The Gods Return

Lord of the Isles #9

by David Drake

The Gods Return is the end of the Crown of the Isles trilogy and the final chapter in the Lord of the Isles. The Fortress of Glass began the tale of how the new kingdom of the Isles is finally created by the heroes and heroines who have been central to the Prince Garric, heir to the throne of the Isles, his consort Liane, his sister Sharina, her herculean sweetheart Cashel, and Cashel’s sister Ilna. The Mirror of Worlds followed them on an overland journey to the small kingdoms of the Isles to confirm Garric’s succession and subdue, if necessary, any who refused to pledge fealty.

In The Gods Return , the Isles have been more or less unified under Garric’s rule, but the Change that created the continent, has removed the old Gods of the Isles from reality and released other Gods from other planes of existence. Now the servants of the forbidden Gods of Palomir call forth The Worm, an ancient thing that threatens to devour all life in the newly formed kingdom and make way for the reign of dark Gods, now awakened to ambitions of worship and dominion. Some are bad…and some are worse.

Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published November 11, 2008

About the author

David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the major authors of the military science fiction genre.

Reviews

[Antigone · Rating 3 out of 5]

The drawback of developing a passion for fantasy fiction lies in the escalation of your standard. It's a side effect of most literary pursuit; the way ever-increasing exposure ups the ante, refines the hunger, rarifies the taste. What works in the rudimentary stages - in this genre perhaps Eddings, Feist, Stewart (heaven help you if Tolkien served as your baptismal font) - will not, as a rule, appeal later on. Later on you're going to need an author who pays a flat-out unhealthy amount of attention to his illusion vis-à-vis world-building, mythologies, philosophies, cultural strategies, species logistics, both external and internal weaponry and, fantasy's biggest bugaboo, character development. Such an author is not easy to find. But you keep an eye out. You scour those shelves.

David Drake's primary focus is military science fiction. Why he chose to venture into fantasy is a bit of a mystery to me, yet in 1997 he launched what would become a nine-volume series loosely referred to as Lord of the Isles. In it we follow two sets of siblings from the small village of Barca's Hamlet. Garric and his sister, Sharina, are the children of innkeepers. Cashel is a shepherd and his sister, Ilna, a weaver. The world they inhabit suffers a cataclysmic event which re-distributes the land mass and unleashes all manner of beasts, magic, and assorted supernatural phenomena against which they find they must contend. In other words, a fairly standard fantasy set-up.

The first few installments were highly engaging. Drake has a dark stripe and embraces strains of evil from both natural and supernatural agencies. He is unafraid to sully his heroes with troublesome drives and traits - and this, of course, increases their appeal. (His weaver, Ilna, carried me through many a rough spot.) Each sibling suffers a deeply personal ordeal, and the subsequent trauma is granted enough power to initiate internal change. There's real substance here. The problem, for me at least, was the far-flung nature of this story's catastrophe - he's got way too much going on - and the author's insistence on reining it in to matters of statecraft and civil jurisdiction. This can get very dry, and the influx of a vast amount of detail only aggravates the issue.

The Gods Return is the ninth, and final, installment of the series. By this time (and as one well could have predicted) armies have been raised that allow Drake to play in fields far more to his liking. Troops are on the move with weapons, mounts and supply trains. These somewhat lengthy scenes are interspersed with the dire quests and adventures of our non-military heroes as all threads converge toward the inevitable confrontation. His conclusion is really quite innovative and made a certain startling sense - but it was awfully long in coming.

As fantasy fiction goes, I found this epic respectable. Just not much more.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drake wraps up the Lord of the Isles perfectly in this book. I wish the series had more character development, or that Drake had varied his plot structure as in the previous book, but the ending makes up for at least this book's flaws.

[Jim Pike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a fantastical ending for the series. Talk about going out with a bang!

[Nathan Balyeat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like it.

It didn't build significantly on any of the previous two books in the Crown of the Isles sub-trilogy of the Lord of the Isle series.

Unlike the previous couple of books, there's no change or modification of characters or their relationships.

And like all of the other books before it, it's got a formula of sending the characters off in different directions to face different foes and "Save the Isles".

But this time it was disjointed. There was no unity of purpose or common threat that they defeated.

And I DID NOT like the ending, though I probably should have seen it coming. It was just too abrupt. One minute they're better people than most others around them, and the next they're...

Anyway, if you haven't slogged through the whole series up to this point, I'm not sure it's worth the finish. And I've got a bad taste in my mouth for the whole series now.

[William Bentrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gods Return by David Drake
This is the third volume of the Crown of the Isles. Once again, wizards, monsters, evil gods and war. The cast of country bumpkins thrust to greatness continue to fight the evil trying to break their land.
Each of the characters finds the task that they are uniquely qualified to handle. The accept that they may die and are willing to do so for their nation. Drake shows the willingness of ordinary people to die due to loyalties.
I like the sentiments that Drake evokes of honor, loyalty, duty, perseverance and love.
I recommend the book and enjoyed the series.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was a bit lacking. It feels like it was wrapped up too quickly.

[Megan]

DNS 5/8/23 no longer interested

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Satisfying ending to an impressive body of work in this series.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. This book went exactly the way I thought it would, which in my mind doesn't make the greatest story but it was enjoyable while it lasted. The series as a whole is a bit forgettable, and I'll probably not remember a whole lot about it in a few years. Mostly because it was so dang long, and the storyline never really varied. I want a book to stun me, to surprise me, to twist me up and make me think, "I never saw that coming." Give me something memorable to work with, otherwise, it's the same tale, and having read hundreds (if not thousands) of books in my lifetime, I get bored with the same story. This series had a few cool, almost memorable moments, but it had a lot of been-there-done-that moments too. Especially toward the end of the series where I started thinking to myself, "Gee didn't they do the EXACT SAME THING in the last book?"

Looking back on the series as a whole, I have to say it could have been shortened significantly as the story-arc doesn't seem to support nine books (it really should have been a trilogy), but it was a fun adventure and I was entertained for the most part. In retrospect I can't believe it took me eight books to figure out where the story-arc would end, especially when it became so obvious during the eighth book. It doesn't help that I didn't read them all-together so the details got a little muddled (see the paragraph above) and I just didn't get the characters at times. I don't think I would enjoy a re-read of this series. Too many books with too simple of an arc to conclude it. There were really only three important things that happened over the course of these books, so a trilogy really would have sufficed.

The hardest part about reviewing this series now that I've concluded it finally, is that none of the villains are memorable enough to encourage me to go back and experience their defeat again and none of the heroes grew a whole lot beyond where they started, which means I didn't really come to love them. They were basically the same characters they started as with a few more adventures under their collective belt. I do love some of the random characters (non-main characters like Beard) enough to go back and read some of their individual stories, maybe, but the series as a whole, probably not. Plus the use of deus ex machina really is a horrible plot device, and this series seemed to have A LOT of those moments. Those moments were set up from the beginning in every book, but it just felt like, "C'mon, can't these characters do anything without intervention from some magical or somewhat divine source?"

Drake has a writing style that leaves a lot to interpretation, which sometimes set me back a bit as I was reading and made me pause, which in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing. In a story with as much action as this one has, it was a bad thing. I know there were times where my mind glossed over some parts where I was supposed to fill in the gaps and skipped on to the next bit of action, which made it harder to enjoy. And some of those "left up to my own interpretation" moments were ABOUT characters. Meaning: How am I supposed to know these characters if you're leaving it up to me to draw my own conclusions all the time? It was so hard to get to know them. I felt like I was missing vital pieces of their personalities all the time, especially Ilna, who could have been one of the best characters in the books, but instead I was left feeling like I needed to scream at her, then at the author, then at her again because I just didn't get her motivations.

Anyway, now that I've written a book of a review, I could just say the series was okay. If it's just action you're looking for, there's plenty of that and it has high entertainment value, but if character development and a brilliant story-arc are what get you going, this isn't the best source for it, at least not in my opinion.

[Len Evans Jr · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warning... though I do not reveal any actual details of events in this book I do express my reaction those events. If you wish to judged how good the book is with no bias... then stop reading now... Even though this final book of Garric & friends story was not as good as the previous ones; there were still enough good to excellent moments in the first 2/3 of The Gods Return that I was not unhappy about reading it. However.... that was before the impossible to follow, pointless storylines for each of the major characters in the last 3rd of the book. And once I managed to find the end of the maze... well I gotta say I wished I hadn't, worse.. I had to go back and reread the last two chapters to finally figure out what the hell happened & even then it felt like the author hit his head; lost his memory 2 wks before the deadline for it to be at the publishers. And so with no time to reread 8 2/3 novels he instead skimmed the first 2/3 of this one; stared at the book title a bit; said AHA! and scribbled out just enough pages to be just long enough while neatly wrapping up for him anyway the whole story. I understand if after writing the first 8+ novels with dedication, perserverance and faithfulness; acknowledging his creation had grown to be much more than a short story or single novel. When someone puts forth their written creation the very best authors can reduce you to tears of sorrow or joy even in a mere 8-9 page short story; even so the emotion however intense fades quickly; because the characters are still strangers to us. I first read book one about 3 years ago; I worked my way thru the next 5 of the Lord series slowly with other books inbetween knowing each would be there when I came back to it; without needing to wait for the next to be written. Reading the Game of Thrones & Wheel of Time series taught me to not only devour written treasures slowing but like Casel's sheep bring back one's swallowed in the past and discover there is as much nourishment yet undiscovered & even the familiar is engaging. Anyway, a true artist not only types/writes words, sentences; they pour forth energy & bring life to their creations. Reading is never a one-sided endeavor for me... nor is it a 1 or 2 dimensional media. I read the words, yes... but as I take them in they sprout, grow and flower. TV & Movies are audiovisual, yet their format limits their impact since it is over in a few hours & never demands equal investment & partnership. Books take longer & demand you invest yourself in the story if you want to get the most out of it. Authors who have developed the word-skills to complement their magic of releasing or giving life to these beings that then may live in our world are treasures beyond measure. I read their words and I not only can hear the people speak them I see every detail described,smell familiar smells; feeltextures, and feel every emotion humanly possible. We all know those we meet in books are not flesh and blood people; after 8 books they do become friends of a sort and it is said to see them treated as if we and they did not matter even a tiny bit. :o(

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, I get rather angry with book publishers who thinks an alphabetized listing of books published by author by that particular publisher interests me one iota. What I would rather like when a book is subtitled that "Climax to the Lord of the Isles" series that one should have read The Fortress of Glass and The Mirror of the Worlds prior to reading this book. It wouldn't cost that much to add an extra page to a book listing all the books in the series, in the order they should be read. I guess I'm one of the remaining 8 people in the world who randomly pick up books from the Library shelf to read, and rely on the book to tell me if it is book 3 in a series.

So, after I started reading the book and discovered that I obviously missed something huge because (a) there is now cat people, and (b) Tenoctris is now a young hot chick -- yea, this book was going to right back to the library. But before I did, I turned to the last chapter and was somewhat surprised how Drake decided to end the series. I'm satisfied. No need to pick up the last three books now.

The Fortress of Glass: The First Volume of 'The Crown of the Isles'The Mirror of Worlds: The Second Volume of 'The Crown of the Isles'

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

A peculiarly unsatisfying ending to the "Lord of the Isles" series. Things ended more or less as they should, but it just felt like a great opportunity was missed... instead of ending with a bang, as it did, the series had a chance end with an echoing boom.



I wonder if Drake's (explicitly-stated) choice to make each book in the series be able to stand on its own might not have something to do with this. The weakness of this approach is that each situation and set of antagonists need to be resolved/beaten by the end of the book, so that each volume deals with a fresh set of villains and challenges. There is no grand climax to the series a la Frodo and Sam inexorably approaching Mount Doom, as was set up throughout the Lord of the Rings trilogy... consequently, the final victory of the forces of Good just seems to be another in a string of wins, rather than a culmination of the entire saga.



Still worth reading, of course; I've never read anything by Drake that wasn't. Just not the world-beater I was hoping for.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book in the series. Garric has brought the Kingdom under his rule, unifying human, coerli and other creatures from all times. But the change has also cut off the Kingdom from its old Gods - The Lady, The Shepherd and The Sister. The cruel, ancient Gods of Palomir have been freed and they plan to fill the void that has been left - using blood sacrifice to create an army of rats with the souls of humans and by releasing a Worm to destroy everyone who stands in their way.

There was a nice little twist to the end of the book that has been hinted at a few times during the series. The story did jump around a lot, but I've kind of gotten used to that :) A fitting end to a great read.

[Benjamin Plume · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wasn't bad. It's hard to evaluate it fairly right now, since I also finished a much MUCH better fantasy series this month. The biggest flaw with the Lord of the Isles as a series was that it lacked subtlety and was thus quite predictable, except for the things which were just unceremoniously dumped on readers.

It had strong lead characters, though, and truly inventive antagonists, from evil or sort-of-evil wizards to strange and menacing creatures. I enjoyed it as a whole but would not recommend it over most other fantasy series I have read.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a 3.5. I can't rate it a 4 star although it is a pretty interesting tale. The Crown Isles have gone through a change during which The Isles have become a solid land mass. This book tells the story of how the 4 heroes subdue and eject the old Gods which have returned and are wrecking havoc.It's a little more convoluted and disjointed than some of the prior books in the series.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good conclusion to the series. The plot itself was pretty standard for the series in splitting up the four main characters and bringing them all back in the end. Nothing felt that special to make it a conclusion, but he somehow managed it with the interesting twist of an ending. It was a pretty fun series over all and the ending was definitely satisfying.

[Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, if predictable, ending to the series. The world and myths in it are interesting. Worth a read.

[Gail Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

good conclusion to the series :D I enjoyed it well

[Lynn Calvin]

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