Gambit's End

The Wizard King Trilogy #3

by Chad Corrie, Ed Waysek III (Illustrator)

The first battle has been fought, but the war has just begun. As Cadrith savors his success, the mercenaries deal with the aftermath of their last confrontation. The thread that’s bound them to this point is hard to break and is pulling them into yet another conflict where even the gods are bracing their gates. The battle lines have been drawn. The pieces are in place. The conflict to come will be waged on many fronts and through many faces, but victory is far from assured. Welcome to Tralodren, a world rich in history, faith, and tales of adventure—of which this story is but one of many.

Genres: Fantasy

493 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2007

About the author

An award-winning novelist and graphic novelist writing in the fantasy, YA, sci-fi, and science fantasy genres, Chad Corrie makes his home in Minnesota.

FINDING CHAD ONLINE
The best place to start is his website. After that you can find him on X, Facebook,,, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. He also has a blog and newsletter.

Finally, if you'd like to learn more about Tralodren, the fantasy world setting where some of his books take place, you can click here.

Reviews

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure what I think of this series in this conclusion to the trilogy.

The world-building is interesting and Corrie has developed an interesting pantheon of divinities to support his world and engage as this book tears forward to a conflict that literally leaves the earth for something more cosmic, which makes sense as the Wizard King from the jump has been angling not just for a return to temporal power but for something even bigger.

But I don't love how the intrusion of the gods has sidelined the main characters to being helpers and observers for this story for so much of the book. It's almost like there's a bait and switch in whom this book is about, and the resolution to some of the character arcs feels unsatisfying for several characters. The gods are sort of interesting, but rarely seem particularly divine, and having them try to manipulate their way into a victory seems a little beneath them. Beyond that, they don't seem to have any real understanding of the bigger conflict underpinning this whole story...or care?

There's stuff I like here, but I'm not sure it hangs together. Corrie's gone for a big cosmic ending, and I'm increasingly feeling like he reached too high and would have been better keeping this story planted on the earth, with his pantheon a step removed.

[Kristie Wagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was the most fun out of the series! I loved seeing all of the paths converge again and take on completely different ways to get there. Our friends are reunited in both life and death, and we learn so much more about each of the members of the original party.

Redemption, revenge, and reward are motivating factors for many of the travelers. Some have passed into the next realm to continue the fight against Cadrith, and even the gods have come out to play.

This was fast paced, full of magic and battle, and was such a great wrap to the series.

[Felix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lich magic and great sword fights.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this trilogy. It’s broad and complex range of characters amidst the vast and flourishing world were expertly developed in an unexpected but satisfying manner.

[Maddie Rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book and honestly the whole trilogy was just objectively bad. like don’t read it. don’t make my mistakes. save urself.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry, but this book was just not all that good. The first two were not too bad, but this book was long and hard to concentrate on most of the time. This is the third book in the Divine Gambit Trilogy. Now the ending to this book was not bad though for me this series should have been two books not three. This book at points gets into details that for me as a reader I do not think are prudent for the overall story, features such as the armor and appearance of characters and their clothing and accessories. I find that tedious and takes away from the book. The other thing that drove me crazy was this story was slow paced until the ending. Though the ending was good, the excessive detail giving took away from it and the ending should have been the second book. The other thing that took away from the book was the slew of typo's that plagued the book. The typo's this is not the author's fault though it makes it hard to read the book and focus on the story when sentences are wrong, and one must reread the sentence to understand what is being said. I was not particularly fond of this book and has lowered my overall rating of the series as a whole. The series should have been two books maximum.