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Ren of Atikala #3
The Empire of Dust
I am Ren of Atikala. Warlord. Conqueror. Murderer. I have many stories yet to tell, but this one is the most bloody.There was a time I thought I was a God. Something greater than inconsequential mortals; better than my kobold kin, better than elves and dwarves and everyone. Peerless. Indefatigable. Monomaniacal in my quest for superiority.Everything I had done to lead me to this point ultimately hurt me. Death was my shadow and I cast it everywhere I went. It grew larger and larger, sucking in everyone around me and swallowing them whole.Then it fell on me.This is the story about how I am not a hero.Book three of the Kobolds series.The Kobolds Ren of Atikala#2: Ren of The Scars of Northaven (Now available for preorder!)Other stories set in Drathari, the World of Shattered Sacrifice- The Pariahs- The Freelands- The Elfholme- The The Abyss (coming soon!)
- GenresFantasy
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2016
4 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
David Adams
54 books73 followersI've always been writing in my mind. I have way, way, way too many stories to tell and far too little time to tell them.
I've been involved in Star Trek roleplay-by-emails for a few years, where basically I learned my craft, but it's only last year that I actually started putting these thoughts to paper.
By day I'm a software engineer. But by night I write a little science fiction, a little fantasy, a little humour and comedy, and a little erotica under pen names.
I've been involved in Star Trek roleplay-by-emails for a few years, where basically I learned my craft, but it's only last year that I actually started putting these thoughts to paper.
By day I'm a software engineer. But by night I write a little science fiction, a little fantasy, a little humour and comedy, and a little erotica under pen names.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 8, 2018
Review this later...not how I thought is was going to turn out.
December 20, 2017
I wanted to like this book. I definitely enjoyed the first two even if I didn't always agree with some of the direction it went... but the conclusion of this series just felt...
I don't know, unsatisfying.
Let me back up a bit by stating that in the previous two books, the true strength of the series has always been the world building. I loved the world that the author built up, illustrating the differences in life between kobolds and the surface dwellers, from the kobold's point of view. The clash of cultures when these two groups interact has always, in my mind at least, been the strongest and most entertaining part of this series.
Empire of Dust does little of this. It focuses instead on a war, which was started at the beginning of the second book... a war that the readers were never quite sold on why it was necessary, let alone why the kobolds of Ren's new found home would even follow her into such a war. The series states early on that kobolds live a life that is very 'for the greater good of the community', yet Ren is very clearly not acting for the greater good of the community, and she is never sufficiently questioned on this. Her war is billed as a liberation at first, but what desire do the kobolds have for liberating the races of the surface?
Then there is the issue of the 'kneejerk' killings. Ren kills other kobolds, two, one in her sleep on raw gut instinct, and the other to test her new weapon. Why? This never seems to be addressed why this development in her character occurred. In the previous books, even at the height of her suffering, she was very much sicked by the idea of taking life, even when strictly necessary... and yet in such a short amount of time she has seemingly turned 'apathetic'? This is never sufficiently explained, it is far too sudden in my mind, and it feels like it was added to hype her angst later.
The power creep also bugs me heavily. Ren went from only having a few spells, and at the end of the second book barely being able to summon her wings, to suddenly being able to fly for any length of time, whenever she wants. Spells seemingly had no limit. And then at the end, apparently she was an avatar of a goddess? It doesn't feel believable. Everything that essentially made Ren 'the kobold hero' of the previous two books, has been erased and forgotten.
I also have to mention Valen. Dear god I don't know how to start... and there are so many things I could say about this character that bug me. I'll keep it simple, Valen, a not even full grown kobold, slays a dragon in seemingly one sentence... because he was being trained as an assassin. Let's just let that sink in for a moment, a child kobold, killed a dragon, almost instantly. He uses a kobold sized dagger, not even a special weapon. This isn't even at the height of his training. Yet, somehow the kobolds up till this point have been an oppressed race. Did this not bother anybody else? Dragons in Pathfinder, the game this takes reference from, are ridiculously hard to kill. Even if you were to have a high level rogue, get a natural 20, and properly sneak attack, it would not be over in one turn. Yet a child with a few months of training at most, pulled it off. So I have to ask, if the kobolds can train their assassins so efficiently, why are they oppressed? Why was the final battle of this series in any way difficult?
I wanted to enjoy the conclusion of this series as much as the other books, but I just couldn't. There is so much more I could write here... about the obviously stupid mistakes Ren made, about pointless side missions, about characters that ultimately served no purpose like Z, about the final revelations.
I respect the author for trying to tell an unconventional story, but the conclusion failed to address every point that made this story such a joy to read up until now.
I don't know, unsatisfying.
Let me back up a bit by stating that in the previous two books, the true strength of the series has always been the world building. I loved the world that the author built up, illustrating the differences in life between kobolds and the surface dwellers, from the kobold's point of view. The clash of cultures when these two groups interact has always, in my mind at least, been the strongest and most entertaining part of this series.
Empire of Dust does little of this. It focuses instead on a war, which was started at the beginning of the second book... a war that the readers were never quite sold on why it was necessary, let alone why the kobolds of Ren's new found home would even follow her into such a war. The series states early on that kobolds live a life that is very 'for the greater good of the community', yet Ren is very clearly not acting for the greater good of the community, and she is never sufficiently questioned on this. Her war is billed as a liberation at first, but what desire do the kobolds have for liberating the races of the surface?
Then there is the issue of the 'kneejerk' killings. Ren kills other kobolds, two, one in her sleep on raw gut instinct, and the other to test her new weapon. Why? This never seems to be addressed why this development in her character occurred. In the previous books, even at the height of her suffering, she was very much sicked by the idea of taking life, even when strictly necessary... and yet in such a short amount of time she has seemingly turned 'apathetic'? This is never sufficiently explained, it is far too sudden in my mind, and it feels like it was added to hype her angst later.
The power creep also bugs me heavily. Ren went from only having a few spells, and at the end of the second book barely being able to summon her wings, to suddenly being able to fly for any length of time, whenever she wants. Spells seemingly had no limit. And then at the end, apparently she was an avatar of a goddess? It doesn't feel believable. Everything that essentially made Ren 'the kobold hero' of the previous two books, has been erased and forgotten.
I also have to mention Valen. Dear god I don't know how to start... and there are so many things I could say about this character that bug me. I'll keep it simple, Valen, a not even full grown kobold, slays a dragon in seemingly one sentence... because he was being trained as an assassin. Let's just let that sink in for a moment, a child kobold, killed a dragon, almost instantly. He uses a kobold sized dagger, not even a special weapon. This isn't even at the height of his training. Yet, somehow the kobolds up till this point have been an oppressed race. Did this not bother anybody else? Dragons in Pathfinder, the game this takes reference from, are ridiculously hard to kill. Even if you were to have a high level rogue, get a natural 20, and properly sneak attack, it would not be over in one turn. Yet a child with a few months of training at most, pulled it off. So I have to ask, if the kobolds can train their assassins so efficiently, why are they oppressed? Why was the final battle of this series in any way difficult?
I wanted to enjoy the conclusion of this series as much as the other books, but I just couldn't. There is so much more I could write here... about the obviously stupid mistakes Ren made, about pointless side missions, about characters that ultimately served no purpose like Z, about the final revelations.
I respect the author for trying to tell an unconventional story, but the conclusion failed to address every point that made this story such a joy to read up until now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2018
Man, shit got dark. It's a slippery slope for "Leader Ren" as she takes some dark paths that I wasn't expecting. This tale goes kind of slow for a while but I thought the finale was great (Royal Rumble) and I loved the ending. But damn, Ren. What the hell happened to you? Oh, and not enough Doryyd. I want a Doryyd book, dammit.
November 17, 2017
Left me wanting more
I love a good fantasy and this series more than filled the bill. If David Adams decides to continue the tale I'll be first in line to buy it. With someone like Ren there's always more to tell.
I love a good fantasy and this series more than filled the bill. If David Adams decides to continue the tale I'll be first in line to buy it. With someone like Ren there's always more to tell.
February 28, 2020
The fall of a protagonist is a hard one to digest. We get to know Ren so well over the last 2 books. The end of act 2 blew me away but the very end felt breakneck fast and ex machina leaving a bit to be desired. But I loved this series and I'd read the next one if there ever is.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews