Doom's Break

Books of Arna #3

by Christopher Rowley

As the battle continues, Thru Gillo has ever-harder work cut out for him. For one, the land wars have moved to sea. For another, the hero will have to choose from the three females who lay claim to his heart. But first he'll have to survive the iron-fisted clutch of Man the Cruel...

Genres: Fantasy

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Christopher Rowley is a prolific writer of both science fiction and fantasy novels. He was born in 1948 in Lynn, Massachusetts to an American mother and an English father. Educated for the most part at Brentwood School, Essex, England, he became a London-based journalist in the 1970s. In 1977 he moved to New York City and began work on The War For Eternity, his first science fiction novel. He currently lives in upstate New York.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rowley picks up right where the last installment ended; all in all, a fun, fast read that wraps up the series nicely. While I liked this, the series as a whole fits pretty squarely into fantasy pulp that could have been written in the 80s rather than the 2000s as this was and overall, nothing exceptional. I got some good laughs and Rowley does know how to tell a story.

Thru Gillo, a mot (e.g., an uplifted monkey) starts the novel here on a boat heading back to 'The Land" after escaping from the lands of Man the Cruel. Unbeknownst to him, his lover also escaped and made her way back to The Land. Thru, however, is traveling with the Emperor's brother. The Emperor, after being ousted by the Dark One (e.g., a sorcerer) that controls the oppressive religion of Men the Cruel. For some reason, the Dark One really, really wants to exterminate the Monkeys and just about bankrupts the Empire to send yet another fleet to Thru's homeland.

Yes, we finally get our expected showdown here, with the mots, aligned with the Emperor's troops (the ones the mots have been fighting for years) going against the new fleet and army, which we soon learn is commanded by the Dark One himself. And yes, we finally learn a bit more of the backstory to the world, but while the action is fun, the prose smooth, a pretty popcorn read overall. 3 mots!

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the Third Book Of Arna by Christopher Rowley. In this book, the conclusion to this trilogy, Thru Gillo with the aid of the Emperor of Man's exiled brother, has escaped Shasht and returned to The Land. Unknown to him his lover Nuza has also escaped with the now exiled Emperor, Aeswiren. He has been exiled by the mad wizard known simply as The Old One because he refused to sacrifice Nuza to the God Who Eats. He decides to go to the Land and take control of the army of Man there that is waging war against the Mots and other peoples of The Land. He makes peace with the peoples of The Land and prepares to return to Shasht but soon another army arrives that has been raised and is lead by The Old One. The People of The Land and Aeswiren and his army must ally and fight off this new force if they are to survive. This book is a great conclusion to this trilogy with plenty of action and many twists and turns. I recommend it highly.