Cloak of Titans

The Cloak Games/Cloak Mage Universe #23

by Jonathan Moeller

The point of no return is here.

My name is Nadia, and I'm a Marshal of the High Queen of the Elves.

That means it's my job to keep the peace between the humans, Elven commoners, and Elven nobles under my command.

So when one of the Elven nobles pushes things too far, it might mean civil war between the High Queen and the rebel nobles.

But the civil war is itself a trap because the malignant wizards of Singularity have been preparing for this moment for a very, very long time...

...and their deadliest weapons are ready.

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

341 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2024

About the author

Standing over six feet tall, USA Today bestselling author Jonathan Moeller has the piercing blue eyes of a Conan of Cimmeria, the bronze-colored hair of a Visigothic warrior-king, and the stern visage of a captain of men, none of which are useful in his career as a computer repairman, alas.

He has written the DEMONSOULED series of sword-and-sorcery novels, and continues to write THE GHOSTS sequence about assassin and spy Caina Amalas, the COMPUTER BEGINNER'S GUIDE series of computer books, and numerous other works. His books have sold over one million copies worldwide.

Reviews

[Candy Guyselman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional!

All of the Nadia books are fabulous and exciting! I love this series and the twist and turns that they go through and the enemies that they have to face. I love the way that Nadia is learning that power goes hand-in-hand with responsibility.

[Stuart Macmartin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great entry. Finally ends a few multi-book story arcs. Some dumb flaws by the opposition but there has to be some way to win. A bit of foreshadowing to the next books.

I wish there was a way to flag the word substitution errors. There aren’t many but every book has this distraction.

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like this generally entertaining series has lost its way a bit in recent books. For example, I think our heroine Nadia is in danger of developing Honor Harrington Syndrome (where a character keeps getting new abilities, honours, wealth etc. and complains about it, and feels in less and less jeopardy), and I'm increasingly finding her brother a bit insufferable since he became filthy rich and got superpowers as well and became even more suave and universally beloved by everyone he meets. I miss the vibe of the early books where Nadia was always on the edge of losing everything and was a "little fish in a big pond".

I also feel like the author hasn't managed to reconcile the rather grimdark, dystopian-satirical nature of the world set up in the early books (magical Elves ruling Earth like 19th-century colonialists, slavery for criminals, televised floggings and executions, "elfophobia" as a thoughtcrime, etc.) with the presentation in later books of High Queen Tarlia as a supposedly benevolent ruler (of the "good Tsar, bad Boyars" variety), and with Nadia becoming part of "the system". The narrative keeps having to deploy the "it's either this or the world gets eaten by eldritch horrors" gambit, and I think some of the more over the top stuff like slavery for criminals or "elfophobia" hasn't been mentioned in any of the last few books. My hope was that the more recent plot arc was going to bring about a bit of a realignment of the setting, but that doesn't seem to be on the cards as of the end of this book. This helps to create the unfortunate impression that the author maybe quite likes the idea of the world being run by a magical dictator.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewing book 11 in a series - actually more like book 23, counting books in the predecessor series - is different from reviewing a stand-alone novel. People likely to read it have already read book 10 - and 9 and 8... So the questions a latest-in-a-series review need to answer are

1. Should you keep reading this series? Yes. If you enjoyed book 10 - and 9 and 8... - you'll enjoy this one. The four-star rating is basically a state-of-the-series rating.

2. Is this a good jumping-in book if you haven't been reading the series? Nope. Read "Cloak Games: Thief Trap" and decide whether you like it.

3. How was this book compared to its predecessors? Weaker, actually. The book fails the "if I were an evil overlord" test several times - e.g. the doomsday device has a single point of failure *and* a countdown - to the point of being distracting.

4. Does the book do anything particularly interesting? Yes. This is not a spoiler, because I'm speculating, but I think a rescue is being foreshadowed for people lost in the final battle on Kalvarion.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

4* for the first half and 3* for the second mainly because the Race Against the Clock feels forced.

Why didn't Nadia do the thing that she did at the end of the fight with Maestro at the beginning of it?

[Ray Hastie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a good, fun read. From the number of characters making appearances, I thought the ending would have been bigger.
The only complaint was pertaining to proofreading (Ellypse v Eliptical) and internal consistency (who owns the hotel?)

[Mary Catelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoilers for the earlier Cloak books ahead.

Many things come to a head in this volume. As in, it opens with Nadia observing that she started a civil war.

But she gets news of orcs massing for an attack from her goblin scouts, and they counterattack. Unfortunately, Duke Vashtyr and Baron Rymaris choose this to foment their conflict with the High Queen by Rymaris's defying orders. Also, they underestimate what Nadia will do in response.

Meanwhile, Victoria Carrow is looking for her moment to get back at the Duke for his deceit.

These things intertwine. It involves how much the Duke's mistress loves her son, a business in Alabama, the High Queen's Marshals, Shadowlands iron, and more.

[Robert Loken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cloak of Titans book 11

I very much enjoyed the read and the new challenges that Nadia has to face with Singularity and Elve Noble.

[Steve Alford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

As always, he captures his audience and holds their attention until they are left frenzied waiting for a sequel. Excellent!

[H.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was good, but slow. The ending was really good though.

[Dave Warren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!!!

Can the tales of Nadia Moran get any better? Plenty of action, politics and world -changing events with a great cast of characters; spectacular!!

[Robert Nacke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a such a great novel that was written really well with a plot that keeps you interest all the way to the end. I highly recommend this!