Kole, Linn and their companions have survived the wilds of Center, slain another Sage and put their world on a path toward salvation.
Or so they think.
But the Eastern Dark has returned and laid claim to the power of T’Alon Rane, making the King of Ember his dark servant once more. Now, their ancient enemy marches across the frozen wastes of the north, seeking to end the life of his former ally and the last true power that can stand against him.
With the last two Sages on a collision course that could decide the fate of the world, the Landkist of the Valley have a choice to make. One between darkness and light, redemption and corruption.
For the Frostfire Sage is alive and unwell. And she has secrets to keep. And scores to settle.
Steven is a fighter-turned-writer who resides in the Boston area. A former sports and entertainment writer, he now focuses exclusively on his true passion: epic action fantasy and sci-fi. He wishes all disputes were still settled with a friendly game of hand-to-hand combat, is a fan of awesome things, and tries to write books he’d want to read.
Exciting to have read this fourth book of the Landkist Saga. Unbelievable how amazing it is, just kept reading, despite the fact that I had to go to work the next day. You just get lost in the story.
Steven Kelliher writes tomes not books and if there is one thing I love is a lengthy novel. This one was the 4th book in the Landkist Saga! Many of the sages have been killed but there is still a very powerful sage which our group from the valley know as the witch of the North but who is better known as the Frostfire Sage and the Eastern Dark better known now as Ray Valour is out to get her. The world building in this saga has been amazing and now that we travel to the North with Linn, Kole, Jenk, Baas, Micha and the very loyal Shifa, we get to see another place which is absolutely fantastical and awesome. The queen lives in a palace made of ice and all around she has frozen the seas into landscapes of ice. The young landkist have to choose whose side they intend to be on when the eastern dark arrives at the door of the frostfire sage, but Kole who had hated Ray Valour for so long was not sure the Frostfire sage was any better! The war which started between sages has drawn them all in and killed so many of them, now the battle seems to be coming to a close but more evil is looming on the horizon. The world apart is sending the last God and he is out to forge the forever night which would doom them all! What an awesome read this was, so much happening in this northern adventure. The battle scenes at times got to be a bit too much however the book is so eloquently written and with so much love put into the writing that it was a pleasure to read and savour the descriptions unfolding before our eyes and the tension and fear for our heroes holds us till the very end which is no end at all and which leaves us readers waiting for the next book in this magnificent saga!
Thoughts: This book is the best in the series yet. I love, love, love this series, this author, and most of all, this book. As I said in The Landkist Saga Bundle Package review, "Steven Kelliher is an amazing author that makes each book, chapter, page, paragraph, sentence, and word better then the last." Here I am and it's still true. One of the reasons I loved this book so much was Shadow. In every book Shadow's a mystery, however, Steven Kelliher delves into the mystery of Shadow even more, and has more of this character in this book. Also, I loved Ceth - a northern Landkist - and Lyana's complicated relationship. Another thing that I love about The Frostfire Sage is the Eastern Dark - the series' villain - along with the whole plot of the entire series. The reason I like the Eastern Dark is his struggle to either help or hurt, his struggle of killing the sages, and his struggle over what he believes will save the world. Also, the reason I admired the plot of the series is because it makes sense finally, like putting the finishing touches on a painting. Overall, I loved, loved, loved this intresting, creative, compicated, book.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.
This was a beast of a book. A lengthy novel with wonderful word building makes this book a joy to read. You get a vast array of characters, all interesting and vital to the storyline,which makes every chapter intriguing in its own way. The landscape is vast and varied, from snow to swamps, all as detailed as the plot. Which brings me to the plot, it's a straightforward story filled with some interesting twist. The kind of story where good vs evil gets blurred, and your not sure who to believe. The first part of the book was filled with lots of backstory and rehashing, which was a bit of a drag, but the ending part more than makes up for. You get unbelievable action,insights and revelations. Well done.
The Landkist Saga is a great fantasy series, and this is one of the best yet. I loved the story line and characters, as well as the continuing excellent world building in this book as I expected to from the other books in the series. This series to me is in the swords and magic fantasy genre, and sits there with the best. It has lots of humour as well as pathos in this book, and I loved it.
Epic and brilliant. Even better than the previous three books. Kelliher has grown strong as a writer. I enjoyed this greatly, and the scope of the world in the novels has developed in depth and complexity. This book is a sort of prelude to the climax, and it gives the intense adrenaline rush to an imminent conflict.
The worlbuilding was fantastic, and the settings from the valley and desert to the icy mileu of the north, and the realm of faey proved to be refreshing. The writing is evocative and has a picturesque quality that gives the reader chills. I was amazed at how Kelliher has captured the white and cold icy landscape in such a vivid manner. I'm just wowed. The faey realm was quite beautiful, with glowing colours and a subtle magic of its own. In most parts, the writing does the job of bringing the world into life. I was deeply immersed in the amazing world that Kelliher has gifted us through the novel.
There are a few revealations here, and the landkist mythos becomes a little clearer. We also get to know more about the World Apart, and how the Sages came into conflict with one another, and how the landkist got their powers. The characterisation was well done, particularly of Ray Valour, the sage-saviour-would be villain of the entire series. I'm intrigued by his motivations and his power, and his viewpoint of the story was the most interesting. I liked Iyana and Ceth's relationship, and hope to see them in action, particularly Ceth.
The action is superb as always, and the last half was excellent in this regard. I wanted more of the Ember King T'Alon Rane. He is one of my most enduring characters, and I would hope that Kelliher gives him a role in the final clash of the titans and demons of another world. And, also I'm curious about the secret origin of Shadow. Jenk was a little surprise here, and his duel with the frostfire sage was awesome and electrifying, and, I was awed by it. We also get to see Garos Balsheer and Talmir in a duel, which was thrilling. It proves that there are heroes to stop the upcoming darkness, the forever night and its horrors.
I can't wait much longer for the finale. This book raised the standards of Kelliher as a writer. He met the expectations of the story I had as a reader. This book deserves to be on the top of the Indie Fantasy list. Both from the outside and inside, this is a quality gem that will raise the bars of the self-publishing fantasy.
Here is another amazing novel from the mind of Steven, showing many more view points than the previous 3 books. Of course Kole has a big role, but the view point of a certain pop-inducing creation is shown as well as Iyana and Linn.
The first few chapters (maybe 6) were not the best, they saw the focus of the chapters jumping from one person to another, slightly breaking the immersion, but after the initial hopping, it focuses down more to a character for a few chapters before changing, allowing for a more consistent immersion and less confusion on who the chapters were looking at.
This books was only released relatively recently, so the wait for the next will probably be a long one. One that I will have to endure as I most definitely will be purchasing book 5 whenever it is released.
Thanks again for another amazing, immersive novel and making me once again wish I was Landkist
After reading the previous books in this series, I enjoyed finding answers to questions I had. This book took the previous and took on a life of its own. I enjoyed that I could not second guess where it was leading me and it had a worldview depth that held the story.
This series keeps getting better. Lots of threads are left dangling and I look forward to the next volume to deliver closure to most if not all of them.
Superbly written! The struggles that each of them is going through is well thought out and laid out for even the most novice of readers. If you don't find this book entertaining and find it difficult to put down, then this isn't the genre for you. I am so ready to see how the end comes for them!
I stumbled across this series and I can't get enough of it. The magic system is unique. The characters are enjoyable. The plot is engaging. I wholeheartedly recommend this book!!
I really enjoyed this book anr the whole series. The Series has a lot of complicated characters that go from bad to good and back again really enjoyed it. I think you would too. Can't wait for the next installment
Although books 1 and 2 seem to take a lot of digesting due the amount of characters, persevere, you will not regret it. This story gets better. Can't wait for the fifth (last)? Episode
This is the fourth book in The Landkist Saga and probably the best so far. I really enjoyed this book and the way the world was expanded. We get to see all the main characters preparing for what will be an epic battle. There is a lot more to the War of the Sages than we knew about in previous books however none of the reveals felt forced or unrealistic. The World Apart is also more complex than I could have possibly guessed and learning the history of that world really added to my enjoyment of the series so far. It really feels like it is coming together to set up for an absolutely massive battle in book 5 (I may be wrong though). For those who have been curious about where the powers of the Landkist come from, there is more information in this book that makes it less mysterious but not completely understood still.
I really liked the structure of this book. The beginning is dealing with the ramifications from the events in Midnight Dunes with the characters we followed there. Then we pick up with Kole and Linn where we left off at the end of The Emerald Blade. We learn a lot more about the Eastern Dark and his motivations which I actually enjoyed. The whole story is very good and the there is a lot more nuance to each character than just a good side and bad side which I really appreciated. Also, the battle/fight scenes are amazing which I always expect from Kelliher. I am really excited about book 5.