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The Vengeance Trilogy #3
The Grave at Storm's End
As vengeance threatens to destroy an empire, old loves and loyalties resurface in this brilliant finale to Devin Madson's epic fantasy trilogy.
When gods fight, empires fall.
The flames of vengeance engulf Kisia. Katashi Otako has joined with the Vices, determined to let nothing stop him from destroying Emperor Kin Ts'ai-even if it means Kisia has to fall.
As the empire faces its greatest threat, Kin and Hana Otako must marry in secret to secure the support they need. But the ceremony takes seven days and seven days can change the world.
When gods fight, empires fall.
The flames of vengeance engulf Kisia. Katashi Otako has joined with the Vices, determined to let nothing stop him from destroying Emperor Kin Ts'ai-even if it means Kisia has to fall.
As the empire faces its greatest threat, Kin and Hana Otako must marry in secret to secure the support they need. But the ceremony takes seven days and seven days can change the world.
496 pages, Paperback
First published November 17, 2016
15 people are currently reading
402 people want to read
About the author
Devin Madson
14 books559 followersDevin Madson is an Aurealis Award-winning fantasy author from Australia. After some sucky teenage years, she gave up reality and is now a dual-wielding rogue who works through every tiny side-quest and always ends up too over-powered for the final boss. Anything but zen, Devin subsists on tea and chocolate and so much fried zucchini she ought to have turned into one by now. Her fantasy novels come in all shades of grey and are populated with characters of questionable morals and a liking for witty banter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
May 5, 2023
4.5/5 stars
The storm of vengeance ends here and the graves have been filled. The result? An emotional and satisfying conclusion that fits the tone of the series.
Let me first say that the statistics for this book are mind boggling. The book has been out for almost two years and there are only 15 ratings and 5 reviews on Goodreads; that’s ridiculous! Not only is this trilogy better than a lot of grimdark series out there, Madson has done everything right as a self-published author. Amazing cover? Check. Great content? Check. Admirable professionalism? Check. The only thing this trilogy lacks is exposure and words of mouth. I'm not Mark Lawrence; I don't have enough followers or friends on my list to bring as much exposure as he did for Senlin Ascends. I can only do what I do best and that is to provide my honest review/opinion and hopefully, it will help Madson’s work get the exposure it deserves.
Picture: My copies of The Vengeance Trilogy. All personalized and signed! (Thank you, Devin!)
The Grave at Storm’s End marks the conclusion to Devin Madson’s Vengeance Trilogy. The flame of vengeance engulfs Kisia and the battle for the Crimson Throne will be decided once and for all within seven days. Think of this book like Joe Abercrombie’s The Heroes—where the entire book’s storyline revolved around a three day’s war—but instead of a standalone installment, imagine it as the culmination of a series with more background and buildup. I binged read this trilogy within six days, and this fact should go to show just how compelling and engaging Madson’s books were to read.
As a concluding installment, the book managed to close every plot line with no loose ends; the ending was satisfying while leaving room for more spinoffs and new series (The first book in The Reborn Empire is already published) to take place in the same world. Madson truly delivers a fantastic conclusion to a trilogy that's full of emotions. There wasn’t any superfluous content in the book; everything was efficient and conclusive, and the characters’ relationships hold the torch in heating the quality of the book to its max temperature.
On my signed book, that quote was written by Madson and she totally nailed it. None of the characters ended up the same as they were at the beginning of the trilogy. So much development went into every character, not only the three perspectives characters but the side characters, too. The complexity imbued into the characters was awesome. Endymion, Darius, Katashi Otako, and Emperor Kin completely took the spotlight of the trilogy for me with their self-righteousness, overflowing hatred, and their need for vengeance that was insanely addictive to read. Almost all of the characters were out for each other’s throats and I realized that by the end of the trilogy, I really didn’t know who I was actually rooting for; the line between love and hate really blurs for the majority of the characters and because of this, they struggled a lot with their decision making. This created an unpredictable story progression and honestly speaking, some of the characters’ decisions were infuriating. However, when you truly put yourself in their shoes, you’ll also realize the conundrums they faced made their actions understandable.
There were a lot of great scenes within the trilogy but I definitely have to give the top spot to The Errant scene in this book. The chapters surrounding the Errant scene were definitely the height of the trilogy in my opinion. It was intense, evocative, and each word seemed to have an underlying meaning which utterly grabbed my attention.
I don’t know the details of the events that happened to Madson in real life between the publication time gap of the second book and this one; from the acknowledgments, I can only summarize that things hadn’t been easy for her. I do however know that the time gap made her prose even better. Madson’s prose here is of the same quality she demonstrated in her novella. The writing was meticulous, poetic at times, simple, and engaging. The story also felt better structured and the prose felt cleaner to read.
As for the minor issue I had, it was the same as the one I stated in my The Gods of Vice review. The romance surrounding Hana and her tendency to switch lovers (although quite understandable considering her situation) was the only minor issue I had on the trilogy. Luckily, the romance never dominated the story and it didn’t end up ruining my overall experience. Remember, romance in my novel reading is one of my pet peeves as it VERY rarely works for me, so you might want to take this with a grain of salt. It could truly work for you because when it comes to character development, Hana actually received a LOT in this final book.
I've seen Madson's newest book, We Ride the Storm, receiving high praises from a few reviewers I trust and I’ll be diving into it immediately after posting this review. Reading The Grave at Storm's End was a fiery, poignant, and emotional experience, one that I will definitely remember. With an ending comes a new beginning; I’m looking forward to finding out whether Madson will be able to top this book with her newest story.
Series Review:
The Blood of Whisperers: 4/5 stars
The Gods of Vice: 4/5 stars
The Grave at Storm's End: 4.5/5 stars
The Vengeance Trilogy: 12.5/15 stars
You can order the book HERE!
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
The storm of vengeance ends here and the graves have been filled. The result? An emotional and satisfying conclusion that fits the tone of the series.
Let me first say that the statistics for this book are mind boggling. The book has been out for almost two years and there are only 15 ratings and 5 reviews on Goodreads; that’s ridiculous! Not only is this trilogy better than a lot of grimdark series out there, Madson has done everything right as a self-published author. Amazing cover? Check. Great content? Check. Admirable professionalism? Check. The only thing this trilogy lacks is exposure and words of mouth. I'm not Mark Lawrence; I don't have enough followers or friends on my list to bring as much exposure as he did for Senlin Ascends. I can only do what I do best and that is to provide my honest review/opinion and hopefully, it will help Madson’s work get the exposure it deserves.
Picture: My copies of The Vengeance Trilogy. All personalized and signed! (Thank you, Devin!)
The Grave at Storm’s End marks the conclusion to Devin Madson’s Vengeance Trilogy. The flame of vengeance engulfs Kisia and the battle for the Crimson Throne will be decided once and for all within seven days. Think of this book like Joe Abercrombie’s The Heroes—where the entire book’s storyline revolved around a three day’s war—but instead of a standalone installment, imagine it as the culmination of a series with more background and buildup. I binged read this trilogy within six days, and this fact should go to show just how compelling and engaging Madson’s books were to read.
As a concluding installment, the book managed to close every plot line with no loose ends; the ending was satisfying while leaving room for more spinoffs and new series (The first book in The Reborn Empire is already published) to take place in the same world. Madson truly delivers a fantastic conclusion to a trilogy that's full of emotions. There wasn’t any superfluous content in the book; everything was efficient and conclusive, and the characters’ relationships hold the torch in heating the quality of the book to its max temperature.
“One is never the same at the end of a journey as at the beginning.”
On my signed book, that quote was written by Madson and she totally nailed it. None of the characters ended up the same as they were at the beginning of the trilogy. So much development went into every character, not only the three perspectives characters but the side characters, too. The complexity imbued into the characters was awesome. Endymion, Darius, Katashi Otako, and Emperor Kin completely took the spotlight of the trilogy for me with their self-righteousness, overflowing hatred, and their need for vengeance that was insanely addictive to read. Almost all of the characters were out for each other’s throats and I realized that by the end of the trilogy, I really didn’t know who I was actually rooting for; the line between love and hate really blurs for the majority of the characters and because of this, they struggled a lot with their decision making. This created an unpredictable story progression and honestly speaking, some of the characters’ decisions were infuriating. However, when you truly put yourself in their shoes, you’ll also realize the conundrums they faced made their actions understandable.
“Watch and you will see truth. Men wear themselves outside their clothes, no matter how much they think they hide.”
There were a lot of great scenes within the trilogy but I definitely have to give the top spot to The Errant scene in this book. The chapters surrounding the Errant scene were definitely the height of the trilogy in my opinion. It was intense, evocative, and each word seemed to have an underlying meaning which utterly grabbed my attention.
I don’t know the details of the events that happened to Madson in real life between the publication time gap of the second book and this one; from the acknowledgments, I can only summarize that things hadn’t been easy for her. I do however know that the time gap made her prose even better. Madson’s prose here is of the same quality she demonstrated in her novella. The writing was meticulous, poetic at times, simple, and engaging. The story also felt better structured and the prose felt cleaner to read.
As for the minor issue I had, it was the same as the one I stated in my The Gods of Vice review. The romance surrounding Hana and her tendency to switch lovers (although quite understandable considering her situation) was the only minor issue I had on the trilogy. Luckily, the romance never dominated the story and it didn’t end up ruining my overall experience. Remember, romance in my novel reading is one of my pet peeves as it VERY rarely works for me, so you might want to take this with a grain of salt. It could truly work for you because when it comes to character development, Hana actually received a LOT in this final book.
I've seen Madson's newest book, We Ride the Storm, receiving high praises from a few reviewers I trust and I’ll be diving into it immediately after posting this review. Reading The Grave at Storm's End was a fiery, poignant, and emotional experience, one that I will definitely remember. With an ending comes a new beginning; I’m looking forward to finding out whether Madson will be able to top this book with her newest story.
Series Review:
The Blood of Whisperers: 4/5 stars
The Gods of Vice: 4/5 stars
The Grave at Storm's End: 4.5/5 stars
The Vengeance Trilogy: 12.5/15 stars
You can order the book HERE!
You can find this and the rest of my reviews at Novel Notions
August 28, 2018
3.5/5 stars
I had to sit on this one for a while before I decided that I was ready to write a review. Partly because I'm a lazy potato, but mostly because I was bitter about this book's ending.
Rating this was very hard as well, because I enjoyed this less than I did the first book in the trilogy (and I rated that one 4 stars), but I also could not deny how brilliantly everything was wrapped up, so I just had to round up. So you see why I had to sit on this and ponder.
But let's go back to "I'm still bitter" stuff, because I really am. Did I think that my favorite characters would survive the book?? Yes, I did. I was so naive! So childish. To be honest, now that I think about it - I'm surprised that anybody survived!
This definitely wasn't a happy ending book, at least not for me. But there was a little sweet moment that softened the blow (I guess...). See, still bitter. The fact that the characters I absolutely loathed survived didn't help either.
I mentioned this before (in my review for the 1st book) that I absolutely recommend reading the novella In Shadows We Fall before this series - because it brings much dimension to the story and the characters, and I have to mention it again because book 3 wrapped everything in such a way that everything came full circle. It's hard to explain without spoilers so I'm afraid you will just have to see for yourself.
Reasons why I didn't enjoy this as much as the other two books (I adored book#2!) were mostly related to characters - I loathed Hana. And Malice. Equally, I'm pretty sure. It's quite comical because in book two I was so busy hating Katashi that I didn't realize that Hana was so much worse.
I also didn't care for sexual content in this book. I liked the placing of it in book 2 because it brought a lot to the story, but here it was more like "been there done that..." and it just didn't add anything to my experience, maybe except the ick factor. Also, all of this brother/cousin loving didn't sit well with me. I know, I know - different times, pure blood and all that, but I still think that it's absolutely gross.
I'm not even sure that I need to mention it, but the writing is absolutely superb, all throughout the trilogy. It's just so addictive and easy going (despite the very dark content) that I couldn't help but swallow these books up. I would have read them much faster to be honest, but reading e-books hurts my eyeballs, so that kinda slowed me down. I feel like that was important to mention because I was in a middle of book 2 when I just had to take a day break to let my eyes rest and I couldn't stop thinking about the book that whole day! That's how good this series is!
I can't wait to read We Ride the Storm - the only book by Madson I haven't read yet. I discovered her few weeks ago and already read 4 of her books- oops.
My WEBSITE
My INSTAGRAM
My WORDPRESS BLOG
I had to sit on this one for a while before I decided that I was ready to write a review. Partly because I'm a lazy potato, but mostly because I was bitter about this book's ending.
Rating this was very hard as well, because I enjoyed this less than I did the first book in the trilogy (and I rated that one 4 stars), but I also could not deny how brilliantly everything was wrapped up, so I just had to round up. So you see why I had to sit on this and ponder.
But let's go back to "I'm still bitter" stuff, because I really am. Did I think that my favorite characters would survive the book?? Yes, I did. I was so naive! So childish. To be honest, now that I think about it - I'm surprised that anybody survived!
This definitely wasn't a happy ending book, at least not for me. But there was a little sweet moment that softened the blow (I guess...). See, still bitter. The fact that the characters I absolutely loathed survived didn't help either.
I mentioned this before (in my review for the 1st book) that I absolutely recommend reading the novella In Shadows We Fall before this series - because it brings much dimension to the story and the characters, and I have to mention it again because book 3 wrapped everything in such a way that everything came full circle. It's hard to explain without spoilers so I'm afraid you will just have to see for yourself.
Reasons why I didn't enjoy this as much as the other two books (I adored book#2!) were mostly related to characters - I loathed Hana. And Malice. Equally, I'm pretty sure. It's quite comical because in book two I was so busy hating Katashi that I didn't realize that Hana was so much worse.
I also didn't care for sexual content in this book. I liked the placing of it in book 2 because it brought a lot to the story, but here it was more like "been there done that..." and it just didn't add anything to my experience, maybe except the ick factor. Also, all of this brother/cousin loving didn't sit well with me. I know, I know - different times, pure blood and all that, but I still think that it's absolutely gross.
I'm not even sure that I need to mention it, but the writing is absolutely superb, all throughout the trilogy. It's just so addictive and easy going (despite the very dark content) that I couldn't help but swallow these books up. I would have read them much faster to be honest, but reading e-books hurts my eyeballs, so that kinda slowed me down. I feel like that was important to mention because I was in a middle of book 2 when I just had to take a day break to let my eyes rest and I couldn't stop thinking about the book that whole day! That's how good this series is!
I can't wait to read We Ride the Storm - the only book by Madson I haven't read yet. I discovered her few weeks ago and already read 4 of her books- oops.
My WEBSITE
My INSTAGRAM
My WORDPRESS BLOG
November 12, 2025
🖤
I want you to know, i started this series intending to love the heck out of it.
BUT,
THE VENGEANCE TRILOGY FAILS TO LIVE UP TO THE HYPE.
I am a firm believer in the fact that fantasy books like this don't have lot of word count to dilly dally. This isn't Malazan, LoTR, Stormlight Archive, Wheel of Time or Chronicles of The Black Company where you have the luxury of creating not only truly epic worlds from scratch but also the truly beautiful luxury of not coming right out and saying where the plot is going.
More often than not with these epic fantasies, there's all these strings that come together in the end. My point is, because of the scope of those books, writers that fall in there have the luxury of a truck load of word count and time in putting everything together. This book and the series as a whole did not have that luxury.
I would have appreciated if right from Book 1 Madson had got all her ducks in a row.
Are you going for political intrigue? Are you exploring empaths?
What exactly are you trying to get across?
Right from book 1, this book is plagued with so many contrived plots that i personally felt makes the series struggle to put the story down in a seamless fashion.
Some of the major problems with this series was the under utilisation of major characters. I'm talking of Kin and especially Endyomin. When you start this series, you're led to believe that Endyomin has such a significant role to play that without him, the whole plot would spontaneously combust. As you read, you realise that honestly, this series could be carried without him.
As for Kin, at the beginning he comes in as a sort of supporting character you don't exactly need to worry about, gradually his character is given a voice and starts to play an active role in shaping the plot -at least, that's what the plot tries to convince you is happening- but then you begin to see how wasted Kin's character is & who is ultimately just there to push Hana as a shinning beacon emerging from the shrouds of all 'wrongs' done to her.
I wish Kin was a more complicated character. I felt like someone who had risen to that pinnacle would be more shrewd, more calculating. I mean holding the empire wasn't beans. How did he come undone just like that?
Also Katashi. Now that was another damn good character and i hate the way he was wasted.
🖤🖤
I keep talking about how authors need to come correct with the female characters and honestly see this Hana character, throw her away. Like throw the whole character away. Madson doesn't give Hana's character a whole lot of tools to work with, and simply want's you to root for her for no other reason than she's a woman while consistently -i can't stress this enough- showing her as someone who was not smart and so gaddamn fickle with her emotions...
Also, you see this thing authors' do where they trash a love interest just so readers can be okay with the female characters' skipping to another love interest without consequences? They need to dead that rubbish. Because it's so unfair and i absolutely hate the way, authors' make it easy for the female character to do a 180 like that WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES!!!
Honestly this shouldn't have been a book where you could clearly rope peoples' actions into black and white boxes without going "damn!! i kinda see where this dude is coming from".
I wish the author had put more effort into fleshing out her characters and why were women just referred to as whores willy nilly like that? so puzzling.
I wish the back bone of this book was rooted in political intrigue and not the the empathy thing because i felt it made the whole plot even more disjointed than it should have been.
It really didn't do this series any favours.
Best part of this book was the Errant game. Really thought it was going to pick up from there but i thought wrong.
All in all, a really disappointing read. ⭐⭐ but that Errant game scene was cool as fuck so points for that.
July 25, 2018
Well, that was an amazing conclusion. All plot points were tied up in a nice, bloody bow.
Well done.
Well done.
June 11, 2017
short review for the series here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
October 16, 2022
Where do I begin with this hot mess? Firstly, I need to say that I'm shocked at the high rating for this book and the series overall. I usually don't give books 1 star ratings because even though I don't like what I read, I always think the author had some good intentions or ideas behind it. This book is a hot garbage mess and I'm gonna tell you why.
This is one spoiler filled rant, buckle up peeps
#1 Characters
So our main characters are Endymion, who is a prince in exile called Takehiko and has some creepy Empath/mindreading abilities, Hana, his sister in exile and the most annoying person in this series, and the best character in this series, Darius, who seems to be (at the beginning) a politics dude on the enemy side. My problem is that Endymion and Hana are poorly fleshed out.
In book 1 we have our three povs but Endymion seems to be the mc and I expected him to build up something to get his throne back. Or be more involved in the story. I read the prequel (and loved it, I still think the prequel is superb) but it promises something entirelly different than we got.
If Endymion would've been written out of this story, there would have been absolutely no difference for the plot overall. In all the politics and game of thrones-mess, he is barely involved. And in the end of this book he just got super craycray because his ever evolving ability makes him go mad.
Let's get to Hana because in book 1, she got portrayed as the soldier-girl-in-disguise-trope and I had high hopes for it but the more she got involved with the politics and war, the more she made stupid decisions and more love quarrel appeared. She was at a heavily men dominated court at disadvantage and instead of being cunning and intelligent, she got whiny and said "i'M nOt WeAk, I'm a OtAkO, jUsT bEcAuSe I'm a gIrL" etc etc
Gone was the girl in disguise trope, now she is an empress with the mental range of a 13year old. She made a lot of stupid mistakes, I don't even want to list them all.
Darius was my shining star in the night, my ocean in the desert and the best fleshed out character in this whole series. He is an intelligent politic dude, a smart strategic guy and doesn't take from anyone bullshit. Ruthless and smart and trying to be on the better side. But even his arc got his downfall in the end. I absolutely despised how his story arc ended because there was a super quick, dirty and sloppy solution to his story arc. No problems of his were solved. Madson got my man dirty.
#2 Story/Plot
It's basically Game of Thrones in an asian country. (I have no clue which country this is inspired on because there are japanese names (aka Takehiko), chinese names (Jian) and western names (Darius) mixed together so??) In this book, the war and politic spiels get in the last round. A few good parts were made (f.ex to ensure an enemys general loyalty to you) but overall, it was hella boring. There are a lot of war scenes but the unnecessary love scenes and inner monologues got in the way. For example Endymions pov was super distracting because he went completely nuts and kills random people and deems himself a god. His randomly counting numbers was annoying af and I skimmed over them.
So, my short overview is, the plot could've been interesting if we would've deep dived into the plot and forget the romance and the disturbing incest (more in #4), this would've been an enjoying read.
#3 Writing Style
I'm not sure if this is Madsons first series. If yes, it shows because there was a lot lacking. For example descriptions; I could never visualise the persons or the surroundings. And what I've missed and I heavily criticize is the lack of culture and reference to asian history because it could've been easily a western fantasy story if we just switched the names.
#4 Disturbing Romance (aka Incest on every way)
Let's adress the elephant in this room. This is the reason why my rating is so low. I could have given 2 maybe 2,5 stars but what is depicted as normal in this book is absolutely insane and I don't understand how this book got such a high rating.
Let's start with example 1: Hana and her cousin Katashi. In book 2 they fell into a romantic relationship and I pressed my lips together in distaste and thought: they are cousins, that's not okay, i feel weirded out but it's still okay in todays standards so... I'm not a fan but I can ignore it. (Spoiler: I couldn't ignore it because this relationship was the main topic of this book it seems like and she got pregnant with his baby)
Example 2: Darius has a super crazy brother named Malice. He is the depiction of crazyness, mentally speaking. He is super obsessed with Darius, wants to be at his side, wants to own him, to have him. He will destroy anything and anyone to get to his brother. Yep, he's that kind of a guy. And my peeps, I didn't get it in book 1 and 2. I was dumb but I thought this is a super weird brotherly relationship. I already stated in my review in book 2 that Malice seemed kinda? in love? with his brother?I think I didn't want to acknowledge it lol But I got sucker punched in the face when Malice almost tries to rape Darius. (Luckily he didn't succeed)
Example 3: Buckle up guys, here comes Endymion. As you may remember, he has this ability to get into peoples heads. So there is this occasion where his sister Hana has sex with an unimportant character (not her cousin), and he is nearby so his ability catches up and he gets in the head of this guy and ... he basically has head sex with his sister?? And that's not the disturbing part! The disturbing part is, he flees into a room full of prisoners and jerks off in front of them, thinking about having sex with his sister!!
At this point of the book I felt I was going crazy. For me it's very disturbing seeing all the incest events normalized. I could've accepted the cousin thing but..... no.....
#5 More questionable things
We have only two female main characters in this book. Hana and Katashis sister Kimiko. That's it. And both of them get pregnant at the same time. This also sat wrong with me because these two female characters were both used to establish a new set of generation so this saga could continue further. (I hope not...) Also Madson is a white lady writing about an asian fantasy story. Which is not bad per se because I'm all for giving every author a chance to see how well they do. But in this case I could kinda see that she is writing from the white, romanticised gaze....And I don't know why she does have this incest fetish..
So that's the end of my saga. I'm done. I only read this series to read Madsons other series but after this disaster I won't touch anything ever again she will write in the future. I'm just disturbed.
This is one spoiler filled rant, buckle up peeps
#1 Characters
So our main characters are Endymion, who is a prince in exile called Takehiko and has some creepy Empath/mindreading abilities, Hana, his sister in exile and the most annoying person in this series, and the best character in this series, Darius, who seems to be (at the beginning) a politics dude on the enemy side. My problem is that Endymion and Hana are poorly fleshed out.
In book 1 we have our three povs but Endymion seems to be the mc and I expected him to build up something to get his throne back. Or be more involved in the story. I read the prequel (and loved it, I still think the prequel is superb) but it promises something entirelly different than we got.
If Endymion would've been written out of this story, there would have been absolutely no difference for the plot overall. In all the politics and game of thrones-mess, he is barely involved. And in the end of this book he just got super craycray because his ever evolving ability makes him go mad.
Let's get to Hana because in book 1, she got portrayed as the soldier-girl-in-disguise-trope and I had high hopes for it but the more she got involved with the politics and war, the more she made stupid decisions and more love quarrel appeared. She was at a heavily men dominated court at disadvantage and instead of being cunning and intelligent, she got whiny and said "i'M nOt WeAk, I'm a OtAkO, jUsT bEcAuSe I'm a gIrL" etc etc
Gone was the girl in disguise trope, now she is an empress with the mental range of a 13year old. She made a lot of stupid mistakes, I don't even want to list them all.
Darius was my shining star in the night, my ocean in the desert and the best fleshed out character in this whole series. He is an intelligent politic dude, a smart strategic guy and doesn't take from anyone bullshit. Ruthless and smart and trying to be on the better side. But even his arc got his downfall in the end. I absolutely despised how his story arc ended because there was a super quick, dirty and sloppy solution to his story arc. No problems of his were solved. Madson got my man dirty.
#2 Story/Plot
It's basically Game of Thrones in an asian country. (I have no clue which country this is inspired on because there are japanese names (aka Takehiko), chinese names (Jian) and western names (Darius) mixed together so??) In this book, the war and politic spiels get in the last round. A few good parts were made (f.ex to ensure an enemys general loyalty to you) but overall, it was hella boring. There are a lot of war scenes but the unnecessary love scenes and inner monologues got in the way. For example Endymions pov was super distracting because he went completely nuts and kills random people and deems himself a god. His randomly counting numbers was annoying af and I skimmed over them.
So, my short overview is, the plot could've been interesting if we would've deep dived into the plot and forget the romance and the disturbing incest (more in #4), this would've been an enjoying read.
#3 Writing Style
I'm not sure if this is Madsons first series. If yes, it shows because there was a lot lacking. For example descriptions; I could never visualise the persons or the surroundings. And what I've missed and I heavily criticize is the lack of culture and reference to asian history because it could've been easily a western fantasy story if we just switched the names.
#4 Disturbing Romance (aka Incest on every way)
Let's adress the elephant in this room. This is the reason why my rating is so low. I could have given 2 maybe 2,5 stars but what is depicted as normal in this book is absolutely insane and I don't understand how this book got such a high rating.
Let's start with example 1: Hana and her cousin Katashi. In book 2 they fell into a romantic relationship and I pressed my lips together in distaste and thought: they are cousins, that's not okay, i feel weirded out but it's still okay in todays standards so... I'm not a fan but I can ignore it. (Spoiler: I couldn't ignore it because this relationship was the main topic of this book it seems like and she got pregnant with his baby)
Example 2: Darius has a super crazy brother named Malice. He is the depiction of crazyness, mentally speaking. He is super obsessed with Darius, wants to be at his side, wants to own him, to have him. He will destroy anything and anyone to get to his brother. Yep, he's that kind of a guy. And my peeps, I didn't get it in book 1 and 2. I was dumb but I thought this is a super weird brotherly relationship. I already stated in my review in book 2 that Malice seemed kinda? in love? with his brother?
Example 3: Buckle up guys, here comes Endymion. As you may remember, he has this ability to get into peoples heads. So there is this occasion where his sister Hana has sex with an unimportant character (not her cousin), and he is nearby so his ability catches up and he gets in the head of this guy and ... he basically has head sex with his sister?? And that's not the disturbing part! The disturbing part is, he flees into a room full of prisoners and jerks off in front of them, thinking about having sex with his sister!!
At this point of the book I felt I was going crazy. For me it's very disturbing seeing all the incest events normalized. I could've accepted the cousin thing but..... no.....
#5 More questionable things
We have only two female main characters in this book. Hana and Katashis sister Kimiko. That's it. And both of them get pregnant at the same time. This also sat wrong with me because these two female characters were both used to establish a new set of generation so this saga could continue further. (I hope not...) Also Madson is a white lady writing about an asian fantasy story. Which is not bad per se because I'm all for giving every author a chance to see how well they do. But in this case I could kinda see that she is writing from the white, romanticised gaze.
So that's the end of my saga. I'm done. I only read this series to read Madsons other series but after this disaster I won't touch anything ever again she will write in the future. I'm just disturbed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2021
The Grave at Storm’s End essentially picks up right after it’s predecessor, much like before. Marriage, betrayal, vengeance, and much death. My greatest hope when it comes to the conclusion of a series, is that there will be a satisfying ending that makes all the time spent reading and immersing myself into the world worthwhile. To that end, err… of the storm… the ending partially landed. There wasn’t a lot of ways The Vengeance Trilogy was going to finish with all the foreshadowing of impending doom and multiple mentions of characters that were ‘dying’. That all worked out as expected. It was just a matter of which of the other characters would survive and who would command the Crimson Throne. I can say I had this one figured out from midway of The Gods of Vice. Still, I had no clue how it would all shake down.
First the bad stuff, I still felt very annoyed with the numerous sexual scenes. They bogged down the story and only served to make characters like Hana all the more difficult to read. I’m sure people probably like reading that type of smut, but it’s distracting and unnecessary as far as I’m concerned. I can do without all of it, heterosexual or otherwise. Also, it disturbed me how much incest goes on in this world and everyone seems cool with it. Just useless stuff and I skipped over it all. Yes, of course that’s something I can do if I don’t like it, and I did, but I don’t want to have to do that in a story I’m supposed to be enjoying and care about.
As for Hana, oh Hana, how annoying art though? For being the only main female character, she is a surprisingly weak one. I suppose the reader is supposed to believe that, since she’s young, it would only make sense for her life to revolve around men and giving herself to any of them in power. Her every thought revolves around Katashi (who is her first cousin, by the way) and others that remind her of him when she can’t have him. Every horrible decision she makes is because of the men around her. Maybe the cynicism around men is intentional, but it just makes Hana come across as weak, failing to be her own person. I just didn’t enjoy her constant whining and her every thought being bent on others.
I feel like Devin Madson did a fantastic job of illustrating how maddening and crazy it would be to have a thousand voices in your head like Endymion had. I thought I was going crazy reading the jumbled mess of numbers, thoughts, and memories in his POV chapters. Even then, there were moments of clarity that helped you feel for his mind and emotional state. His whole arc was interesting and quite tragic. I can say I was satisfied with how it ended.
Darius was really the most enjoyable POV character. Even when he is ‘broken’ and plotting to destroy everything, there’s a real depth to his humanity. I enjoyed his backstory the most and could empathize with his desire to be more than the monster everyone says he is. He’s heard it so much he came to believe it and it took a deeper love to help break him free of that lie. To me, his story is probably the most tragic. I didn’t fully care for the very end and saw it coming, but I enjoyed his arc overall.
As for that end, it kind of fizzled out, literally. I was hoping for more of a large confrontation but the events leading up to the climax left everyone battered and neutered, so to speak. Perhaps I'm spoiled by authors who write fantastic endings like Brandon Sanderson, John Gwynne, and Robert Jordan, but I want a climax that makes your heart race and keeps you turning every page. That wasn't the case and as a finale to a series, I was disappointed. All of the twists were uninteresting and it seemed like the pacing slowed at the end.
Despite my grievances, I will be continuing with the follow-up trilogy, The Reborn Empire. Madson did create an intriguing world and there is much of her stories are immersive and enjoyable. I'm hoping for better characters with less... distractions... and I want to know more about the world as a whole. From what I hear, there are a lot of Easter Eggs in The Reborn Empire and that's why I started with The Vengeance Trilogy in the first place. Given that this is Devin Madson's first work published independently, it's a fine starter point that I hope makes the next series all the more rewarding. Once I finish that series, I'll better know how much I recommend reading The Vengeance Trilogy.
The Vengeance Trilogy
The Blood of Whisperers - 7.5/10
The Gods of Vice - 6.5/10
The Grave at Storm's End - 7/10
First the bad stuff, I still felt very annoyed with the numerous sexual scenes. They bogged down the story and only served to make characters like Hana all the more difficult to read. I’m sure people probably like reading that type of smut, but it’s distracting and unnecessary as far as I’m concerned. I can do without all of it, heterosexual or otherwise. Also, it disturbed me how much incest goes on in this world and everyone seems cool with it. Just useless stuff and I skipped over it all. Yes, of course that’s something I can do if I don’t like it, and I did, but I don’t want to have to do that in a story I’m supposed to be enjoying and care about.
As for Hana, oh Hana, how annoying art though? For being the only main female character, she is a surprisingly weak one. I suppose the reader is supposed to believe that, since she’s young, it would only make sense for her life to revolve around men and giving herself to any of them in power. Her every thought revolves around Katashi (who is her first cousin, by the way) and others that remind her of him when she can’t have him. Every horrible decision she makes is because of the men around her. Maybe the cynicism around men is intentional, but it just makes Hana come across as weak, failing to be her own person. I just didn’t enjoy her constant whining and her every thought being bent on others.
I feel like Devin Madson did a fantastic job of illustrating how maddening and crazy it would be to have a thousand voices in your head like Endymion had. I thought I was going crazy reading the jumbled mess of numbers, thoughts, and memories in his POV chapters. Even then, there were moments of clarity that helped you feel for his mind and emotional state. His whole arc was interesting and quite tragic. I can say I was satisfied with how it ended.
Darius was really the most enjoyable POV character. Even when he is ‘broken’ and plotting to destroy everything, there’s a real depth to his humanity. I enjoyed his backstory the most and could empathize with his desire to be more than the monster everyone says he is. He’s heard it so much he came to believe it and it took a deeper love to help break him free of that lie. To me, his story is probably the most tragic. I didn’t fully care for the very end and saw it coming, but I enjoyed his arc overall.
As for that end, it kind of fizzled out, literally. I was hoping for more of a large confrontation but the events leading up to the climax left everyone battered and neutered, so to speak. Perhaps I'm spoiled by authors who write fantastic endings like Brandon Sanderson, John Gwynne, and Robert Jordan, but I want a climax that makes your heart race and keeps you turning every page. That wasn't the case and as a finale to a series, I was disappointed. All of the twists were uninteresting and it seemed like the pacing slowed at the end.
Despite my grievances, I will be continuing with the follow-up trilogy, The Reborn Empire. Madson did create an intriguing world and there is much of her stories are immersive and enjoyable. I'm hoping for better characters with less... distractions... and I want to know more about the world as a whole. From what I hear, there are a lot of Easter Eggs in The Reborn Empire and that's why I started with The Vengeance Trilogy in the first place. Given that this is Devin Madson's first work published independently, it's a fine starter point that I hope makes the next series all the more rewarding. Once I finish that series, I'll better know how much I recommend reading The Vengeance Trilogy.
The Vengeance Trilogy
The Blood of Whisperers - 7.5/10
The Gods of Vice - 6.5/10
The Grave at Storm's End - 7/10
September 24, 2019
A thrilling trilogy complete with breakneck action, written at a blistering speed and pace. While I believe book three floundered a bit in its conclusion of this epic tale, I do not want to diminish the impact of a forceful, creative, thought provoking trilogy. Madson Devin proves to be a talented, thoughtful, dynamic voice in this genre, with this being the first trilogy, of many, I can only hope, that is written. Thank you Madson Devin for your perseverance, drive and determination in getting this work published. I am a fan, who is looking forward to reading more of your work, Thank you.
August 20, 2023
The Vengeance Trilogy was a binge-worthy read that was engaging and had a satisfying conclusion. There were quite a few great characters in here, and some of their relationships were so complicated that I found it compelling. However, the female protagonist infuriated me to no end, and was the biggest negative for me, especially since she had a lot of chapters in her PoV in this final book. Nonetheless, the overall story was excellent and I'm looking forward to reading The Reborn Empire next, Madson's latest series set in the same world which takes place over 10 years after the events of this finale.
November 9, 2024
3.5/5
I was happy with the ending of this series, although I have some issues and some endings felt a bit rushed but also not quite right, but all in all it was fine.
I am still also confused because there is a sequel series, which I accidentally read first and there are things that seem a bit weird after reading how and why people acted in this novel.
I was happy with the ending of this series, although I have some issues and some endings felt a bit rushed but also not quite right, but all in all it was fine.
I am still also confused because there is a sequel series, which I accidentally read first and there are things that seem a bit weird after reading how and why people acted in this novel.
i-need-dis
October 7, 2016The final book is here!
I cannot wait to read this bad boy!
I cannot wait to read this bad boy!
October 24, 2017
Brilliant, heartbreaking, and enthralling. If you like genre fiction this series is a MUST read. Get in.
June 2, 2025
3.5 Stars
I enjoyed this series overall, and will definitely be continuing on to the follow up series, but this was my least favorite book of the trilogy. I really just did not like or care about nearly every character by the end, so none of the emotional stakes hit for me.
I really like the world, and the unique magical elements to it, as that separates it from following familiar stories. I just hope to enjoy the characters a bit more in the next one, as this third book kind of ruined the positive experience I was having with them previously.
Overall, I recommend this series and author to people looking for a strongly written fantasy from a female author. I will absolutely be reading more books by her going forward.
I enjoyed this series overall, and will definitely be continuing on to the follow up series, but this was my least favorite book of the trilogy. I really just did not like or care about nearly every character by the end, so none of the emotional stakes hit for me.
I really like the world, and the unique magical elements to it, as that separates it from following familiar stories. I just hope to enjoy the characters a bit more in the next one, as this third book kind of ruined the positive experience I was having with them previously.
Overall, I recommend this series and author to people looking for a strongly written fantasy from a female author. I will absolutely be reading more books by her going forward.
August 1, 2024
Frustrating and disappointing 2/5. I liked the first book, loved the second book…but this finale fell flat on a lot of different levels. None of the characters went in any satisfying directions for me and the constant shift in tone from the characters didn’t really make sense. I feel like Hana changed from a complex, savvy character to just being dumb and desperate, making choices that didn’t really fit her development. However, nothing was more disappointing than Endymion’s story. Went from a character I was deeply invested in to one I could not stand by the end of the book. I was looking forward to a grand conclusion to this story but just felt blah by the end of it.
March 19, 2021
All the stars for this one!
And for the trilogy as a whole!
Honestly, for me the trilogy grew stronger with every instalment und this last one, contained within only seven days, just waoh. Absolutely remarkable.
The character work is amazing and while there are twists and turns the characters are so well drawn and visualised in their arc (and what arcs they are!) that all decisions and reactions feel true to them.
Until further notice Madson’s books will remain on my immediate-buy/preorder list!
Thank you for writing.
And for the trilogy as a whole!
Honestly, for me the trilogy grew stronger with every instalment und this last one, contained within only seven days, just waoh. Absolutely remarkable.
The character work is amazing and while there are twists and turns the characters are so well drawn and visualised in their arc (and what arcs they are!) that all decisions and reactions feel true to them.
Until further notice Madson’s books will remain on my immediate-buy/preorder list!
Thank you for writing.
August 7, 2019
A satisfying and powerful conclusion to The Vengeance Trilogy - highly recommend this series!
March 21, 2021
This was such a satisfying ending!
April 30, 2022
5 stars.
This was a beautiful and powerful end to this amazing trilogy. Fantasy fans not reading Devin Madson books are doing themselves a disservice
This was a beautiful and powerful end to this amazing trilogy. Fantasy fans not reading Devin Madson books are doing themselves a disservice
May 16, 2024
Amazing finish of the series. Loved it, the characters, the world, the story... Loved it
July 1, 2018
I wish I knew how to properly rate this book. My five stars is without question, but I was left in sloppy tears when and where I never expected to be when I started this journey. Ms. Madson, cheers to you. It is my sincerest pleasure to anoint you as another "must read" author upon my ever growing list.
March 23, 2017
A thoroughly satisfying conclusion to a wonderful trilogy. Pacy, fraught with shifting alliances and dangerous meetings, action-packed...
It's rare for me to enjoy a trilogy all the way through but this one captured and kept my attention all the way.
It's rare for me to enjoy a trilogy all the way through but this one captured and kept my attention all the way.
July 30, 2020
Once again, Madson is an underrated author and this series.
I read We Ride the Storm before diving into this trilogy which spoils me to what would I expect of the outcome of this trilogy.
Madson wittingly crafted every character and weaved them into a manipulative and grim end. I loved every character. Kin, Darius, Endymion, Kimiko, and especially Hana makes this whole story fantastic and a page-turner.
Though Hana's story is quite problematic because of her being a volatile lover, I get it to the end the all she protects is the Crimson Throne and the legacy of the Otako.
The magic system was fascinating. Not like some fantasy stories that will laid out its magic at the beginning of the story, Vengeance trilogy's magic is dark and haunting.
What makes this story worth reading is its manipulative pull of political machinations.
A warning, the story also shows tidbits of provocative and sexual scenes.
Definitely a must-read!
I read We Ride the Storm before diving into this trilogy which spoils me to what would I expect of the outcome of this trilogy.
Madson wittingly crafted every character and weaved them into a manipulative and grim end. I loved every character. Kin, Darius, Endymion, Kimiko, and especially Hana makes this whole story fantastic and a page-turner.
Though Hana's story is quite problematic because of her being a volatile lover, I get it to the end the all she protects is the Crimson Throne and the legacy of the Otako.
The magic system was fascinating. Not like some fantasy stories that will laid out its magic at the beginning of the story, Vengeance trilogy's magic is dark and haunting.
What makes this story worth reading is its manipulative pull of political machinations.
A warning, the story also shows tidbits of provocative and sexual scenes.
Definitely a must-read!
September 7, 2021
This is a complicated book to review. It was a very good and somewhat satisfying ending to the series. A However, it definitely felt like it needed refinement. There were a number of things I felt were left unclear. I also felt some of the core relationships were forced and the characters didn't take have the chemistry the text told us they had. I had felt this In the previous book, I just assumed it would be sorted by the end of this one. There was a lot of potential in this book, and I can imagine with a few tweaks this series could have been one of my favourite. I don't mean this disparagingly, but I think you can tell this was originally a said published work. I have got the first three books of Madison's follow up (but as I'm aware unrelated) series, and I'll be very interested to see her development as an author.
November 23, 2019
Too much, too ambitious, Hana is awful
This book was rough I had a hard time getting through it to be honest. Hana became one of the least likable characters I've ever had the displeasure of reading constantly only seeing things her way, being a massive hypocrite and blaming everything on being a woman. Darius Kin and Kimiko some of the most interesting characters are completely relegated and often don't make sense based on their past actions. Endymions sections do a good job of showing him going insane at the cost of my own sanity trying to read them. And everything with malice is just a complete and utter mess.
This book was rough I had a hard time getting through it to be honest. Hana became one of the least likable characters I've ever had the displeasure of reading constantly only seeing things her way, being a massive hypocrite and blaming everything on being a woman. Darius Kin and Kimiko some of the most interesting characters are completely relegated and often don't make sense based on their past actions. Endymions sections do a good job of showing him going insane at the cost of my own sanity trying to read them. And everything with malice is just a complete and utter mess.
March 22, 2020
3.5 stars rounded up to 4. This book is the final installment in the Vengeance trilogy. About 70% of the book is gripping, but some parts were dragging. Some moments in the book are predictable and didn't deliver the emotional shock it was supposed to. Of the three major characters and their storylines, Hana became an annoying character, Endymion became a frustrating character, only Darius and Kimiko remain interesting characters. Overall this book is ok and I like the previous two books better.
May 20, 2019
Not light and fluffy
The writing is very good. It's a long running battle. A dramatic tragedy that by book 3 felt like a car crash in slow motion. The characters are well fleshed out. I had to see it to the end so I could see where the bodies would fall. I didn't have fun but the writing was good. I might try riding this ride again in a couple of years.
The writing is very good. It's a long running battle. A dramatic tragedy that by book 3 felt like a car crash in slow motion. The characters are well fleshed out. I had to see it to the end so I could see where the bodies would fall. I didn't have fun but the writing was good. I might try riding this ride again in a couple of years.
October 25, 2022
Do 4 stelle perché alcune cose non mi sono piaciute e potevano essere evitate perché non necessarie, tuttavia mi sono talmente affezionata ai personaggi che alla fine piangevo come una fontana, nonostante la brevità della trilogia.
Personaggi complessi, grigi, stratificati, umani. Li amo e li odio.
Katashi, Hana e Darius superlativi, mentre Endymion a tratti mi ha annoiata.
Personaggi complessi, grigi, stratificati, umani. Li amo e li odio.
Katashi, Hana e Darius superlativi, mentre Endymion a tratti mi ha annoiata.
August 11, 2024
A decent conclusion to the Vengeance trilogy. The Grave at Storm's End didn't really improve on any of the good and the bad. Endymion and Darius remain the two most tolerable protagonists. While Hana remains to be the most insufferable. The politics and the action were amped up to eleven, so that was a plus. The relationships still sucked. If you can get past the incest and the lackluster characters, then this series is fine.
August 16, 2021
good wrap-up to this trilogy. still not as vital as later books. but also satisfying in its...historical components. i do think the reborn empire books are a better place to start, but definitely circle back around to these, to fill in the gaps.
August 25, 2018
This was another great read as expected. The story took turns I definitely wasn't anticipating and I enjoyed it the whole way through.
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