Magebane: The Age of Dread, Book 3

Age of Dread #3

by Stephen Aryan

Magic is the only weapon against the gods.

A plague rages in the streets of Perizzi. Guardians rally to deal with riots while apothecarists struggle to find a cure. The cult of Akosh has been decimated, but there are many survivors in the north hungry for revenge.

Elsewhere, new alliances are formed to combat a deity who feeds on pestilence and decay. Gods, Sorcerers and Battlemages must set aside the past to work together - or risk unleashing greater suffering than they can possibly imagine....

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic

Audible Audio

First published August 6, 2019

About the author

I’m a lifelong fan of fantasy and science fiction. It started with The Hobbit, The Belgariad, the Earthsea books, the Shannara books, DragonLance and then David Gemmell, who was a huge influence on my writing.

My novels include:-

The Nightingale and the Falcon trilogy

The Judas Blossom (July 2023)
The Blood Dimmed Tide (9 July 2024)
The Judas Blossom 3 (July 2025)

The Quest for Heroes duology

-The Coward (June 2021)
- The Warrior (August 2022)


Age of Darkness (first trilogy)
- Battlemage
- Bloodmage
- Chaosmage

Age of Dread (second trilogy)

-Mageborn
-Magefall
-Magebane

A prequel novella to everything, Of Gods and Men, was published in February 2018.


I am represented by Juliet Mushens of Mushens Entertainment.

Reviews

[L'ours inculte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ça fait toujours plaisir de terminer une série rondement menée. Après sa première trilogie L’âge des ténèbres, Stephen Aryan en termine une seconde avec ce Magebane et on peut dire que le monsieur a bien affiné son art.

Après la grosse dérouillée qu’elle s’est prise, Akosh se planque et tente de rassembler ses forces, mais celui qui a manigancé les évènements des tomes précédents dans l’ombre commence à la trouver bien encombrante. C’est un monstre encore plus puissant qui pourrait sortir de l’ombre. Mais pendant ce temps, Perizzi est touchée par une épidémie foudroyante, Tammy assume son rôle de Khevassar et va devoir faire des choix drastique pour empêcher l’infection de se propager. Tandis que Tianne rentre retrouver Wren et ses compagnons, le régent Choilan essaye de renforcer son cadre de mage personnel en engageant un professeur un peu particulier.

Contrairement à la première trilogie de l’auteur, les trois tomes de Age of dread ne sont pas indépendants et font même des ponts avec la série précédente. On y trouve toujours de nombreux points de vue, ce qui peut sembler casse-gueule mais est très bien géré par l’auteur. Que ce soit du côté de Munroe et sa vengeance contrariée, Tianne et Wren qui construisent leur communauté, Tammy qui a beaucoup de responsabilités à Perizzi, Balfruss qui mène une nouvelle mission à bien ou encore Vargus qui accompagne son nouveau protégé, ici toutes les trames finissent par converger vers une menace qui se promène entre les lignes depuis plusieurs bouquins. Même si la fin fait un peu « combat de boss », elle est quand même très satisfaisante pour les arcs de chacun, et l’auteur se permet de laisser un ou deux trucs en suspend.

Lire en 2020 un roman avec une pandémie pourra ne pas convenir à tous les lecteurs, parce que niveau évasion et « se changer les idées », on peut mieux faire. Mais j’ai trouvé plusieurs parallèles rigolos avec notre situation réelle de la vraie vie, même si le roman est sorti y’a plus d’un an. J’avoue que les riches qui veulent quitter une ville en quarantaine pour aller tranquillement dans leur maison de campagne au risque de propager la maladie, se retrouvant humiliés dans une prison dégueulasse, ça fait bien sourire aujourd’hui.

Au-delà de ça, Stephen Aryan pousse une mythologie faite de dieux anciens qui marchent parmi les humains et puisent leur puissance dans le nombre de fidèles qui les vénèrent. Pourtant l’auteur s’amuse à garder encore beaucoup de choses dans l’ombre, avec des mystères non élucidés et des forces qui sont à peine esquissées dans les coins. Ça donne un côté indicible pas désagréable, lorgnant du côté d’Erikson mais en plus digeste. On a quand même assez de miettes pour apprendre du neuf, notamment grâce à Vargus et Danoph, mais il serait dommage de trop en dévoiler ici.

La force de cette nouvelle trilogie reste cette galerie de personnages très solide, chaque protagoniste est intéressant, chaque trajectoire se justifie, chaque caractère est fouillé. On a un rythme relativement lent au fil des pages, l’auteur prend son temps, fouille les psychologies et fait assez de rappels pour qu’on ne se perde pas dans tous ces points de vue. On est loin de la fantasy badaboum d’action non-stop que pouvait être Mage de guerre, ça peut parfois trainer un peu mais c’est jamais désagréable, on savoure plus lentement et on s’imprègne de l’univers.

Les thématiques liées à la magie qui fait peur aux « moldus » (qui finissent par persécuter et bannir les mages), la peur de l’inconnu qui dérape en violence incontrôlable, continuent d’être au cœur de l’histoire. La trilogie a exploré plusieurs voies dans cette problématique, touchant au terrorisme, aux phénomènes de foule décérébrée qui se referme et utilise sa haine de l’étranger comme bouclier en cas de crise majeure. Finalement, Age of dread parle souvent de notre monde réel de manière très directe, très sombre mais avec suffisamment de petits sursauts de bienveillance pour ne pas tomber dans « on n’a qu’à tous crever, monde de merde ». Car si certains mages prennent la voie de la violence, d’autres choisissent une voie d’échange et de pédagogie qui ne sera pas simple mais apporte de l’espoir.

Stephen Aryan signe donc une seconde trilogie satisfaisante, plus entière que la précédente mais qui arrive à en utiliser certaines pièces pour construire un édifice cohérent sur l’ensemble de ses six bouquins. Thématiquement fort, avec des personnages solides et convaincants, dommage que Bragelonne n’ait pas encore prévu de traduire cette seconde série chez nous. Le manque de suivi des auteurs sur le long terme reste un vrai souci chez l’éditeur.

https://ours-inculte.fr/magebane/

[Viking Jam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.4/5

Review: This was a really good end to a series that started in lackluster fashion and ended with a bang.

The characters continued to evolve along with the story line, in good ways and bad. When you have immortal beings, it can be hard to develop the character, yet the author was able to move their perspectives by exerting external pressures. Very well done. Munroe and Wren fail to reach potential as one is mired in revenge and the other just gets more speshul, if that is possible.

There are quite a few holes in the story line which leads me to believe that this is not the end of this world. If Garvey and Balfruss are “Becoming”, then I assume that their ascension to godhood is imminent. Plus Garvey is a certain replacement for Kai since vacating his seat. There is still the issue of those hidden in the veil, and now with Kai and Akosh among them, the story line gets a ripe infusion of evil.

A dam good read.

[John Reiterowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my second take on the review of this book. I wrote the first when I "rage quit" reading this book, and gave it 1/5 which, in hindsight is not fair to this book.

I got to page 270 of 500 page and could not carry on, but to this book's credit, it is probably the closest to a stand-alone in the whole series. It's just too slow in light of the whole series, and you still need to have read the first two books in the trilogy to really know what is going on.

The good:

This book is set in a cool world, and most of the characters are likeable. However, a lot of people say the author takes his time to develop characters, etc. and that's the polite way to say it.

If you really care about just getting to know some characters regardless of what they ultimately accomplish (or do not accomplish), then sure, dive in.

It's well-written, very creative.


The problem with this book:

The challenge with trilogies is that each story must be a standalone and connect to the others in the series. This trilogy does not do that. Books 1 and 2 are basically ~800 pages of what feels like back-story that frankly, I didn't really care for in light of the direction Magebane went. Therefore, I didn't just quit on page 270/500 in this book, but page 1070/1300 for the trilogy.

SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINE

The main flaw of Magebane is not as a standalone book, but as the culmination of a trilogy. There is almost no payoff for any of the plots from books 1 or 2 in this book - with the exception of Kai/Akosh. And it just left me wondering the point of Books 1 and 2 really were when nothing that happened in those mattered in Magebane.

--> Tammy being made into The Old Man is a nice back-story, but it would have been fine to just have her become The Old Man in the same story as she fights the plague.
--> Wren... I swear the author just doesn't know what to do with her because she's redundant to Tianne later.
--> Both Wren and Tianne's plot from books 1 and 2 are essentially just back story to what they are meant to do in this book.
--> Danoph's nature being a mystery for 2 books is way too slow that I honestly didn't care for the reveal at the end of book 2, only to finally develop him in book 3... after I lost patience.
--> Akosh has a good arc from mastermind to cornered, to hunted, but that didn't need to happen across 3 books.
--> Munroe is just a no-patience/no-nonsense mage all the way through. I frankly don't care for this character she's just always out to hurt people.
--> Balfruss and Garvey basically got written out of the story for book 2 and in book 3 where I quit had yet to do anything - I know they amount to something, but it's too slow and could have been covered.
--> The Cadre of Mages for Choilan... I mean the whole point of Tianne in book 2 to explain why the cadre exists, but it's not worth it because they all just get possessed by Maran and they fold into the Kai plot in any event.
--> the plague was the plot in Perizzi, but we had to wait 2.25 books to get it, and I frankly didn't care by the time it got there.
--> Kai's involvement is really cool... but I didn't like waiting for 2.25 books teasing that Akosh was the final boss of this series, only to find out it was Kai all along - again basically negating Akosh's plot.
--> Red Tower falls? Who cares? All these characters seem capable of operating independently and we barely got to know the Red Tower anyway.
--> Wren meets the queen of Shael and saves a whole province of Shael? Irrelevant because the plague is in Perizzi as well as her destiny.

I could go on, but I hope I have made my point. It's ironic (and paradoxical) that you need books 1 and 2 to know what is going on, but also that those stories are basically irrelevant to the final conclusion in this book. There is no point building up a character or plot only to have it retconned or made irrelevant by a subsequent book.

Magebane made books 1 and 2 feel like a complete waste of time - like a meandering trail of pointless adventures before the main event (Magebane). Magebane itself is also a slow read - as very little had happened up to 270/500. Yes, I know about the ending, which I am not spoiling here, I did skim to the end to prevent any further loss of time.

I hate quitting a series more than 75% through, but it just left such a bad taste in my mouth that the prior 800 pages (books 1 and 2), which were a bit of a slog in retrospect, felt like a waste based on the direction that Magebane took. I honestly could not tell you which parts of Book 1 and 2 were relevant to Magebane aside from who is who and the general setting.

I kept being told this is the best book in the trilogy, and it ends "with a bang" and words to that effect. But the glacial pace of this book, coupled with the glacial pace of the whole trilogy, and the retcons/pointless prior plots, is just unforgiveable.

Specific things that irked me....

The exact chapter where I put the book down and then skimmed the rest is worth mentioning. The whole trilogy is just build-up, but no resolutions. In the chapter when Akosh, Munroe and Vargus, and Kai, and Danoph all finally meet just past halfway through: NOTHING happens. It was a stalemate. That was the exact chapter I realized this book is way too much padding/irrelevant plot lines to go on in earnest.

*I have to give special credit for these three annoyances in the the trilogy, once you see them the immersion is gone:

1. It is so ambiguous that Choss and Munroe's son are dead. You don't see it happen at the end of book 1. And yet every chapter in Munroe's perspective has to remind us they're dead, which is weird because she didn't see whether they lived or died. If they're obviously dead why keep saying it? If they're not dead, when are they coming back? I just wanted to know and it's this stupid loose thread with no payoff (at least where I stopped).

2. Every single fight with a man against a woman - the woman wins. Every single time. There is no tension for any of Tammy's fights or Munroe's fights because they always break that guy's nose, twist his arm, knock him out, etc. I'm not invested in those fights because I already who is going t win.

3. Every single male character has basically been written out of the trilogy at this point. The two coolest characters in the whole series: Balfruss and Garvey? Completely absent so far. But annoying characters like Tianne? Every third chapter. Danoph, Kai and Vargus don't count; they're gods. I don't have a problem with female characters like Tammy, she's cool, but this series started off with both male and female characters and there are basically no male characters left.

4. Every single character in this book is either a complete rookie, or some extremely accomplished mage. There are no in-betweens: Dox, Wren, Tianne, etc. never know enough about magic. Munroe, Garvey and Balfruss are complete masters with god-like power. We never see anything middle of the row. It's just weird.


How this book essentially ruins the trilogy:

This is how you need to view the series:

Mageborn: Backstory part 1
Magefall: Backstory part 2
Magebane: The actual story

When I read Mageborn, I gave 4 stars.

After I read Magefall, I gave that 3 stars and lowered my Mageborn rating to 3 stars because I was confused how basically nothing happened in Magefall that really continued from Mageborn, and nothing big happened in Magefall.

Now since reading Magebane - or as much of it as I could get through - I am just left disappointed. This story drags way too much. Nothing gets resolved. I have lowered all my reviews in this series to 2/5 stars as a warning to others.


A note to authors and publishers: semi-constructive criticism...

If you're writing a trilogy, it has to be 3 self-contained stories that link to a bigger whole. Like Lord of the Rings or Hunger Games. Each book stands alone, and each book links to a larger whole. These are good series for that reason.

The problem with the Age of Dread is that these books are not stand-alone stories (except maybe Magebane). They're all meandering, fluff-ridden messes where not much happens in any one book. This trilogy is slow and bloated with pointless plots.

I honestly think this trilogy could have been a 500-600 page book that had a little more pace to it, with slightly fewer POV characters, and a focus on the actual Akosh/Kai threat, and the mages ability to counter it in the face of a population that doesn't trust them.

- Skip the fall of the Red Tower, or have that as its own series.
- Delete the whole of the second book.
- Skip Tammy's back story, or have it shortened so the Old Man catches the plague and then Tammy has to take over for him that way - a "field promotion"
- Have Tianne and Wren be more seasoned, and more experienced... maybe recent graduates from the Red Tower.
- Have Danoph be revealed sooner... or delete him altogether, I wouldn't miss him.
- Have Munroe do SOMETHING besides hurt people for 3 books. you could probably actually just delete her if you really wanted.
- Replace Munroe's role with Garvey and/or Balfruss but keep them as counter-points to each other: one is thoughtful and tries to help people, and the other is all bitter and rage-filled.

This book has all the right parts, they're assembled in a bloated, boring and endless manner. There was a real story here, but it didn't take 1300 pages to tell.

That's why you lost me in this book and trilogy.


To Publishers:

I have a hunch - to the author's credit - that the editor and publisher are largely to blame for this endless, bloated and boring trilogy.

People see through this "trilogy" chase/trend you're into now. Not every has to be a series or a trilogy. Not everything needs multiple entries, especially when one good entry would have beat two bad ones and a mediocre one.

My favorite analogy is to film - the first Matrix and the the first Pirates of the Caribbean were masterpieces, and the remainder of those series were just bloat or a cash-grab by the studios.

I see the same thing with the Age of Dread. I feel like the only reason this is a series and not one decent book, is because of the publisher's desire for more money, at the cost of an actual good story that required too much fluff to make this trilogy happen.

I would have loved to see what this author could do in a 500-600 page rewrite of this series.

[Nick Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, the final book that completes an outstanding trilogy. This is, of course, the second trilogy to feature these characters and all six books have been brilliant, start with book one and don’t leave too much of a gap between books as there is a lot going on and you need to keep on top of it.

In summary this is where the Gods, the mages and the humans have to work together, sort of. Magic is still blamed for the state of the world and can the mages prove they can be a force for good or are they too late for a world sleepwalking into a greater evil?

Very hard to sum up the moving parts, of which there are many. A perfect blend of thoughtful world building with a strong set of characters. You will care as much about the woman trying to manage a plague as you will a sorcerer out for revenge at all cost.
Outstanding fantasy.

[Tina · Rating 1 out of 5]

As someone who has read Battlemage too many times, and re-read the first trilogy more than a few times, Mage Bane (and the Age of Dread trilogy as a whole) has simply been disappointing.

I can't recall the amount of times I picked up and abandoned this book. Although the characters' plots had potential, the story just dragged on and repeated itself constantly. I was disappointed with the writing, the (lack of) character development, and just felt a constant 'Huh?' at the pacing and with things that just didn't add up; it felt like Stephen didn't know how to continue the story several times.

I finished this book/trilogy because of the emotional attachment I have to the original characters and first series. Even with some open endings, I don't think I will be coming back to any possible continuations. It was good while it lasted, I can walk away now. Thank you.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen Aryan is honestly one of my favorite fantasy authors - and he didn't disappoint with Magebane. He's written an amazing conclusion to another very well-written trilogy. There's a huge cast of characters, but they're all so diverse and different that they're easy to keep track of. I loved the pace of the final book in the trilogy - where I've complained a bit of the pace in the two previous books, the pace was right on point in this book. It took time to build up the tension and the plot, but there was also plenty of different things happening while we waited for the big conclusion. I'm so happy with the ending of this wonderful trilogy - and I can't wait to see what Aryan will write next.

[Helena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect in every way.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.3 / 5 ✪

Contains spoilers for both Mageborn and Magefall. Also may contain possible spoilers for the Age of Darkness trilogy.

For a guy who hated one of my favorite books, Stephen Aryan can tell a pretty good story. His second trilogy set in this particular world, the Age of Dread continues what the Age of Darkness started, with magic, law, and the gods themselves coming to the forefront for this conclusion.

The Age of Darkness ended in an epic battle for the good of the world, but the Age of Dread features an epic struggle as well—this one for both gods and men. Having carved out a niche for themselves in the corner of Shael, Wren and the others now search for acceptance from a world that continues to hate and fear their kind. When a mysterious illness appears on the streets of Perizzi, it’s up to Tammy to make sure the virus spreads no further. But she fails as the city is soon quarantined, and are left with a choice—will they survive together, or die alone? As Munroe hunts the being that stole her family from her, nothing will stand in her way. Less justice, more vengeance; nothing will save Akosh when the mage catches up to her. For justice is all well and good, but some debts can only be paid in blood. Akosh has fallen far from the goddess she truly is. Hunted on all fronts, she is forced into an alliance with a being even more powerful and ancient than herself. And when even her once ally threatens to turn on her, Akosh must make the ultimate sacrifice to survive. Revealed as something more than mortal, Danoph know travels with Vargus, the one-time Weaver showing him the ropes. But what is Danoph’s task, exactly? And will he be able to fulfill it when the truth is revealed?

I know this was a fairly brief prompt compared to my usual ramble, but at the end of a six book series (that’s two trilogies), I’m not sure who’s where and how much I should be revealing. Hopefully I did a decent enough job of keeping it informative, yet also vague enough that anyone can jump right in.

I’ve really enjoyed these two trilogies—both the Age of Darkness and the Age of Dread—though I know they weren’t exactly giant successes. It seems most of the people I’ve talked to about them read one or two of the first trilogy, but thought they were decent at best, and then dropped off. Well, everyone’s allowed their own opinion, but it doesn’t really matter as I thought they were brilliant!

With five books preceding Magebane, there are so many paths diverging and converging that the story could almost end up anywhere. It was a brief disappointment when instead we arrived at two shared threads, but the conclusion was entertaining enough that I soon got over it. Though not as epic (in my opinion) as the finale of Chaosmage, the ending here was still impressive. An ultimate evil on one side, while a much different evil awaits on the other. It wasn’t exactly what I’d expected given the series’ history, but in some ways impressed me more given that it broke out of the mold it’d kept to up to this point.

The characters and world-building have been strong throughout the series, reaching an impressive zenith as all their threads collide. While we didn’t get as much exposure to either Sorcerer as I would’ve liked in this final book, enough of the other characters starred that I got over the slight—especially when I figured out what the author was up to. While the trilogies both feature so much of the affairs of gods and sorcerers; the world is not built upon them. It’s built on the backs of mortals. Or, I guess, ‘it is in men that we must place our hope.’ Many stories ended here, some are only getting started. I can’t wait to see where Aryan takes the story from here!

TL;DR

The Age of Darkness ended with a bang. The Age of Dread ends in much the same manner. Another epic conclusion concludes another epic series. Part of me was truly disappointed to see it end, but every story must come to an end. As they’ve struggled to adapt and overcome over the course of six books, the characters that emerge from Magebane have seen some things. They’ve been fleshed out, humanized, developed, grown, regressed, both most of all survived. Everything has led to this point—the end of an age. If you’ve not yet begun either series—I’d definitely recommend it. If you’re somewhere in the middle but on the fence about continuing—I’d still recommend it. If not, I understand; there’s always more to read :)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

I'm not sure what happened here for me. I loved the first two to bits and pieces. But this one came off as a little random to me. I got to the halfway point and found that new problems were being introduced and they felt thrown in to me. Maybe if they were introduced earlier I would have found it more intense and a bigger build up to the final book rather than dropping problems all in the last book. Because there was so many things to solve in the final book...the ending fell flat to me.

I am still in love with the world and most of the characters (Tianne's motivation made zero sense to me). I guess this final book just wasn't it for me.

[Vader · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8 stars.


5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[THE BIBLIOPHILE (Rituranjan) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good ending to the trilogy. The action is excellent, the tension is kept throughout the story, and the characterization is pretty well done. I have become a fan of Stephen Aryan, and will eagerly wait for his next publication. All of his books follow the traditional fantasy formula in the manner of John Gwynne, but is immensely readable because Aryan mixes the elements of sword and sorcery with the epic in a very enthusiastic manner. Aryan's world is populated by gods, mortals, sorcerers, drawing inspiration from different mythologies that lends depth and complexity to the themes of power, faith, survival, change, that is being tackled in the novel.

I loved reading this book. The writing is smooth, and the pacing is brilliantly suited to the grim and hopeful mood in the story. It starts right after Magefall, and it successfully keeps the suspense lingering. I liked the aspect of the plague which is reminiscent of the Black Death in London in 1348. Stephen Aryan captures the horror and death of the plague in a very vivid manner. The most notable aspect in this novel however, is the prime antagonist Kai, a malevolent god, and the rise of the Weaver. I however believe that the character of Munroe could've been better, but anyways, her character suited the circumstances of the story. Her interaction with the teenage orphan girl Dox is touching, who keeps Munroe's volatile anger focused and grounded. Wren, Tianne, and their group, they all felt like familiar friends to me, and I could relate to their conflicted emotions regarding their place in the society trying to live a normal life, while at the ame time trying to bear the responsibility of magic which is considered to be a curse by the masses. It was well executed.

The ending was a little anticlimactic for me. Aryan used a deus ex machina kinda thing, rather than allow the characters to fully battle for their fates. And, the ending also raised a few questions. I'll let that pass for now, but, I still hope that Aryan would publish more novels in this varied fantasy world. There are still a lot more aspects to be explored, along with some of the characters who are growing into their respective potential. Nonetheless, Aryan managed to tell a entertaining story with its own quirks, and twists that packs an explosive punch. Despite all this, I'm going to complain the lack of a map, which I very much wanted as I'm not good at navigating without directions.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

As this is the final book in the trilogy I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to spoil it for anyone. This series had it all. Complex characters I grew to love, battle scenes that had my blood pounding and a plot that gripped me and wouldn't let go.

As this is a sequel trilogy I would highly recommend starting with the first series to get to know the world and really emotionally connect with the characters as I did.

Aryan's writing style is so accessible and I think all fans of fantasy will find something to enjoy in these books. The story gets quite dark at times as the author explores how fear and prejudice can take hold and what it can do to people.

As for this particular finale, it totally exceeded my expectations, which were high to begin with as I love this author. The final confrontation was absolutely fantastic. It genuinely had me on the edge of my seat.

While the story wrapped up the main plot, there were a couple of plot points left (I feel) intentionally open and so Aryan has left room to add more stories in this world. I really hope he returns to it one day as I would love to explore it even more.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

the first half of the book was really good. The ending / last quarter was unbearable drivel and i just wanted it to end. (spoilers ahead) ..................












The last boss fight with Kai was pointless. I swear all he did was sit there and let them kill him? there was no danger to the fight and it was so disappointing. What was the point of building this character up for it to just fizzle out and die. Also the repetition in the book just made it plainly obvious that the writer was running out of ideas and needed to prolong the book somehow. Most of the best characters like Balfruss, Garvey and Kai went from the best character to footnotes and not noteworthy character. The second half of the book with wren was just boring with stupid reasons for doing what they did. The way the characters reacted to killing and seeing dead bodies was also a "What?" moment as you would think by this time they would be less effected, especially Balfruss.
All in all i loved all the books but this one 2/10.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good, I have read it twice

I have just refinished this trilogy for a second time. I realised I didn’t leave a review last time and thought I would this time to share how much I enjoyed it. This trilogy is a great merge of magic and gods and I enjoy the aspect of all the layers around different people and getting to see a world from really great characters.

There was a lot of good tension and development for all of the characters. When it switches you don’t find yourself wanting to be back on someone else perspective, as each have so much going on. Even at the end. It really left me wanting more, is there a 4th book or can we have another trilogy?

If you have come across this book and havant read the series, go back to the beginning and Enjoy the world!

[Joe Rixman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final novel in the Age of Dread trilogy is an epic, high-stakes free-for-all told from various perspectives. Stephen Aryan's writing is assured and his plotting is pitch-perfect. Aryan fills the novel with characters you wish you knew (or wish you didn't!), flawed people sometimes making poor decisions, and other times redemptive ones. The antagonists in this story are not all evil and power-hungry godlike-beings (though there are those), but mostly human beings craving power, understanding, acceptance, or controlled by fear, religious zealotry, or just plain anger toward others. This final battle is worth the price of admission, and the closing chapters bring a hopeful, positive outlook for the future. A strongly recommended, solid novel.

[Paul Allard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent last part to this fantasy trilogy

Following the events of Magefall, this novel brings the trilogy to its conclusion with many unexpected events along the way. All the major characters are involved including a few ones. The characters continue to develop, especially the younger ones. It's about magic, betrayal, deities, pestilence and death (with shades of Lovecraft!) as well as a relatively positive outcome at the end. Obviously it's worth reading the first two parts as it does not stand alone. I've thoroughly enjoyed this original fantasy work and recommend it to all lovers of fantasy fiction.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book more then the last book. This is the part of the story where everything comes together and pays off in spades. I don't think all major characters reached their full potential, Wren being one of them, but that's also the way to make things more realistic. Not everyone reaches greatness and considering the previous trilogy I wouldn't be surprised if certain characters make it into the next trilogy in this world if another such trilogy does happen. Its been a few years since this book was released and while I enjoyed The Coward and its sequel I'd like a return to this world please.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really hoped this book would end in a way that was satisfying and it has not dissapointed. I really do hope that there will be some form of continuation but if not, it is left in a good place. Not one single sentence dissapointed me! The final battle was as brutal and brilliantly written as i expected. I am very sad to say goodbye to these characters, especially my favourite, all powerful, badass bitch Munroe but i have enjoyed every word of their stories and cannot wait to see what Stephen does next

[Richard Chitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

A really great ending to the trilogy. After a faced-paced first book and a slower, character-building second book, Aryan brings the best of both to this finale. Focusing in on mainly two locations for Magebane, and assembling the characters together, the narrative and pace here is great.

Whilst the fantasy world in this trilogy (and the 'Age of Darkness' trilogy) isn't necessarily ground-breaking and original, it's reminiscent of so many fantasy worlds and stories that I know and love, and I've grown to really enjoy Aryan's writing.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely brilliant! I loved every chapter and every page! I just can't believe this is the end of this amazing world that Stephen has built. I can only hope that he will continue with this world at some point in the future.

[Vexation · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent way to finish the trilogy and tie up all the plot threads that had sprouted in the previous books. Delicious page turner with well thought out action scenes that keep a decent level of suspense despite the disparity in power levels of the various protagonists/antagonists.

[Gordie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magebane does not disappoint

The conclusion to a great series of books that I have really enjoyed reading. There is a bit of everything in this book a plague, magic and some ass kicking. I hope we get to see some of these characters again in another adventure sometime soon.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent conclusion to a world full of magic and suffering. The way all of the characters through all of the books overlap and connect it wonderful and just shows the layers that there are to this world. I wish I wasn’t over but it was a wonderful adventure!

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are fun. And what more could you wish for in escapist fantasy?

Well... you might wish for a lot. But for me? That's enough.

There's more. But I was just swept up in the story and the world and thoroughly enjoyed myself

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen has done it again with a great finish to another fantastic trilogy.

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love mages. Magical brain candy.

[Kman · Rating 4 out of 5]

this series was as good as the authors previous series. lots of action and a good plot line. the author also did a much better job using the words sit and stand (sat/stood) properly.

[Russell Silvester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible finale to another incredible trilogy from Stephen Aryan . Breathtaking pace from start to finish , great battle scenes as usual . I really am hoping for another mage trilogy

[Kes · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plague was a really short plotline: introduced and resolved within the book. I liked that it suggested new avenues of joint healing opening up. Face-paced book that did the job well.

[David Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

What an end to this trilogy. These stories have had me enthralled. An my book hangover will last for days.