriguing fantasy, with an interesting and well-created world, although some of the characters did seem alarmingly one-dimensional for people who have supposedly been alive for thousands, if not millions, of years... It was definitely gripping though, I got through the whole series in less than five days.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2013
Completely and utterly disappointed with this ending. This book could have been perfect. If you've read it, you know exactly what I'm talking about. The two, very sudden plot twists that came out of nowhere with no explanation, therefore making no sense AT ALL AND RUINING THE ENTIRE BOOK.
The ending seem rushed, very rushed. I feel like Fallon had simply lost interest with her Tide Lords half way through the writing book and just slapped together whatever she could think of in order to move on from them.
The previous three books? Four and a half stars, all of them. Interesting characters that pull you in and make you care about them. Gripping storyline with well thought-out plot development. The last few chapters of this book? Utter nonsense, riddled with grammatical errors.
I'm extremely disappointed in you, Fallon. I won't let your confusing slip-up spoil the entire series for me, though. All in all, I loved it. Four stars.
The ending seem rushed, very rushed. I feel like Fallon had simply lost interest with her Tide Lords half way through the writing book and just slapped together whatever she could think of in order to move on from them.
The previous three books? Four and a half stars, all of them. Interesting characters that pull you in and make you care about them. Gripping storyline with well thought-out plot development. The last few chapters of this book? Utter nonsense, riddled with grammatical errors.
I'm extremely disappointed in you, Fallon. I won't let your confusing slip-up spoil the entire series for me, though. All in all, I loved it. Four stars.
March 1, 2014
That was the most disappointing ending to a series I've ever read. Did the author lose interest in her own book? Did the editor even read it? Towards the end of Book 3 and then through this one, I struggled with my growing dislike of the entire cast of characters. Their lack of morals really bothered me, though I understand it was the author's interpretation of what immortality would do to a person. And as an aside, how did the intelligent beings that formed on earth end up looking so remarkably like the immortals without their interference? Does evolving life on the different worlds they jump to all end up looking the same? Maybe that question was answered in the book but I was so distracted by the implausible and ridiculous ending that I didn't catch it. I'm not re-reading to find out. So disappointed, because the beginning of this series really was awesome.
November 1, 2015
Man, I pushed through this whole series, and I was pretty entertained through all of the books up to this one, but The Chaos Crystal dragged. Sure, most of the characters are immortal and so old that I guess they can’t evolve anymore really, but the lack of character development really got to me. Plus, the ending was fucking frustrating. I pushed through the series to the end partially because I was curious where the romance was going. However, I don’t like the addition of Declan as a love interest for Arkady, and I hate the open-ended, unexplained lack of resolution: View Spoiler » I will give the book credit for a cool world building twist, or I would if it weren’t for the spoiler. In the end, I recommend John Telfer as a narrator, but I don’t think I’d encourage you guys to check out this series.
November 25, 2017
I had been absolutely addicted to this series from the beginning and the last book has just ruined my enjoyment. SPOILERS AHEAD. the ending felt like the equivalent of "then she woke up and realized it was all a dream". throughout the second half I began to have concerns as to how the series would manage to wrap up all the different storylines - and I feel my concerns were valid. Half the characters that we have been invested in from the start all die 'off-screen' and in the middle of the climatic moment that the series has been working towards the author does a time skip of epic proportions and finishes the book in a two chapter summary that left me feeling cheated. I went to the internet immediately afterwards thinking there must be a sequel series only to find the author has no intention of going back to the series. very disappointing.
May 31, 2011
I devoured this series when I first came across it. I loved Jennifer Fallon's previous books and when I discovered this series, the first three books were already out. I'm pretty sure I read them all in under a week. So when this one finally made it's way into my library I checked it out and read it in two days.
I loved it -- up until the end. I can't even begin to express how disappointed I was in this ending. I had been waiting through the entire book to see Arkady and Declan reunited and it never happened. And on top of that, she slept with Cayal! Really?
But that's nothing compared to what happened next and the actual ending. That was just pathetic. As many have pointed it, it's like the author didn't know how to wrap things up so she simply gave up. I am really disappointed.
I loved it -- up until the end. I can't even begin to express how disappointed I was in this ending. I had been waiting through the entire book to see Arkady and Declan reunited and it never happened. And on top of that, she slept with Cayal! Really?
But that's nothing compared to what happened next and the actual ending. That was just pathetic. As many have pointed it, it's like the author didn't know how to wrap things up so she simply gave up. I am really disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2014
I am so utterly devastated by the ending of this book. It starts out just as awesome as the previous books and then at the end you wonder why the heck it was decided to end this way. I can't believe after everything that happened Arkady and Declan never resolve anything and that the immortals end up on our Earth. Not cool. If I hadn't read the end I would gladly gave this book a much better rating. I would have also been satisfied if there was another book but rather them destroying the planet in the rift, then Declan could have saved the day. After all he worked so hard to save it and all for nothing.
I don't know if I am willing to read anymore series from this author. I love how witty and fast paced the other books are but the end just doesn't do it for me at all. I am disappointed.
I don't know if I am willing to read anymore series from this author. I love how witty and fast paced the other books are but the end just doesn't do it for me at all. I am disappointed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2011
So, the ending was pretty much the biggest troll ever... and I loved it.
I was getting a bit bored with the series in the middle, particularly after Stellan. And the whole Declan/Arkady thing was tiresome. And then... Buahahaha.
I was laughing the whole time I was reading the final few chapters. I honestly think it's the best possible ending to the series. Plus, Jennifer Fallon is contemplating writing some short stories and/or novellas set in the time of the ending... possibly after, possibly slightly before (you who have read it know what I mean. I want the Cayal story sideways mentioned in the final meeting. You know, the "Oh my god, I can't believe she just did that!" story.)
I was getting a bit bored with the series in the middle, particularly after Stellan. And the whole Declan/Arkady thing was tiresome. And then... Buahahaha.
I was laughing the whole time I was reading the final few chapters. I honestly think it's the best possible ending to the series. Plus, Jennifer Fallon is contemplating writing some short stories and/or novellas set in the time of the ending... possibly after, possibly slightly before (you who have read it know what I mean. I want the Cayal story sideways mentioned in the final meeting. You know, the "Oh my god, I can't believe she just did that!" story.)
May 24, 2011
One and a half stars, really. How is it possible to take such a wonderful series and screw up the final book so badly? First of all, it was boring, leading me to skim read a lot of it. Most of the book was the same conversation repeated over and over, because there were several bits of information that all the characters needed to know. Then there was the incomprehensible ending (apparently just so two characters could have a happy ending). By the end of the book I was so tired of *everyone* that I didn't care.
May 19, 2011
The first three books were actually pretty good. And so was this last one, until about 40 pages or so to the end of the book. They do say that it's the ending that sticks with you.
This ending was definitely a brave move for the author. Killing a bunch of characters you have come to enjoy (as well as some you wanted dead) and the twist ending was just too big if a removal from the previous 90% of the story for me to support it. It just felt more like a cop-out than a plausible part of the original story.
This ending was definitely a brave move for the author. Killing a bunch of characters you have come to enjoy (as well as some you wanted dead) and the twist ending was just too big if a removal from the previous 90% of the story for me to support it. It just felt more like a cop-out than a plausible part of the original story.
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