What do you think?
Rate this book
Chronicles of the Black Gate #5
The White Song
The hour of reckoning is at hand. The skies darken with the forces of the enemy while the hopes of the armies of the light dwindle to but a candle flame. Morals, compunctions, oaths - all must be set aside, every sacrifice made, every advantage and ally sought if there is to be any chance for survival.
The White Song is the final installment in the fantasy series, Chronicles of the Black Gate.
The White Song is the final installment in the fantasy series, Chronicles of the Black Gate.
Unknown Binding
First published October 7, 2017
374 people are currently reading
532 people want to read
About the author
Phil Tucker
49 books1,286 followersThanks for visiting my page! I'm Phil Tucker, a Brazilian/Brit who currently resides in Asheville, NC, where I resist the siren call of the forests and mountains to sit inside and hammer away on my laptop.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
Want to read
October 3, 2017Those who are familiar with me know I don't review my own books, but I do use this space as of a kind of a placeholder to let people keep up to date on it's status.
You can mark The White Song as 'to read' here.
10/3/2017
The White Song is live! A huge day for me. Marks the end of both the Chronicles and a phase in my life that saw me go from part-time writer to a full time professional. A bittersweet moment, to see this series end, and say goodbye to characters that have become as familiar and close as old friends. I hope you guys enjoy the heck out of this last book, and I can't wait to hear what you all think!
10/2/2017
Tomorrow is release day! This makes today your last chance to grab a pre-order and gain access to a number of exclusive giveaways.
EXCLUSIVE PRE-ORDER OFFER!
Grab the final installment of The Chronicles of the Black Gate and receive extra digital goodies to go with it!
* An exclusive digital booklet that details the worldbuilding process behind The Chronicles.
* The first chapter of Book 5
* Deleted scenes from previous books
* A hi-res digital poster of the wrap-around book cover art
* A chance to win a signed set of the whole series
To learn more, visit https://www.authorphiltucker.com/whit...
9/21/2017
Exciting news - the Audiobook for Book 5 is now available for pre-order on Audible. I would encourage you to grab a copy if your into listening to things with your ears.
8/25/2017
The pre-order page is live! Head on over and take a look at Book 5 here. I'm going to be running a giveaway early next month, so watch out for that update soon.
8/20/2017
As you've no doubt noticed, the cover with typography is now live! Doesn't this book page look so much better? Everything is coming together, and I just received word from Audible Studios that we'll be able to execute a simultaneous release of ebook/print/audio on October 3rd, so keep your eyes peeled for the pre-order page which should be going live on Amazon very soon.
8/9/2017
Exciting news! I've a title and cover art to share with you all. Book 5 of the Chronicles is going to be titled The White Song, and below please find the wrap-around art as created by the inestimable Andreas Zafeiratos:
Iskra and Tiron, high above the clouds on the battlements of Aletheia. I love how Andreas captured both of their essences in this portrait, their combined determination, focus, intensity and experience. I'm also really happy that they're sharing a cover - perfect way to round off the series. What do you guys think?
7/30/2017
To my huge relief, my first beta reader responses are coming back positive. I was on tenterhooks waiting to hear from them since this is the first time I try to wrap up an epic series. I simply wasn't sure if I'd pulled it off. For now, at any rate, it looks like I have. Imagine me collapsing back in my writer's chair, mopping my brow, and you'll get a sense of how I feel. I wanted to do right by Asho and the crew, and thus far it looks like I have. Huzzah!
7/27/2017
My editor has sent me the final third of the book, and now I have to review her edits and suggestions before sending it out to my beta reading team. If you are interested in being involved in the beta read you can email me here. If there's still time, I'll shoot you a copy. Wrapping up the whole series has been a challenge, and I can't wait to hear what my readers think of the finale.
You can mark The White Song as 'to read' here.
10/3/2017
The White Song is live! A huge day for me. Marks the end of both the Chronicles and a phase in my life that saw me go from part-time writer to a full time professional. A bittersweet moment, to see this series end, and say goodbye to characters that have become as familiar and close as old friends. I hope you guys enjoy the heck out of this last book, and I can't wait to hear what you all think!
10/2/2017
Tomorrow is release day! This makes today your last chance to grab a pre-order and gain access to a number of exclusive giveaways.
EXCLUSIVE PRE-ORDER OFFER!
Grab the final installment of The Chronicles of the Black Gate and receive extra digital goodies to go with it!
* An exclusive digital booklet that details the worldbuilding process behind The Chronicles.
* The first chapter of Book 5
* Deleted scenes from previous books
* A hi-res digital poster of the wrap-around book cover art
* A chance to win a signed set of the whole series
To learn more, visit https://www.authorphiltucker.com/whit...
9/21/2017
Exciting news - the Audiobook for Book 5 is now available for pre-order on Audible. I would encourage you to grab a copy if your into listening to things with your ears.
8/25/2017
The pre-order page is live! Head on over and take a look at Book 5 here. I'm going to be running a giveaway early next month, so watch out for that update soon.
8/20/2017
As you've no doubt noticed, the cover with typography is now live! Doesn't this book page look so much better? Everything is coming together, and I just received word from Audible Studios that we'll be able to execute a simultaneous release of ebook/print/audio on October 3rd, so keep your eyes peeled for the pre-order page which should be going live on Amazon very soon.
8/9/2017
Exciting news! I've a title and cover art to share with you all. Book 5 of the Chronicles is going to be titled The White Song, and below please find the wrap-around art as created by the inestimable Andreas Zafeiratos:
Iskra and Tiron, high above the clouds on the battlements of Aletheia. I love how Andreas captured both of their essences in this portrait, their combined determination, focus, intensity and experience. I'm also really happy that they're sharing a cover - perfect way to round off the series. What do you guys think?
7/30/2017
To my huge relief, my first beta reader responses are coming back positive. I was on tenterhooks waiting to hear from them since this is the first time I try to wrap up an epic series. I simply wasn't sure if I'd pulled it off. For now, at any rate, it looks like I have. Imagine me collapsing back in my writer's chair, mopping my brow, and you'll get a sense of how I feel. I wanted to do right by Asho and the crew, and thus far it looks like I have. Huzzah!
7/27/2017
My editor has sent me the final third of the book, and now I have to review her edits and suggestions before sending it out to my beta reading team. If you are interested in being involved in the beta read you can email me here. If there's still time, I'll shoot you a copy. Wrapping up the whole series has been a challenge, and I can't wait to hear what my readers think of the finale.
March 16, 2019
I believe that no other genre focuses on human traits like fantasy does: friendship, loyalty, honesty, faith, hope, generosity, courage and love vs deceit, greed, thirst for power, cowardice, selfishness, hate, revenge.
This series has the whole range of them. Emotions are pouring from every character’s actions. Each of them goes through a complete transformation and their development is one of the strengths in these books.
Faith plays also an important role. I don’t know if that was the author’s intention, but to me the message was that no matter what religion you have, what skin colour or beliefs or how different one is from the other, when facing a great challenge, we are all equal and driven by the same purpose. I loved that and for this reason only people should read more fantasy; it will make them a better person.
Saying more will be spoiler for the previous volumes so I won’t go into details. I will just say that it was a great fun ride, with grandiose battle scenes, complex characters, fantastic magic system and an amazing worldbuilding.
This series has the whole range of them. Emotions are pouring from every character’s actions. Each of them goes through a complete transformation and their development is one of the strengths in these books.
Faith plays also an important role. I don’t know if that was the author’s intention, but to me the message was that no matter what religion you have, what skin colour or beliefs or how different one is from the other, when facing a great challenge, we are all equal and driven by the same purpose. I loved that and for this reason only people should read more fantasy; it will make them a better person.
Saying more will be spoiler for the previous volumes so I won’t go into details. I will just say that it was a great fun ride, with grandiose battle scenes, complex characters, fantastic magic system and an amazing worldbuilding.
November 29, 2018
Thoughts: Expect the unexpected! That is about the best advice I can give a fellow reader going into this series. Phil Tucker's, The White Song, is the fifth and final book in his The Chronicles of the Black Gate series. While I can't rate it as my favorite in the series, it was a good conclusion that tied up the story. I felt Mr. Tucker definitely left it open for future books in this world. Whether it be a continuation of these same characters, a pre-quell series, or another series set in the future, go ahead and sign me up. I will gladly devour any books set in this world with glee.
There are series out there I have finished and knew immediately they would go into my favorites of all time list. Others, I feel have took some time to really settle into where I would rank them, and when looking back think, "Damn! That was a really great series.", why is it not in my favorites. The Chronicles of the Black Gate falls somewhere in between. This is a fantastic series and I want to put it on my favorites list, but I think it needs some time to settle in my mind just how "Damn good" this was.
I will miss this world and these characters. The growth and change from book 1 to book 5 for these characters and the world building will go down as one of my reading highlights for this year. Mr. Tucker's imagination for epic fantasy is a true testament to why I love this genre. I was sucked in from the first chapter of book 1, and reluctantly closed book 5 after the final sentence.
So, I will close by urging all of you fantasy fans out there to add this series to your TBR list, or start it right now. I hope this review and my reviews for the previous books will entice some of you to give this series a try. Personally, I look forward to getting my hands on the rest of Phil Tucker's work. Until next time, happy reading!
Characters: 5/5 stars
Plot/Storyline: 4/5 stars
World Building: 4.5/5 stars
Magic System: 4.5/5 stars
Wow-Factor: 4/5 stars
Total: 4.4/5 stars
Favorite Quote:
Book 1: The Path of Flames - 4.5 stars
Book 2: The Black Shriving - 4 stars
Book 3: The Siege of Abythos - 5 stars
Book 4: The Iron Circlet - 5 stars
Book 5: The White Song - 4.5 stars
There are series out there I have finished and knew immediately they would go into my favorites of all time list. Others, I feel have took some time to really settle into where I would rank them, and when looking back think, "Damn! That was a really great series.", why is it not in my favorites. The Chronicles of the Black Gate falls somewhere in between. This is a fantastic series and I want to put it on my favorites list, but I think it needs some time to settle in my mind just how "Damn good" this was.
I will miss this world and these characters. The growth and change from book 1 to book 5 for these characters and the world building will go down as one of my reading highlights for this year. Mr. Tucker's imagination for epic fantasy is a true testament to why I love this genre. I was sucked in from the first chapter of book 1, and reluctantly closed book 5 after the final sentence.
So, I will close by urging all of you fantasy fans out there to add this series to your TBR list, or start it right now. I hope this review and my reviews for the previous books will entice some of you to give this series a try. Personally, I look forward to getting my hands on the rest of Phil Tucker's work. Until next time, happy reading!
Characters: 5/5 stars
Plot/Storyline: 4/5 stars
World Building: 4.5/5 stars
Magic System: 4.5/5 stars
Wow-Factor: 4/5 stars
Total: 4.4/5 stars
Favorite Quote:
"You fight not for glory, not for honor, not for conquest, but for the innocents of your kind who will suffer if you fail. Give no quarter. Feel no fear. With you fly our hopes of seeing another dawn. If you survive, undoubtedly you will go down in history as the greatest heroes who ever stood against the night. If you die, there will be no one to remember your loss."
Book 1: The Path of Flames - 4.5 stars
Book 2: The Black Shriving - 4 stars
Book 3: The Siege of Abythos - 5 stars
Book 4: The Iron Circlet - 5 stars
Book 5: The White Song - 4.5 stars
August 25, 2017
It's coming out in October 3rd! I suggest that every single one of you who's reading this review to profit of the time left and get caught up with the series before the grand finale arrives.. The action will hook you from the beginning, the plot will take your mind on a breathtaking ride and the characters will grip your heart and never let it go. What a thrilling conclusion to a fantastic series!
I received an ARC of this book *internal screaming*, I literally dropped everything so I can spend some quality time with this bad boy, and it was totally worth it. This is an actual footage of me after I flipped the last page.
I'm always wary about last books in series, especially the ones I really love..Will it live up to its previous potential? will it disappoint? will all the time and energy I dedicated for this series be thrown down the garbage disposal to be crushed with all of my hopes and dreams? Well let me tell you that my hopes and dreams are in pristine conditions, the trust I put in Phil Tucker as a reader was rewarded ten times over, and to think that I stumbled upon this indie fantasy only due to an accidental subscription to kindle unlimited and now it became one of my top favorite reads of all times! ahhh *heart eyes*
And since I'm already embarrassing myself with all of these leaky emotions, can we just take a minute to appreciate this glorious cover!! Definitely my favorite out of all five.
If you have already read some of the previous books, you know the quality of Tucker's writing and this book is no exception. Not only the characters seem to me now like actual real people, but the story has become so intricate and so completely fleshed out, that you just hold your breath from start to finish and pray for your babies to escape a most horrible death.
I honestly couldn't anticipate much of what was going to happen, and the plot advanced in such a well-crafted fashion that by the last quarter I knew that that no matter the direction the epilogue will take, I'll be happy with it.
I also loved many other things about The White Song, it had such a realistic moments that are taken right out of the heart of modern day struggles, such as bigotry, religious and cultural differences, free will, not to mention the themes of friendship, family and love that tugged at my heartstrings EVERY.DAMN.TIME.
So to be brief, just read the freaking books! I'll accept thanks for the recommendation later :P
I received an ARC of this book *internal screaming*, I literally dropped everything so I can spend some quality time with this bad boy, and it was totally worth it. This is an actual footage of me after I flipped the last page.
I'm always wary about last books in series, especially the ones I really love..Will it live up to its previous potential? will it disappoint? will all the time and energy I dedicated for this series be thrown down the garbage disposal to be crushed with all of my hopes and dreams? Well let me tell you that my hopes and dreams are in pristine conditions, the trust I put in Phil Tucker as a reader was rewarded ten times over, and to think that I stumbled upon this indie fantasy only due to an accidental subscription to kindle unlimited and now it became one of my top favorite reads of all times! ahhh *heart eyes*
And since I'm already embarrassing myself with all of these leaky emotions, can we just take a minute to appreciate this glorious cover!! Definitely my favorite out of all five.
If you have already read some of the previous books, you know the quality of Tucker's writing and this book is no exception. Not only the characters seem to me now like actual real people, but the story has become so intricate and so completely fleshed out, that you just hold your breath from start to finish and pray for your babies to escape a most horrible death.
I honestly couldn't anticipate much of what was going to happen, and the plot advanced in such a well-crafted fashion that by the last quarter I knew that that no matter the direction the epilogue will take, I'll be happy with it.
I also loved many other things about The White Song, it had such a realistic moments that are taken right out of the heart of modern day struggles, such as bigotry, religious and cultural differences, free will, not to mention the themes of friendship, family and love that tugged at my heartstrings EVERY.DAMN.TIME.
So to be brief, just read the freaking books! I'll accept thanks for the recommendation later :P
September 6, 2017
Full review is here on my blog.
I have been waiting for this one. Oh yes. Very patiently, I might add. But waiting, nonetheless.
I was so lucky to read this book really early. I can tell you, though, that even that early on, by the time it ended up in my hands, it didn’t really need anything corrected. It was amazing right out of the gate (if you’ll ah… pardon the phrasing, lol).
Guys. It was glorious. It was motherfucking GLORIOUS. (What I’m saying is that you better hold onto your butts for some seeeeerious gushing *spews rainbows and glitter*).
So.
This book.
The end.
Let me see…
I’m not 100% sure that I have words for what I thought of it. I should be the good book reviewer and talk about how good the writing is or how well plotted it is instead of just making this review “IT’S AMAZING. FUCKING READ IT *mic drop*” so let me give this a go. I’ll tell you that, much like I pointed out in my review of the book before this one, The Iron Circlet, Tucker is most definitely honing his writing skill with every book that comes out. This book had me highlighting really good vocabulary words, or metaphors or just really well said lines more than once. But, what will always win me over are good characters, and this book… no, the whole series, is fantastic on that front.
I love just about every character in these books now on some level. For realsies. I have actual emotional attachments to people that do not actually exist now thanks to this series (and that, more than anything in my eyes is an example of excellent writing in my opinion). Asho especially, who I have cheered for this entire time, who I’ve hoped had a happy ending, but one that was fair and just and didn’t have his lifelong fight to prove that Bythians lives are just as valuable as everyone else’s mean nothing.
Tiron’s speech at Ramswold and his men, saying that while he thinks they are great knights, he cannot hold with them if they fight only for the glory of Ascension, because when he swore an oath to them, he swore it for justice for all: “A justice that allows people like Asho to be judged by their actions and not their birth.” That shit had me applauding. I fucking love Tiron. More and more as the series went on, and even more and more as this book went on. He’s that snarky motherfucker who doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks, but is such a good man. He is the guy that gives a speech so rousing that it convinces a curmudgeonly dragon to change his mind and then when asked what he did, answers simply that ‘he told [the dragon] to fuck off.’ Tiron is my kind of dude. He deserves all of the good. Love love love.
As for plotting, this one started out strong and never ever let up. It went mostly where I wanted… maybe needed… it to go, but it still got there in a way that had ups and downs, hopes and fears, uncertainty, and legitimately emotional parts. Things I lamented the end of three books ago are not over after all! Things that I’ve hoped for since the very beginning of the series are here, and they are AMAZING. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, and I cheered. It was an actual roller coaster of emotions at times, and I fucking loved it. I started reading, and then I read until it was done.
I am not actually that hard to please when it comes to books. Not really. Give me a character I can relate to (or if not relate, then make them a person I could be friends with). Make me cheer for them. Make their adventure riveting, and then have them win so hard it brings tears to my eyes, and…. probably don’t kill them off. That’s it. Bonus points if there’s a well written romance in there for them (extra bonus points if they get laid… no, you’re being ridiculous now XD). This series managed a good deal of those things.
I once tried to describe this series to someone who had never read it, and came up a little short. A lot goes on in it. There’s a lot to consider. I think I’ve figured out how to describe it now. It’s a little like Laputa/Castle in the Sky meets Warcraft. No, really… roll with it. That sounds amazing, are you kidding? It’s that… and this was a really fantastic end for it.
It was one of those books where you read it, and at the end, you just close it, look at it and nod.
Yes.
Fuck. Yes.
This one gets five Fuck Yesses.
It’s amazing. Fucking read it. *mic drop*
I have been waiting for this one. Oh yes. Very patiently, I might add. But waiting, nonetheless.
I was so lucky to read this book really early. I can tell you, though, that even that early on, by the time it ended up in my hands, it didn’t really need anything corrected. It was amazing right out of the gate (if you’ll ah… pardon the phrasing, lol).
Guys. It was glorious. It was motherfucking GLORIOUS. (What I’m saying is that you better hold onto your butts for some seeeeerious gushing *spews rainbows and glitter*).
So.
This book.
The end.
Let me see…
I’m not 100% sure that I have words for what I thought of it. I should be the good book reviewer and talk about how good the writing is or how well plotted it is instead of just making this review “IT’S AMAZING. FUCKING READ IT *mic drop*” so let me give this a go. I’ll tell you that, much like I pointed out in my review of the book before this one, The Iron Circlet, Tucker is most definitely honing his writing skill with every book that comes out. This book had me highlighting really good vocabulary words, or metaphors or just really well said lines more than once. But, what will always win me over are good characters, and this book… no, the whole series, is fantastic on that front.
I love just about every character in these books now on some level. For realsies. I have actual emotional attachments to people that do not actually exist now thanks to this series (and that, more than anything in my eyes is an example of excellent writing in my opinion). Asho especially, who I have cheered for this entire time, who I’ve hoped had a happy ending, but one that was fair and just and didn’t have his lifelong fight to prove that Bythians lives are just as valuable as everyone else’s mean nothing.
Tiron’s speech at Ramswold and his men, saying that while he thinks they are great knights, he cannot hold with them if they fight only for the glory of Ascension, because when he swore an oath to them, he swore it for justice for all: “A justice that allows people like Asho to be judged by their actions and not their birth.” That shit had me applauding. I fucking love Tiron. More and more as the series went on, and even more and more as this book went on. He’s that snarky motherfucker who doesn’t give a shit what anyone thinks, but is such a good man. He is the guy that gives a speech so rousing that it convinces a curmudgeonly dragon to change his mind and then when asked what he did, answers simply that ‘he told [the dragon] to fuck off.’ Tiron is my kind of dude. He deserves all of the good. Love love love.
As for plotting, this one started out strong and never ever let up. It went mostly where I wanted… maybe needed… it to go, but it still got there in a way that had ups and downs, hopes and fears, uncertainty, and legitimately emotional parts. Things I lamented the end of three books ago are not over after all! Things that I’ve hoped for since the very beginning of the series are here, and they are AMAZING. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, and I cheered. It was an actual roller coaster of emotions at times, and I fucking loved it. I started reading, and then I read until it was done.
I am not actually that hard to please when it comes to books. Not really. Give me a character I can relate to (or if not relate, then make them a person I could be friends with). Make me cheer for them. Make their adventure riveting, and then have them win so hard it brings tears to my eyes, and…. probably don’t kill them off. That’s it. Bonus points if there’s a well written romance in there for them (extra bonus points if they get laid… no, you’re being ridiculous now XD). This series managed a good deal of those things.
I once tried to describe this series to someone who had never read it, and came up a little short. A lot goes on in it. There’s a lot to consider. I think I’ve figured out how to describe it now. It’s a little like Laputa/Castle in the Sky meets Warcraft. No, really… roll with it. That sounds amazing, are you kidding? It’s that… and this was a really fantastic end for it.
It was one of those books where you read it, and at the end, you just close it, look at it and nod.
Yes.
Fuck. Yes.
This one gets five Fuck Yesses.
It’s amazing. Fucking read it. *mic drop*
January 18, 2018
Path of Flames, the first book in this series came in second place in the 2016 SPFBO contest and man did I have a hell of a ride with this series. It's not over yet, but the audiobooks are over for me so I'm going to wait until the next audiobook releases to continue on to book 6. (I audiobooked all of this so my spelling may be off)
Overall Plotting and Pacing:
These books can easily be described as fast paced and action packed, I read through these so quickly it's not funny. I did slow down a bit with book 3, it was significantly longer than book 2 and it dragged just a bit, but otherwise, this series sped along very nicely. Book 3 was the only 4 star in a 5 star series for me - and I've been rather stingy with my 5 stars since I started my grading system.
In Book 1 there's a character named Tharric that's sort of off to the side and you're not sure how his arc is going to interact with the rest of the story, and with each book his story became more and more relevant to the other POV's - it made for a really nice convergence that was satisfying and exciting.
Book 5 took things to an epic scale I haven't read in a long time, there were thousands of demons, teleporting dragons, civil war, portal wars, monsters and just SO MUCH stuff going on my head was spinning. I was flying through these audiobooks, I think I read all 5 in a span of 2 weeks which is fast even for me. I re-arranged my reading schedule to fit these in.
Overall Characters:
Oh, Audsley, my dear Audsley. I really liked all of the characters, even the Craw warlord, but Audsley is where it's at for me. I have a soft spot for non violent more book nerd characters and he was just the best. However, watching him struggle with his demons (literally) and being forced into violence was very interesting to read about and def pulled on my heart strings a few times. He went through a ton of change throughout the 5 books and I love that.
I think Tiron is my second favourite, and I think I'm going to include his character in my top 10 'redemption' arc stories. He's clearly had a very sordid past where he passively watched horrors committed in front of him and didn't do anything to stop it - he's also been the cause of a lot of bloodshed. Watching him find himself and try to be a better person by the end of book 5 was great. I usually don't click with romance stories, but I really liked his relationship with Iska, it was sad and endearing all at the same time and seemed to happen naturally. I don't see a lot of older characters starting on a new romance, and I enjoy it a lot more than the rushed and frenzied romances I tend to read about younger characters. I can put this on a short list of romances I thoroughly enjoyed in a book, and that's saying something.
Iska, Kethe, and Tharric continue to be engaging characters, I think Tharrics chapters got more and more interesting as the series continued and when his arc finally intertwined with the others shit got real.
Overall Thoughts:
I highly recommend this series to people who enjoy epic fantasy with a lot of action, engaging multi-character plotting and TONS of various fantasy elements. The world building got more and more complex as the series progressed and it just kept building and building until book 5 where things just got so insane.
Overall Series Rating: 8.5/10 or 5 stars
Overall Plotting and Pacing:
These books can easily be described as fast paced and action packed, I read through these so quickly it's not funny. I did slow down a bit with book 3, it was significantly longer than book 2 and it dragged just a bit, but otherwise, this series sped along very nicely. Book 3 was the only 4 star in a 5 star series for me - and I've been rather stingy with my 5 stars since I started my grading system.
In Book 1 there's a character named Tharric that's sort of off to the side and you're not sure how his arc is going to interact with the rest of the story, and with each book his story became more and more relevant to the other POV's - it made for a really nice convergence that was satisfying and exciting.
Book 5 took things to an epic scale I haven't read in a long time, there were thousands of demons, teleporting dragons, civil war, portal wars, monsters and just SO MUCH stuff going on my head was spinning. I was flying through these audiobooks, I think I read all 5 in a span of 2 weeks which is fast even for me. I re-arranged my reading schedule to fit these in.
Overall Characters:
Oh, Audsley, my dear Audsley. I really liked all of the characters, even the Craw warlord, but Audsley is where it's at for me. I have a soft spot for non violent more book nerd characters and he was just the best. However, watching him struggle with his demons (literally) and being forced into violence was very interesting to read about and def pulled on my heart strings a few times. He went through a ton of change throughout the 5 books and I love that.
I think Tiron is my second favourite, and I think I'm going to include his character in my top 10 'redemption' arc stories. He's clearly had a very sordid past where he passively watched horrors committed in front of him and didn't do anything to stop it - he's also been the cause of a lot of bloodshed. Watching him find himself and try to be a better person by the end of book 5 was great. I usually don't click with romance stories, but I really liked his relationship with Iska, it was sad and endearing all at the same time and seemed to happen naturally. I don't see a lot of older characters starting on a new romance, and I enjoy it a lot more than the rushed and frenzied romances I tend to read about younger characters. I can put this on a short list of romances I thoroughly enjoyed in a book, and that's saying something.
Iska, Kethe, and Tharric continue to be engaging characters, I think Tharrics chapters got more and more interesting as the series continued and when his arc finally intertwined with the others shit got real.
Overall Thoughts:
I highly recommend this series to people who enjoy epic fantasy with a lot of action, engaging multi-character plotting and TONS of various fantasy elements. The world building got more and more complex as the series progressed and it just kept building and building until book 5 where things just got so insane.
Overall Series Rating: 8.5/10 or 5 stars
December 9, 2017
A pretty good conclusion. As with the last two books, great and bad moments mixed together. And while possibly this happens in different degrees to every book out there, amazing parts can easily make bad ones irrelevant, and vice-versa, depending on the degree it happens.
Here I thought they were evenly balanced. Every time it seemed the story was about to soar high, something happened (or lacked) that brought it crashing down to earth again.
Let's start with the characters:
Asho: Usually I made the list in order of who I liked most to the one I least liked, but Asho in this volume deserves special mention.
He's easily the one who have moments that make the story soar and at the same time is the one that pretty much destroys it.
The good: His position on Ascension is pretty great, he has moments of great anger and conflict with the Virtues. I was actually pretty shocked at what happened at a certain point .
That said, considering the tone of the previous books, this feeling of shock was quickly brushed away as I pretty much knew with certainty that nothing would really happen - and of course, it didn't.
The bad: Just like in the previous books, whenever he uses magic to brute force through, he destroys his POV. This time it almost destroyed the story too. Throughout the series I lost count of the amount of times he channels his magic, everyone and everything telling how it's too much and that he's gonna permanently cripple himself or die, and of course nothing ever really happens.
But here this reached the pinnacle of absurdness. In book 2 this showed some signs, in book 3 he keeps trying to use magic in Bythos and repeatedly says he can't, until when he pretty much dies he suddenly can (and also pretty much bring himself back to life), in the 4th he gets the spike that gives even more power and now
Audsley: Again he's great. I think people were being unfair to him here and I was kinda of sad he didn't retort. Iskra wanted (and did kill) thousands of innocents early in the series with her choices (and possibly would have killed more), Asho wanted to destroy Ascension no matter the cost, Tiron was a Black Wolf who turned a blind eye to various atrocities, etc. What right they had to judge Audsley?
I thought if this was intentional to show his inability with such situations, but I don't think it was the case considering how things have been written in all 5 volumes.
He makes some bold moves, though in his most daring one, one can't not notice the amount of convenience: .
But despite what I said about Asho, I admit I was indeed surprised things ended the way they did for Audsley.
Tharok: He had great moments when thinking about the future of the kragh and when challenging the conventional wisdom.
But he was also a little underwhelming this time. In battle he didn't feel as strong. There are numerous mentions of kragh being reluctant in fighting against the demons, yet the narrations simply tells that human and kragh are fighting along each other, but we never saw Tharok (or anyone) doing anything for it, the plot simply tells it so.
Also
Iskra: Sadly I don't remember anything remarkable she did here, but it was through her POV that the Ascendant mostly appeared and the challenged presented made him a far more interesting character than some of the POVs... which is quite sad since she's in the cover (her neck wound was indeed utterly forgotten since book 4) and up to book 3 she was one of the most interesting characters because of her choices.
Kethe: At least Iskra had the Ascendant by her side, but Kethe had nothing going for her and no interesting secondary character nearby either. Her only memorable moments were near the end, when she makes some difficult choices.
It's kinda of bizarre: in previous books I had issues with her being an overpowered snowflake and in the decisive moment she has pretty much zero impact on things.
Tiron: He changed abruptly so much from each passing book that I kinda of stopped caring for him.
He had an amusing an extremely well-written conversation with Draunromin in chapter 30 but that was too little considering everything in the story.
For some reason, the author chose him to also add a lot of modern cursing in this volume, something that wasn't in the previous ones.
Speaking of modern cursing, granted that "fuck" is actually a pretty old word, but here the cursing felt really different from the other volumes. Actually not only the cursing:
"The ultimate confrontation between Ascension and the nihilistic worldview of the Minister of Perfection was about to take place"
I wonder what Nietzsche made of Ascension and if he was born a Noussian or a Sigean!
"I came looking for you," said Asho. "And found instead the bigotry, hatred, and short-sightedness that so characterizes the Empire."
Too modern terms as well.
Why this immediate urge to deflect the compliment? Was it because she was a woman and had always been treated as something less by the men around her?
Also contradictory considering the undying loyalty she inspired from hard men that followed her to Mythgraefen, accepted her allegiance with Agerastos (also conquering their own undying loyalty with extreme easiness), the Hrethings, being appointed Grace by the Ascendant himself, etc..
Even during her life at Enderl Kyferin's side, she had resisted him, had fought for her independence as best she could.
And then earlier on she says (and accepts) how marriage was her best weapon (and is indeed so in Agerastos). But considering what is implied with her past with Enderl, what kinda of "independence" she always fought for? It was even an arranged marriage. She says how Enderl dominated everything. Her very daughter is inspired by Enderl to follow in his footsteps to become a knight. So what does the author mean by this "independence"? Not breaking, not giving Enderl the pleasure in doing so, putting feeble resistance in one or other thing? Please.
Just like the guy who pounds his chest and says loudly how brave he is, because in truth he really isn't, when you have female characters saying how strong and independent they are, or have male characters observing or saying it to reinforce it, it's just like that guy: it's because they really aren't. Or we would notice this ourselves without the author loudly pointing it to us.
Some other terms included things like "You can't trust an addict" and some instances of "Did I offend your sensibilities?"
"But isn't this Fantasy? Is there really a problem with a Medieval-esque setting with modern terms, cursing and philosophies or women with 21st century thoughts?"
No, not really, of course. But the shift from other volumes was quite noticeable. And I feel that in the vast majority of cases, the "It's Fantasy" argument is mostly used not because authors want to do something a little different, but simply because they don't know how to do handle it any better, so they just use a very modern female mindset (or doing things dominated by males) for the (good intentioned) "strong" character, as if it's the only way to do an interesting character, along Ser knights, dukes, medieval ceremonies and traditions and so on.
Also regarding the language, I remember when I was reading the 4th book, it was released at around the same time Tucker was writing the first or second book of another series already, so I wonder how that (or some other draft in the process) influenced the language in this volume.
Anyway, clearly the best parts revolved around the worldbuilding, and that's, for some, a sign that can be really good or really bad.
Starkadr, the demons, Ascension and its history, how a lot of things are viewed differently in each region (Kyrrasthasa to Tyrraskhia, Hrethings never having heard of Ascension, the first Ascendant was a Bythian, etc), kragh shamanism, the Gates, etc.
For the characters, they had great glimpses of very interesting things that could happen but that were too quickly solved or even forgotten and brushed away. Some even contradicted the very worldbuilding, as I pointed in the reviews of other volumes.
Overall the characters had a lot of potential, but whether it was because things looked too rushed or solutions too simplified, it felt most of the time things very rarely soared (mostly with Audsley and Tharok, early Tiron and Iskra and parts of Asho and Kethe (that are brought down by their magic convenience)).
I think superficial is the correct term for a lot of things that were glimpsed but never explored or quickly brushed away.
Except near the end that
The first volume feels much like Game of Thrones, with five characters close to each other and with Tharok performing a Daenerys-like role. The second like Sanderson on steroids, the third like Fellowship, with every character separated from each other, and so on.
Iskra-Tiron-Kethe had a lot of conflict and interesting things going on but it was too quickly over. Asho is made a big deal by being knighted by the Grace, being granted the Everflame (that never appeared again or actually held any importance), by being disdained and discriminated, only to later bellow at Ennoia's warlords and *gasp* command their final line of defense.
I think Audsley and Tharok were the only ones I have very little to complain and much to praise.
The magic used by the characters was really flat: for all the wonders and mysteries portrayed, they gain the most generic traits possible: super strength, super speed, super jump, super regeneration, fireballs, etc.
It's even more distracting when the book opens with a very detailed battle, cavalry charges being properly described, the influence of terrain, then later Kethe customizing her armor for her own needs and limits, the best suited weapon, dueling stances...
And then all this is simply thrown out of the window shortly after when she and Asho become all-powerful and cut through entire hordes of enemies with sheer brute force and very little thought.
Perhaps this style of battles with characters with super strength slashing at blurring speed and killing dozens of enemies without breaking a sweat may be a thing for some, but for me it very rarely works.
This kind of style always strikes me as being inspired by video games or animes and it really breaks my immersion. Though again, others seem to love it and it's exactly what they want.
The book does end with a lot of open questions (not a problem, not everything needs to be neatly tied up) in case the author ever wishes to come back to this world (I hope he does with more experience later).
Overall, I liked the series. I read it entirely in a month and finished it. I very much wanted to love it (and the things I had issues with may not prove a problem for others) but there were too much ups and downs for that. But still good and entertaining.
I'll probably continue to check the author in the future.
Here I thought they were evenly balanced. Every time it seemed the story was about to soar high, something happened (or lacked) that brought it crashing down to earth again.
Let's start with the characters:
Asho: Usually I made the list in order of who I liked most to the one I least liked, but Asho in this volume deserves special mention.
He's easily the one who have moments that make the story soar and at the same time is the one that pretty much destroys it.
The good: His position on Ascension is pretty great, he has moments of great anger and conflict with the Virtues. I was actually pretty shocked at what happened at a certain point .
That said, considering the tone of the previous books, this feeling of shock was quickly brushed away as I pretty much knew with certainty that nothing would really happen - and of course, it didn't.
The bad: Just like in the previous books, whenever he uses magic to brute force through, he destroys his POV. This time it almost destroyed the story too. Throughout the series I lost count of the amount of times he channels his magic, everyone and everything telling how it's too much and that he's gonna permanently cripple himself or die, and of course nothing ever really happens.
But here this reached the pinnacle of absurdness. In book 2 this showed some signs, in book 3 he keeps trying to use magic in Bythos and repeatedly says he can't, until when he pretty much dies he suddenly can (and also pretty much bring himself back to life), in the 4th he gets the spike that gives even more power and now
Audsley: Again he's great. I think people were being unfair to him here and I was kinda of sad he didn't retort. Iskra wanted (and did kill) thousands of innocents early in the series with her choices (and possibly would have killed more), Asho wanted to destroy Ascension no matter the cost, Tiron was a Black Wolf who turned a blind eye to various atrocities, etc. What right they had to judge Audsley?
I thought if this was intentional to show his inability with such situations, but I don't think it was the case considering how things have been written in all 5 volumes.
He makes some bold moves, though in his most daring one, one can't not notice the amount of convenience: .
But despite what I said about Asho, I admit I was indeed surprised things ended the way they did for Audsley.
Tharok: He had great moments when thinking about the future of the kragh and when challenging the conventional wisdom.
But he was also a little underwhelming this time. In battle he didn't feel as strong. There are numerous mentions of kragh being reluctant in fighting against the demons, yet the narrations simply tells that human and kragh are fighting along each other, but we never saw Tharok (or anyone) doing anything for it, the plot simply tells it so.
Also
Iskra: Sadly I don't remember anything remarkable she did here, but it was through her POV that the Ascendant mostly appeared and the challenged presented made him a far more interesting character than some of the POVs... which is quite sad since she's in the cover (her neck wound was indeed utterly forgotten since book 4) and up to book 3 she was one of the most interesting characters because of her choices.
Kethe: At least Iskra had the Ascendant by her side, but Kethe had nothing going for her and no interesting secondary character nearby either. Her only memorable moments were near the end, when she makes some difficult choices.
It's kinda of bizarre: in previous books I had issues with her being an overpowered snowflake and in the decisive moment she has pretty much zero impact on things.
Tiron: He changed abruptly so much from each passing book that I kinda of stopped caring for him.
He had an amusing an extremely well-written conversation with Draunromin in chapter 30 but that was too little considering everything in the story.
For some reason, the author chose him to also add a lot of modern cursing in this volume, something that wasn't in the previous ones.
Speaking of modern cursing, granted that "fuck" is actually a pretty old word, but here the cursing felt really different from the other volumes. Actually not only the cursing:
"The ultimate confrontation between Ascension and the nihilistic worldview of the Minister of Perfection was about to take place"
I wonder what Nietzsche made of Ascension and if he was born a Noussian or a Sigean!
"I came looking for you," said Asho. "And found instead the bigotry, hatred, and short-sightedness that so characterizes the Empire."
Too modern terms as well.
Why this immediate urge to deflect the compliment? Was it because she was a woman and had always been treated as something less by the men around her?
Also contradictory considering the undying loyalty she inspired from hard men that followed her to Mythgraefen, accepted her allegiance with Agerastos (also conquering their own undying loyalty with extreme easiness), the Hrethings, being appointed Grace by the Ascendant himself, etc..
Even during her life at Enderl Kyferin's side, she had resisted him, had fought for her independence as best she could.
And then earlier on she says (and accepts) how marriage was her best weapon (and is indeed so in Agerastos). But considering what is implied with her past with Enderl, what kinda of "independence" she always fought for? It was even an arranged marriage. She says how Enderl dominated everything. Her very daughter is inspired by Enderl to follow in his footsteps to become a knight. So what does the author mean by this "independence"? Not breaking, not giving Enderl the pleasure in doing so, putting feeble resistance in one or other thing? Please.
Just like the guy who pounds his chest and says loudly how brave he is, because in truth he really isn't, when you have female characters saying how strong and independent they are, or have male characters observing or saying it to reinforce it, it's just like that guy: it's because they really aren't. Or we would notice this ourselves without the author loudly pointing it to us.
Some other terms included things like "You can't trust an addict" and some instances of "Did I offend your sensibilities?"
"But isn't this Fantasy? Is there really a problem with a Medieval-esque setting with modern terms, cursing and philosophies or women with 21st century thoughts?"
No, not really, of course. But the shift from other volumes was quite noticeable. And I feel that in the vast majority of cases, the "It's Fantasy" argument is mostly used not because authors want to do something a little different, but simply because they don't know how to do handle it any better, so they just use a very modern female mindset (or doing things dominated by males) for the (good intentioned) "strong" character, as if it's the only way to do an interesting character, along Ser knights, dukes, medieval ceremonies and traditions and so on.
Also regarding the language, I remember when I was reading the 4th book, it was released at around the same time Tucker was writing the first or second book of another series already, so I wonder how that (or some other draft in the process) influenced the language in this volume.
Anyway, clearly the best parts revolved around the worldbuilding, and that's, for some, a sign that can be really good or really bad.
Starkadr, the demons, Ascension and its history, how a lot of things are viewed differently in each region (Kyrrasthasa to Tyrraskhia, Hrethings never having heard of Ascension, the first Ascendant was a Bythian, etc), kragh shamanism, the Gates, etc.
For the characters, they had great glimpses of very interesting things that could happen but that were too quickly solved or even forgotten and brushed away. Some even contradicted the very worldbuilding, as I pointed in the reviews of other volumes.
Overall the characters had a lot of potential, but whether it was because things looked too rushed or solutions too simplified, it felt most of the time things very rarely soared (mostly with Audsley and Tharok, early Tiron and Iskra and parts of Asho and Kethe (that are brought down by their magic convenience)).
I think superficial is the correct term for a lot of things that were glimpsed but never explored or quickly brushed away.
Except near the end that
The first volume feels much like Game of Thrones, with five characters close to each other and with Tharok performing a Daenerys-like role. The second like Sanderson on steroids, the third like Fellowship, with every character separated from each other, and so on.
Iskra-Tiron-Kethe had a lot of conflict and interesting things going on but it was too quickly over. Asho is made a big deal by being knighted by the Grace, being granted the Everflame (that never appeared again or actually held any importance), by being disdained and discriminated, only to later bellow at Ennoia's warlords and *gasp* command their final line of defense.
I think Audsley and Tharok were the only ones I have very little to complain and much to praise.
The magic used by the characters was really flat: for all the wonders and mysteries portrayed, they gain the most generic traits possible: super strength, super speed, super jump, super regeneration, fireballs, etc.
It's even more distracting when the book opens with a very detailed battle, cavalry charges being properly described, the influence of terrain, then later Kethe customizing her armor for her own needs and limits, the best suited weapon, dueling stances...
And then all this is simply thrown out of the window shortly after when she and Asho become all-powerful and cut through entire hordes of enemies with sheer brute force and very little thought.
Perhaps this style of battles with characters with super strength slashing at blurring speed and killing dozens of enemies without breaking a sweat may be a thing for some, but for me it very rarely works.
This kind of style always strikes me as being inspired by video games or animes and it really breaks my immersion. Though again, others seem to love it and it's exactly what they want.
The book does end with a lot of open questions (not a problem, not everything needs to be neatly tied up) in case the author ever wishes to come back to this world (I hope he does with more experience later).
Overall, I liked the series. I read it entirely in a month and finished it. I very much wanted to love it (and the things I had issues with may not prove a problem for others) but there were too much ups and downs for that. But still good and entertaining.
I'll probably continue to check the author in the future.
November 5, 2017
This was a great conclusion to one of the best epic fantasy series I've ever read. The action in this one is almost nonstop, and Tucker really makes you feel for the struggles his characters are going through. After five books, I know these characters so well they could be real people.
If you're looking for high-octane epic fantasy with amazing worldbuilding and characters you'll love to root for, you need to read this series right now.
The only complaint I have about this one was that the ending wasn't quite as great as I would have liked. It was still a very good ending, though.
Rating: 9.5/10
If you're looking for high-octane epic fantasy with amazing worldbuilding and characters you'll love to root for, you need to read this series right now.
The only complaint I have about this one was that the ending wasn't quite as great as I would have liked. It was still a very good ending, though.
Rating: 9.5/10
September 1, 2017
First, apologies for a somewhat rambling review. I'll start with a TL;DR for those (like me) who would rather read a book than a review. Second, I received an ARC from the author.
TL;DR great conclusion to the series; very satisfying end to most of the threads
Before reading the book, I had three main concerns: a) will all the complex, intertwined stories come to a satisfactory conclusion? b) will it be a fun read? and c) how will my favourite characters evolve
Starting the book, I was a bit worried about the conclusion of the story - especially given how complex the world building in the series has been. The White Song does a remarkable job of weaving together the various threads, giving each meaningful faction and arc a satisfactory conclusion. The book also gives you a glimpse of the world that could emerge after.
One of my favourite things about the series has been the way the reader is kept abreast with characters as they evolve. Too often in such series', characters dont really change much despite cataclysmic changes in the world around them. The White Song doesn't fall into that trap and one can see the impact events are having on the key characters. As with all such sagas, some characters do meet a tragic end and I was sad to see the fate of a couple of my favourite characters. Overall, I was pretty happy happy with how the book handled character development and conclusion.
I was somewhat concerned about one book being enough to pull the conclusion together. These worries only intensified after seeing the page count and reading through 2/3rd of the book. The effect of packing so much into the book is that it is very fast paced - almost too fast at times. This makes The White Song quite the page turner and a fun read. However, I suspect I would have enjoyed it even more if it were a bit longer. That said, this is still a much better option than splitting it into two dragged on books.
Conclusion: if you read the first four, this is a must read. If you are someone who waits for series' to be finished before you start reading, rest assured that The White Song is a fitting end to a great series.
My reviews of earlier books in the series:
Book 4: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book 2: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book 1: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
TL;DR great conclusion to the series; very satisfying end to most of the threads
Before reading the book, I had three main concerns: a) will all the complex, intertwined stories come to a satisfactory conclusion? b) will it be a fun read? and c) how will my favourite characters evolve
Starting the book, I was a bit worried about the conclusion of the story - especially given how complex the world building in the series has been. The White Song does a remarkable job of weaving together the various threads, giving each meaningful faction and arc a satisfactory conclusion. The book also gives you a glimpse of the world that could emerge after.
One of my favourite things about the series has been the way the reader is kept abreast with characters as they evolve. Too often in such series', characters dont really change much despite cataclysmic changes in the world around them. The White Song doesn't fall into that trap and one can see the impact events are having on the key characters. As with all such sagas, some characters do meet a tragic end and I was sad to see the fate of a couple of my favourite characters. Overall, I was pretty happy happy with how the book handled character development and conclusion.
I was somewhat concerned about one book being enough to pull the conclusion together. These worries only intensified after seeing the page count and reading through 2/3rd of the book. The effect of packing so much into the book is that it is very fast paced - almost too fast at times. This makes The White Song quite the page turner and a fun read. However, I suspect I would have enjoyed it even more if it were a bit longer. That said, this is still a much better option than splitting it into two dragged on books.
Conclusion: if you read the first four, this is a must read. If you are someone who waits for series' to be finished before you start reading, rest assured that The White Song is a fitting end to a great series.
My reviews of earlier books in the series:
Book 4: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book 2: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book 1: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
August 14, 2017
I was privileged to receive an ARC of The White Song in exchange for a review.
I'll make this brief: if you've already read the first four books, it's very likely that you'll be reading The White Song as soon as humanly possible, so I'll save the sales pitch.
Does it end well? There are so many threads, so many factions and characters with their own motivations, all coming to a head... does the series do justice for all parties involved? Does the resolution make sense? What is next for this shattered empire, this broken religion, these warring races after their system's hierarchy has been completely upended?
I can happily report that the finale is a huge success. Not only does it offer some of the most exciting battle scenes of the series (think Tarmon Gai'don on dragon steroids), but it also answers many of the questions raised throughout the entire journey. Beyond the core six POVs, Tucker does an admirable job of addressing some of the bigger, tougher questions of "what now?" that other authors unfortunately choose to ignore after the culminating violence ends. This was one of the most important topics that I would hope Phil would cover as the story reached its conclusion, and I was very satisfied with the decisions made to address these outstanding topics.
There's a lot of ground to cover in this finale, and not a lot of pages to do it. I figured it might have been the longest book in the series, but The Siege of Abythos has it beat by a solid margin. Like its predecessors, The White Song has the mystery, romance, sacrifice, questionable morality, loyalty, betrayal, and wildly creative action sequences that makes this series one of the best and most compelling I've read. Not to mention Tucker's steady & straightforward prose, frenetic pacing, and clever plotting has given us a story rife for development for the screen. Netflix, are you listening? Let's get this thing made.
I'll make this brief: if you've already read the first four books, it's very likely that you'll be reading The White Song as soon as humanly possible, so I'll save the sales pitch.
Does it end well? There are so many threads, so many factions and characters with their own motivations, all coming to a head... does the series do justice for all parties involved? Does the resolution make sense? What is next for this shattered empire, this broken religion, these warring races after their system's hierarchy has been completely upended?
I can happily report that the finale is a huge success. Not only does it offer some of the most exciting battle scenes of the series (think Tarmon Gai'don on dragon steroids), but it also answers many of the questions raised throughout the entire journey. Beyond the core six POVs, Tucker does an admirable job of addressing some of the bigger, tougher questions of "what now?" that other authors unfortunately choose to ignore after the culminating violence ends. This was one of the most important topics that I would hope Phil would cover as the story reached its conclusion, and I was very satisfied with the decisions made to address these outstanding topics.
There's a lot of ground to cover in this finale, and not a lot of pages to do it. I figured it might have been the longest book in the series, but The Siege of Abythos has it beat by a solid margin. Like its predecessors, The White Song has the mystery, romance, sacrifice, questionable morality, loyalty, betrayal, and wildly creative action sequences that makes this series one of the best and most compelling I've read. Not to mention Tucker's steady & straightforward prose, frenetic pacing, and clever plotting has given us a story rife for development for the screen. Netflix, are you listening? Let's get this thing made.
October 24, 2017
A good ending to a great fantasy series.
Maybe without some of the surprises from the precedent volumes, but still, solid stuff, with a lot of high volumes action.
The writing it`s in the same tones with the one from the other books, the characters were well played and attractive, as usual, the ending all together satisfactory.
Like I said, this is one of the best series of fantasy books out there. I know, a hard stuff to achieve.
That a fantasy novel to be fresh and imaginative in the same time, with a vast cast of interesting characters, and a good action side, and with five books in a row, it`s quite a miracle to obtain it.
I loved all about this series, all the struggle of the characters to survive and find themselves, the whole upside downs of the intrigue with it`s surprises, in short, the whole world and the writer efforts were trully impressive.
This guy it`s trully a rising star in the fantasy field!
Maybe without some of the surprises from the precedent volumes, but still, solid stuff, with a lot of high volumes action.
The writing it`s in the same tones with the one from the other books, the characters were well played and attractive, as usual, the ending all together satisfactory.
Like I said, this is one of the best series of fantasy books out there. I know, a hard stuff to achieve.
That a fantasy novel to be fresh and imaginative in the same time, with a vast cast of interesting characters, and a good action side, and with five books in a row, it`s quite a miracle to obtain it.
I loved all about this series, all the struggle of the characters to survive and find themselves, the whole upside downs of the intrigue with it`s surprises, in short, the whole world and the writer efforts were trully impressive.
This guy it`s trully a rising star in the fantasy field!
December 16, 2017
Actual Ratings: 4.75
July 8, 2020
Very good last book in the series. Nice ending for the story line. Overall the series is easily a 4 star read. Enjoyable and entertaining read. Very recommended
September 10, 2017
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
The demons were a thousand flickering lights around him, the ur-destraas above a raging bonfire.
The author sent me an ARC for an honest review. The final version of the book has minor changes.
Introduction
‘The White Song’ is written by Phil Tucker. It is the fifth and last book in ‘The Chronicles of the Black Gate’ series. The earlier book ‘The Iron Circlet’ (read the review here) left us at a cliff hanger, with Starkadr falling and this is the point ‘The White Song’ resumes from.
I strongly recommend ‘The White Song’ to fantasy readers. The series has been excellent and ‘The White Song’ is its fitting climax. Readers of this series know what to expect. I would suggest that newbies to this series start at book one and work their way through.
‘The White Song’ sets a furious pace which is somehow even faster than earlier books in the series. It was so gripping that I actually finished the book in one sitting when I received the ARC. There are numerous action sequences; my favorite being the air to air combat (Believe me – you will love it when you read it).
Since it the concluding book in the series, we can expect the major characters to have some resolution to their arc. And it does not disappoint. We have happy endings, tragic ending, endings in a blaze of glory and endings in a whimper. Almost all of these are satisfying and bring a sense of contentment.
This series has been a great read throughout and I recommend it once again.
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
The demons were a thousand flickering lights around him, the ur-destraas above a raging bonfire.
The author sent me an ARC for an honest review. The final version of the book has minor changes.
Introduction
‘The White Song’ is written by Phil Tucker. It is the fifth and last book in ‘The Chronicles of the Black Gate’ series. The earlier book ‘The Iron Circlet’ (read the review here) left us at a cliff hanger, with Starkadr falling and this is the point ‘The White Song’ resumes from.
I strongly recommend ‘The White Song’ to fantasy readers. The series has been excellent and ‘The White Song’ is its fitting climax. Readers of this series know what to expect. I would suggest that newbies to this series start at book one and work their way through.
‘The White Song’ sets a furious pace which is somehow even faster than earlier books in the series. It was so gripping that I actually finished the book in one sitting when I received the ARC. There are numerous action sequences; my favorite being the air to air combat (Believe me – you will love it when you read it).
Since it the concluding book in the series, we can expect the major characters to have some resolution to their arc. And it does not disappoint. We have happy endings, tragic ending, endings in a blaze of glory and endings in a whimper. Almost all of these are satisfying and bring a sense of contentment.
This series has been a great read throughout and I recommend it once again.
Read the full review at my site Digital Amrit
October 8, 2017
If you haven't yet read the Chronicles of the black gate you are really missing out! Fantasy doesn't get much more exciting and dynamic than this, and Tucker has created some great characters that ACT rather than wallowing in self pity when things get rough. I love the world he has built and the way he reveals why things are the way they are, often to surprising effect. Do yourself a favor and read this series, capped off by this excellent final chapter!
October 4, 2017
I have discovered this series through a friend's recommendation and have been binging on the first four books last week, only to discover that the fifth and final one was coming out this week.
I've read it in one sitting, in one day. And I am in love, and bereft it's over.
It's hard to be unspoilery, so I am just going to say that, like the rest of the series, think beautiful world building, characters driven by extraordinary strength of purpose, epic battles (battle descriptions are one of the books’ major strengths), tragedy, magic, revolts and redemption. And of course (you know me) love. Even though romance is not primarily or even secondarily focus of the series, the two OTPs are basically everything I ever wanted and then some.
Pretty much a perfect ending to a perfect series. Go read!
I've read it in one sitting, in one day. And I am in love, and bereft it's over.
It's hard to be unspoilery, so I am just going to say that, like the rest of the series, think beautiful world building, characters driven by extraordinary strength of purpose, epic battles (battle descriptions are one of the books’ major strengths), tragedy, magic, revolts and redemption. And of course (you know me) love. Even though romance is not primarily or even secondarily focus of the series, the two OTPs are basically everything I ever wanted and then some.
Pretty much a perfect ending to a perfect series. Go read!
June 7, 2018
The journey ends
Some rise to be heroes and other fall from grace... Before the Black Gate. This was a tear jerker for me and a ending to a great journey. I will read these books again in the future, I have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy four times though my lifetime and each time I lose myself in the story.These six books ; Escape from Bythos,The Path of Flames, The Black Shriving,The Siege of Abythos,The Iron Circlet,The White Song add up to a great saga - worth the time to read.
Some rise to be heroes and other fall from grace... Before the Black Gate. This was a tear jerker for me and a ending to a great journey. I will read these books again in the future, I have read The Lord of the Rings trilogy four times though my lifetime and each time I lose myself in the story.These six books ; Escape from Bythos,The Path of Flames, The Black Shriving,The Siege of Abythos,The Iron Circlet,The White Song add up to a great saga - worth the time to read.
February 18, 2021
The White Song is a beautifully written, exquisitely world-built, and thoroughly engaging novel. Some of the dialog is so stirring, it almost melted even my lead heart. I would expect no less after having read the first four books. That said, it was my least favorite in the series, and the ending left me wondering what the heck just happened.
See my full review here:
http://fantasy-faction.com/2018/the-w...
See my full review here:
http://fantasy-faction.com/2018/the-w...
May 5, 2021
My ever growing pile of favorite books has a new addition. All the previous books in this series are incredible and The White Song is no exception.
It is extremely difficult to put down, it has kept me awake long into the nights but it is worth it.
One of the things that strikes me is the character growth for almost every single major and minor character. Also, everyone is a badass is their own way.
There are almost no loose threads, I mean yes, not everything is closed but everything does make sense. There's a sense of satisfaction and closure, though bittersweet in some aspects.
I generally hate when fantasy books delve too deep into politics and religion but these books handle it very well, especially the debates about monotheism , blind faith and the caste system.
I have been promoting these books whenever I get a chance and will continue to do so. I love them.
It is extremely difficult to put down, it has kept me awake long into the nights but it is worth it.
One of the things that strikes me is the character growth for almost every single major and minor character. Also, everyone is a badass is their own way.
There are almost no loose threads, I mean yes, not everything is closed but everything does make sense. There's a sense of satisfaction and closure, though bittersweet in some aspects.
I generally hate when fantasy books delve too deep into politics and religion but these books handle it very well, especially the debates about monotheism , blind faith and the caste system.
I have been promoting these books whenever I get a chance and will continue to do so. I love them.
October 14, 2017
Everyone shoots fire, and only fire. Except twice, but in one instance it felt like fire just culminating into lightning a la Last Airbender. The word ameliorate was significantly overused. The Ascendant as a character needed to decide to be reasonable or not. I would have liked to have had a character explore a line of thinking where the Gates exist in a theological setting without the reincarnation aspect. Too often the characters questioned the validity of this Ascendant religion but nothing ever comes of it. They keep saying they need to make changes but never discuss actually doing so. The ending was incomplete in its coverage of the Kragh. Iskra's sister just kind of disappeared from the story when Zephyr was introduced. Tiron felt utterly pointless throughout this book. Asho spends the last two books of this series either drunkenly overpowered or hung over from it. It felt like there was no logical progression to his abilities so he just sat on the sidelines until he did the thing to sacrifice himself and save the day. Many of the Empire's realms were never visited. Sige needed to be explained more; how are its denizens living in Alethia in estates?
These are all small things, but they really add up and dampened my feelings about this series.
These are all small things, but they really add up and dampened my feelings about this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2017
This series as a whole is pretty incredible. I recommend it to pretty much everyone I know even if I know they don't read.
This book picks up right where book 4 left off and is packed full of action right form the very beginning and it never really slows down. It is full of fantastic creatures,incredible magic and amazing battles. It has pretty much everything I want from a book. For the most part I was happy with how everything ended. I would have liked to learn about how they reshaped ascendancy and the empire so I could see if they actually made anything better for people.
Overall I was very happy to get to read the end of the series but sad that my time in this beautiful world Phil Tucker created has com to an end. If you haven't read this series yet you should immediately get started .
This book picks up right where book 4 left off and is packed full of action right form the very beginning and it never really slows down. It is full of fantastic creatures,incredible magic and amazing battles. It has pretty much everything I want from a book. For the most part I was happy with how everything ended. I would have liked to learn about how they reshaped ascendancy and the empire so I could see if they actually made anything better for people.
Overall I was very happy to get to read the end of the series but sad that my time in this beautiful world Phil Tucker created has com to an end. If you haven't read this series yet you should immediately get started .
December 21, 2017
Excellent conclusion to a thoroughly enjoyable series.
July 17, 2019
This is it. The end of the series. I applaud the epic adventure that these characters went through. This final book was everything I wanted in it. The characters grew and evolved throughout the series while the good versus bad was throughout the series and often times changed who was 'good' and who was 'bad'. I also saw religious debate, economical debate, and philosophical debate. The series was very well rounded and I walked away from it with definite favorite characters.
I'm going to put this next part under spoilers because I will talk about the ending and I don't want to sway anyone away from the book. Don't get me wrong... It's a great ending but I'll list what I personally didn't like.
I would definitely like to see a sequel of these characters simply because the world building was THAT good.
I'm going to put this next part under spoilers because I will talk about the ending and I don't want to sway anyone away from the book. Don't get me wrong... It's a great ending but I'll list what I personally didn't like.
I would definitely like to see a sequel of these characters simply because the world building was THAT good.
October 18, 2022
It wasn't the series end of my dreams, I admit that. The plot rushed too fast together imo and the characters didn't have any time to react accordingly to the happenings. All in all, it's just war and death and war in this book, nothing else 🙈 And Asho wasn't even there for half of the book even though he played the most important part in it.
The thing with the Ascentant and the difficult theological questions... I knew I couldn't expect any answers as in "your religion is bad, THIS is the right way", I didn't expect it. But I expected something. One answer out of many would have sufficed but we just left it open even though it was the thing that stretched out to the whole series.
Tharoks ending....I liked some of it! But some of it I didn't like. And Mr Tucker, how dare you to ruin Audsleys character arc for me. How dare you.
All in all I loved my experience with this magnificent series. I didn't love the ending but I for sure loved my adventure with it.
The thing with the Ascentant and the difficult theological questions... I knew I couldn't expect any answers as in "your religion is bad, THIS is the right way", I didn't expect it. But I expected something. One answer out of many would have sufficed but we just left it open even though it was the thing that stretched out to the whole series.
Tharoks ending....I liked some of it! But some of it I didn't like. And Mr Tucker, how dare you to ruin Audsleys character arc for me. How dare you.
All in all I loved my experience with this magnificent series. I didn't love the ending but I for sure loved my adventure with it.
July 27, 2025
This series started really strong but I started to loose interest in the story during the previous book.
I really struggled to finish this book. It felt like nothing really happened in this book except for battles.
I really struggled to finish this book. It felt like nothing really happened in this book except for battles.
March 8, 2018
Demons vs Dragons
Demons vs Well everyone
Great finish to the series even if the ending and wrap up were a bit abrubt.
Demons vs Well everyone
Great finish to the series even if the ending and wrap up were a bit abrubt.
November 5, 2017
4.5 rounded up to 5.
Very satisfying conclusion to a superb fantasy quintet. The whole series gave me a sword & sorcery vibe with complex characters.
Recommended!
Very satisfying conclusion to a superb fantasy quintet. The whole series gave me a sword & sorcery vibe with complex characters.
Recommended!
April 4, 2018
Excellent!
This entire series was written with such thoroughness and I feel completely satisfied with this ending! Though, I would admit that I hated to see it end. I would recommend this entire series as a collection for anyone who enjoys reading fantasy! Now, I will read the sixth book, just to complete this set. I think the last book is the introduction of Asho, prior to the first book?
This entire series was written with such thoroughness and I feel completely satisfied with this ending! Though, I would admit that I hated to see it end. I would recommend this entire series as a collection for anyone who enjoys reading fantasy! Now, I will read the sixth book, just to complete this set. I think the last book is the introduction of Asho, prior to the first book?
July 6, 2018
Great ending to a rip-roaring ride of a series!! All the characters were accounted for and the final battle scenes were some of the coolest I have read. Excellent mix of magic, dragons, demons, and mortals. I highly recommend this series for those who enjoy a new perspective on some classic archetypes.
December 31, 2018
I would like to make a few comments on the whole series, not just this book.
This could have been a good 4 stars, if not even 5, but in the end, even if I liked the series very much, I was a little disappointed.
I think the story, the world building and the characters were great and they could have been much better developed in a longer series.
I like books with rhythm and pace, but here everything happens too fast, and that affects also the credibility of the plot and of the characters.
You start with a fight to control a feud and we end with a war against demons to save the whole humanity in a matter of weeks.
And the same time frame you see normal people becoming incredibly powerful without any training and just fighting bigger enemies.
Especially in the last books (4 and 5) it seems to be in a videogame where the characters upgrade their abilities in order to face enemies which are stronger every level you finish.
Or sometimes it reminded me of Dragonball cartoons, where the heroes become always more and more powerful, burning their inner energy.
I really think that the author had amazing ideas about the world, its history, his religion and the races populating this world, but they are just sketches to give a little background and in the end we know just a little more than at the beginning.
I would have liked to understand more about everything
Also the characters, if they could have more development, and less fast unbelievable power, could have been great and unforgettable.
This story probably would have needed not only 5, but 10 or more books like the Malazan series, and it would have been also so high in my preferences as well.
But this is just my opinion.
This could have been a good 4 stars, if not even 5, but in the end, even if I liked the series very much, I was a little disappointed.
I think the story, the world building and the characters were great and they could have been much better developed in a longer series.
I like books with rhythm and pace, but here everything happens too fast, and that affects also the credibility of the plot and of the characters.
You start with a fight to control a feud and we end with a war against demons to save the whole humanity in a matter of weeks.
And the same time frame you see normal people becoming incredibly powerful without any training and just fighting bigger enemies.
Especially in the last books (4 and 5) it seems to be in a videogame where the characters upgrade their abilities in order to face enemies which are stronger every level you finish.
Or sometimes it reminded me of Dragonball cartoons, where the heroes become always more and more powerful, burning their inner energy.
I really think that the author had amazing ideas about the world, its history, his religion and the races populating this world, but they are just sketches to give a little background and in the end we know just a little more than at the beginning.
I would have liked to understand more about everything
Also the characters, if they could have more development, and less fast unbelievable power, could have been great and unforgettable.
This story probably would have needed not only 5, but 10 or more books like the Malazan series, and it would have been also so high in my preferences as well.
But this is just my opinion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews