Nefarius has risen. She is implacable. Unstoppable. God after god is fallen and consumed, and each time the terrible dragon-goddess grows stronger.
Nebiat has stolen the Spellship, depriving Voria of its strength when she needs it most. But Nebiat's schemes have never been tested by someone like Talifax, and she will finally discover she'd not as clever as she believes.
One possibility of victory remains. Aran, Nara, and Kazon discover their true purpose, the plan left by the elder god Xal when he planned for his own demise. With this plan they have once chance to oppose Nefarius. Once chance to stop the goddess that will devour everything.
If they fail darkness wins, and our universe will be extinguished. Succeeding carries its own price, one Aran must choose for others to live.
By day I am an iPhone developer architecting the app used to scope Stephen Colbert’s ear. By night I am Batman. Ok maybe not. One can dream though, right?
I’ve been writing since I was six years old and started inflicting my work on others at age 18. By age 24 people stopped running away when I approached them with a new story and shortly thereafter I published my first one in the Rifter.
Wait you’re still reading?
Ok, the facts I’m supposed to list in a bio. As of this writing I’m 38 years old and live just north of the Golden Gate Bridge in the beautiful town of Mill Valley. If you’re unsure how to find it just follow the smell of self-entitlement. Once you see the teens driving Teslas you’ll know you’re in the right place.
I live in a tiny studio that I can cross in (literally) five steps and don’t own an oven. But you know what? It’s worth it. I love developing iPhone apps and if you want to work in San Francisco you accept that rent for a tiny place costs more than most people’s mortgage.
If you and about 2 million other people start buying my books I promise to move out of Marin to a house in the redwoods up in Guerneville. No pressure. Wait that’s a lie. Pressure.
In this the final chapter of the Magitech Chronicles all the final players come together to bring an end to the ‘Godswar’ one way or another. Nefarious, fresh off the killing of Virkonna and Krox is flush with power, and more than that, she has worked out how to manipulate the humans into worshiping her, so that they will feed her even more power. To complete her treachery, she has taken control of the infrastructure, so that no one can get a message out, and only she can control the media. On the other side, we have Voria and Frit, trying to wrap up the loose ends of Nebiat. Aran and Nara have to raise Xul, so have sent Crewes, Rhea and Bord on another mission. And this is where Fox excels with this sort of writing. The first two thirds of this book is about anticipation, preparation, and building up to the final battle that we all know is coming. Sure, there are some minor battles as the various Characters are trying to get Xul put together, rally the Demons to their cause, rally other Allies, or as Nefarious decimates lesser outposts on her way to the final confrontation. However, all through this, Fox builds uses each and every one of his main Characters and the minor Characters to build this frenzy of anticipation for this final battle, and to be honest, you really have no idea who is going to win by the time you reach the final pages. The lead in to the last section is utterly brilliant, we see the resurrection of a God, by some of our favourite Characters, and we see them elevate to new heights in this final book. The Character writing is just exceptional in this book, Fox has outdone himself in this final chapter. He has always created powerfully strong Character driven stories (Each of the Void Wraith books, and the previous 6 books leading up to this are prime examples), but this book sets a new bar. And whilst we all know what this book is about, the story was pretty much written for us, Fox has provided so many twists and turns to get us there, that you still have no idea what is going to happen by the last pages. In fact (and no spoilers!!), as you are turning the final pages, he still manages to surprise you. Adding to all of that, is some of the most outstanding combat scenes I have read. Chris Fox has written some brilliant stuff in the past, but again, he has saved his best work for this book. The fight scenes with each of several Major (and Minor) Characters are so incredibly detailed, and in-depth, blow by blow, that they leave you nearly passing out, because you find you have been holding your breath for so long. I lost sleep, was sneaking off at work, standing watching dinner cook, whatever I could to get another 10minutes of reading/listening time just to make sure I made it through to the end of some of the fight sequences. This has been a wonderful series, combining Tech and Magic together to make some of the most amazing things, who doesn’t want a Sniper’s Rifle that shoots spells? Especially some of the spells that come out of this book? Man, when I was a cop, I would have killed for a set of the spell armour (*GRIN*), and these are just a couple of the incredible things that have come up in this series. Between that, the combat, the breathtaking range of species, Dragons, Demons, and other entities, the sensational ships, and again, just the extraordinary Characters, this is one of the best Sci-Fi series on the market today. The Series was well worth reading before, but now, with Godswar – It is an Absolute Must Read!!!
The final entry of Chris Fox’s Magitech Chronicles begins with Nebiat opening a void pocket whilst fearing rejection by her son. In the meantime, Nefarius tests her new body, having gotten used to being a dragon, and Aran translocates to the Crucible as Kazon works on his mecha. Krox cautions Nebiat about bowing before Voria, whilst she bargains with Pickus, with Krox ready for war and wielding the mystical spear Worldender. Nefarius spirits to Colony 3, flush with new magic, and knowing Xal will eventually return for a final conflict.
Crewes needs a void mage created, with Voria and Frit ready for battle, and Ikadra serving as a conduit for worship. Nefarius digests Krox’s magic, with Virkonna talking to her child Kheross, who believes that the war is lost. Nefarius gazes into her deceased sister’s mind, with Kheross fearing Aran, while Nebiat gathers spirit and urges her followers to overthrow the gods. Aran expects a high death toll in the coming war, while the Skull of Xal is encountered by Nara, with Xal being necessary to defeat Nefarius. Aran and Kazon partake in the blood of Xal, with the god’s memory playing out.
Lieutenant Davidson is tired of war, questioning the allegiance of the Krox, with Aran practicing linking to his mecha in anticipation of the final conflict. Kazon is reluctant to leave his own mecha, knowing not how to take full advantage of his magic, and he visits the tomb of a demon prince, from which nobody has ever emerged. Nara in the meantime has a vision of a coliseum hosting a play, with an individual named Enoch guiding her through an ancient city. Beings known as the oni play a significant role in the book’s narrative, wishing to revive their god, whilst demons lay waste in combat.
Sabra introduces Aran and Nara to her husband Jerich, afterward taking them to Malazra, with Kazon seeing the oni gather, telling Graal the time is near for war. Aran looks over a map of Xal’s heart, with Crewes ordering Bord to open a Fissure. Nefarius visits the Crucible, vowing retribution against those who would dare betray her, and Enoch prepares for his first journey in a million years, having witnessed and experienced much. Aran succeeds in recruiting the oni, with the Skull of Xal materializing, and Aran speaking to Xal’s demons.
Frit observes Nebiat’s form, yearning to create a religious order, and Kaho arrives for a council meeting, with Administrator Pickus suggesting that he and the others are hostages. Crewes lands near the Temple of Shi, attempting to make contact with it, and Kaho pities his genocidal mother. Kazon knows an official leader is necessary to stand a chance against the demons, with most of the characters ready for war, and Frit professing her love for Kaho. Aran spends several chapters fighting Nefarius, keeping his mecha’s tactics in mind, with the war ultimately ending.
Overall, I enjoyed this final entry of the Magitech Chronicles, given plentiful science-fiction action and colorful characters, with some occasional commentary about religion. The various battles are well-orchestrated, and the characters receive decent development and evolution throughout the novel. Granted, one can occasionally have trouble keeping track of the various plot arcs and dramatic personae, with a list of the characters and better descriptions apt to help those readers who might easily get lost in the plotline. Regardless, I definitely don’t regret experiencing this series, and would recommend it to those looking for a decent hybrid of fantasy and science-fiction.
WOW! 😮 What a fitting end to this series!!! Xal?!? OMG! The twists! The turns! The swords! The guns! The magic! The tech! The chronicles!!!!! Loved them all sooooooo much! One of my absolute favorite passages from the book (doesn’t really spoil anything) was- “Do you know something that can shed some light on things, Kazon?” Aran asked, before he realized that particular colloquialism probably didn’t work as well in this crowd. It was just perfectly funny. I think this could replace Star Wars as best “Space Wizards vs Evil” stories out there. I could definitely imagine all this in all it’s glory in a setting like the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Bravo, Mr. Fox, a tip of the hat and a bravo 👏 I will definitely keep tabs on the spin offs!
This was an exciting finale, but even this book took deviations and twists from what I thought was the central theme to deliver something else. Whether you like that or not depends on your enjoyment of the book, and the series.
We get to see side characters like Fritt and Cruise reach their potential, and there are some breadcrumbs laid in book 1 that come to fruition. However it is the main trio of Aran, Nara and Voria where it seems a bit muddled.
Voria was very absent for the last few books, having been a major character. She was a goddess and stayed on the sidelines for plot reasons.
Nara goes on a dungeon qurst to achieve a special weapon, which she uses to kill her enemy, however she never really found out about her past outside of being a Zephyr and still feels very flat.
Aran, the main character of this story, ends up spending 50% of this book on a quest that was not linked to at all throughout the rest of the series. This feels very similar to the Rise of Skywalker personally. The end result was a very coll and well written battle, but it was between characters that I didn't really understand. Nefarius could have been the good guy the entire time and we wouldnt know it.
Thr first series I have listened to on audible, and despite a few word choice issues, it was an enjoyable experience.
This was the equivalent of a good popcorn movie, or reading about someone's DnD game, which you can now buy from the author. Funny that.
I loved this series, and can't wait for the next story in this setting.
These books are not masterpieces or anything, they're like the literary equivalent of D&D getting Eiffel Towered by Marvel/Star Wars and I loved every bit of them.
The world-building was great, the magic system fantastic, and the characters had distinct and interesting personalities. While some of the characters had more depth than others, the villains weren't just evil for the sake of evil and there was a logic behind their actions.
I went in with really low expectations on the tail of reading something I didn't really like, and Im sure that factored into my love of the series, but regardless of the reason I did love it.
Throughout the series, I've always appreciated the "D&D in space" setting in the Machitech Chronicles" series, while at the same time being surprised that it actually works. This last book also did a great job tying up all loose ends while still leaving the world open for more books to come.
There were a few editing mistakes that broke the reading flow, like real-world references such as "email with video attachement" or a few extra words that the spell checker (no pun intended) probably missed (i.e "have had had").
Overall, I thought Book 7 of the Magitech Chronicles did a great job of bringing together a lot of the elements and plot threads that were teased in the first six books of the series. The characters we've all come to know and love are back for another installment, and the reader gets to see them at the height of their new powers and abilities. If you've been following along with the series up to this point, you won't be disappointed by its finale.
I've given a good review on every book up to this one and this one certainly is the capstone achievement of the series. You have backstory upon backstory delve into deep past like I said in a previous review much like some of HP lovecraft's work things that deserve their own books their own series I can't wait to see what the author comes up with tied to this
Loads of action, plenty of gore. Good adventures and lots of dead people, and things. But, above all else, a great ending leaving you satisfied, and with a warm fuzzy feeling, after all the death and destruction, just like an old time film. Sci - Fi and magic, lots of weird and wonderful Dragon and Demonic gods. What's not to like!
Great series, well rounded finish while leaving plenty of options to lead additional series or companion books. Would be good to join a battle of those in umbral depths and all the new gods. Would be really get to see how these new titans and their disciplines / religions impact combat styles vs new enemies. Good read. Thank you.
This was a true testament to the characters struggles and their evolution from the start. I also liked how the end came, and how it was all tidied up while still allowing for further adventures within this universe. The only bad was having to come to this conclusion and perhaps no longer here from those characters that we came to love.
This was a good ending for this story arch. However, I felt the final battle was a little rushed and slightly anticlimactic. Overall, it was a good book and ended well.
A great ending to this current series. Huge battles on a cosmic level. Peace in the galaxy for now, a fantastic LitRPG series that tells a tale but is not bogged down in game mechanics. Eagerly awaiting what comes next!
Just couldn't finish. I got thru the first six , but just stalled at 15% on this one. Just not the book or maybe not the time for me to read it. Please , if you enjoyed the series so far , go for it.
A satisfying conclusion to a solid series. I think the subject matter was epic enough that this could have involved even more perspectives and painted a slightly more grand story, but it was still highly satisfying.
I enjoyed the series. I think this was a fitting. I'm glad it didn't extend further, or it might have started to get stale. Interesting world and magic system.
This book was fast reading and fast moving in the action. It has everything a faithful sci-fi reader wants and more. There are dragon gods and magic blended with incredible technology. What a spectacular series.
This book provides an extremely satisfying conclusion of the series! I'm delighted that the author will be writing more in this universe and hope that we'll get some walk-on scenes with some of our heroes. I highly recommend this series.