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The Veil #3
The Lost Ones: Book 3 of The Veil
Bestselling author Christopher Golden’s epic, innovative trilogy, the Veil, comes to an astonishing conclusion as the mythic realm of heroes and monsters becomes the site of humanity’s last—and greatest—showdown.
Even legends have legends and on the other side of the Veil, where humanity’s legends have hidden away for centuries, Oliver Bascombe has learned of a prophecy that many believe he and his sister, Collette, have come to the Two Kingdoms to fulfill. But first they must escape the dungeon where they are imprisoned to stop an apocalyptic war, unravel a conspiracy, and prevent a powerful sorcerer from severing the human world and legendary realm forever.
As old heroes and friends ally themselves for one last battle, even older enemies stand arrayed against them. Is humanity ready to face its legends head-on? For Oliver Bascombe, it may cost him more than he could ever imagine.
Even legends have legends and on the other side of the Veil, where humanity’s legends have hidden away for centuries, Oliver Bascombe has learned of a prophecy that many believe he and his sister, Collette, have come to the Two Kingdoms to fulfill. But first they must escape the dungeon where they are imprisoned to stop an apocalyptic war, unravel a conspiracy, and prevent a powerful sorcerer from severing the human world and legendary realm forever.
As old heroes and friends ally themselves for one last battle, even older enemies stand arrayed against them. Is humanity ready to face its legends head-on? For Oliver Bascombe, it may cost him more than he could ever imagine.
448 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 25, 2008
5 people are currently reading
286 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Golden
799 books2,974 followersCHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
January 3, 2010
This series is amazing. Just when I despaired that there were no good fantasy books left, Christopher Golden opens a door to an epic adventure.
The genius of these books is that they are a return to the simple formula of storytelling. Each book is a story unto itself like acts in the play, that develop the overall story. Golden doesn't feel the need to explain everything, often the how and why are left to the reader's faith in magic. It's very essence is unexplainable, which makes for smooth reading, unhindered by boring details.
This specific book is exactly what a last book should be. It is one giant battle between the Atlanteans and the Borderkind/Lost Ones, and it is EPIC. The action is nonstop, but interspersed are small, tender moments that endear the characters to you forever. You cheer when they win and grieve when they are devoured by the horror of the war. Each one is complex and distinctive, there are very few stock characters. The hero, Oliver Bascombe, is motivated by his sense of justice and his love for magic and one woman. He doesn't always think in noble terms, but that just makes him more realistic in my eyes. He doesn't really think about the consequences, he's just an ordinary man with an extraordinary gift. He is not unique so much as rare.
While it may not be rife with cultural meaning and whatever whatever, it's a wonderfully entertaining story. And honestly, what more could you ask for?
The genius of these books is that they are a return to the simple formula of storytelling. Each book is a story unto itself like acts in the play, that develop the overall story. Golden doesn't feel the need to explain everything, often the how and why are left to the reader's faith in magic. It's very essence is unexplainable, which makes for smooth reading, unhindered by boring details.
This specific book is exactly what a last book should be. It is one giant battle between the Atlanteans and the Borderkind/Lost Ones, and it is EPIC. The action is nonstop, but interspersed are small, tender moments that endear the characters to you forever. You cheer when they win and grieve when they are devoured by the horror of the war. Each one is complex and distinctive, there are very few stock characters. The hero, Oliver Bascombe, is motivated by his sense of justice and his love for magic and one woman. He doesn't always think in noble terms, but that just makes him more realistic in my eyes. He doesn't really think about the consequences, he's just an ordinary man with an extraordinary gift. He is not unique so much as rare.
While it may not be rife with cultural meaning and whatever whatever, it's a wonderfully entertaining story. And honestly, what more could you ask for?
February 25, 2009
This was a very satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. The middle section seemed a tad over-familiar bordering on the ponderous when the forces of good were gathering their forces to oppose the evil empire, but there were several surprising plot twists that made it all worthwhile. All in all the three books were quite worthwhile and a lot of fun.
June 16, 2011
Meh. Couldn't finish.
Read
January 10, 2021 interesting story, but slow reading.
November 1, 2014
Oliver and Collette are the most important players in this war between Atlantis and the Borderkind, but they're currently sitting in a dungeon after Oliver assassinated a king. The Sandman is back and out for revenge. Few of the Borderkind are left, and not all of them want to join the war. But no one is giving up just yet. The stories of the Legend-Born are rising, and Oliver and Collette have to step into destiny and discover the power they hold.
It has been too long since I read The Borderkind, so I was not entirely up to speed on a lot of things that happened at the beginning of the book. It dives right into the plot, with Oliver and Collette stuck in a dungeon with no way out. Blue Jay and the rest of the Borderkind that have helped them before go after them to rescue them, but the war they fight has to be one more of intrigue than power.
Frost's first words on being rescued are priceless. He continues to be the best character, though others such as Blue Jay get a chance to develop more fully. There are some interesting parallels going on with Sara and the detective that point back to Julianna and Ted Haliwell, but nothing was ever really done with that similarity. On the downside, Oliver and Collette really take a dive by the end of the book. I didn't mind when they turned out to have power, or even that they had some grand destiny as Legend-Born (though I thought it would have been more interesting if indeed they had tried to survive the whole time as ordinary people). No, the turning point for me was when Collette admits she has no physical strength to speak of and then somehow picks up a warhammer and brains someone with it. At the end of the book it's almost a deus ex machina how easily Oliver and Collette manage to do things that weren't even hinted at earlier.
Further, many of the myths seemed to die just for the sake of having them dead. What happened to Kitsune was particularly irritating. Nowhere does it say the kind of power integral to a myth might be removed, yet that's tossed in as an aside in the last few pages.
The Sandman and his eventual fate was one of the better topics in the book. Ted struggles to do something, as perhaps the only person who can do something against the monster.
Overall this was a disappointing cap on the series, with the exception of the Sandman. Don't read it if you haven't read the first two books or you'll probably just get lost. Neutral.
It has been too long since I read The Borderkind, so I was not entirely up to speed on a lot of things that happened at the beginning of the book. It dives right into the plot, with Oliver and Collette stuck in a dungeon with no way out. Blue Jay and the rest of the Borderkind that have helped them before go after them to rescue them, but the war they fight has to be one more of intrigue than power.
Frost's first words on being rescued are priceless. He continues to be the best character, though others such as Blue Jay get a chance to develop more fully. There are some interesting parallels going on with Sara and the detective that point back to Julianna and Ted Haliwell, but nothing was ever really done with that similarity. On the downside, Oliver and Collette really take a dive by the end of the book. I didn't mind when they turned out to have power, or even that they had some grand destiny as Legend-Born (though I thought it would have been more interesting if indeed they had tried to survive the whole time as ordinary people). No, the turning point for me was when Collette admits she has no physical strength to speak of and then somehow picks up a warhammer and brains someone with it. At the end of the book it's almost a deus ex machina how easily Oliver and Collette manage to do things that weren't even hinted at earlier.
Further, many of the myths seemed to die just for the sake of having them dead. What happened to Kitsune was particularly irritating. Nowhere does it say the kind of power integral to a myth might be removed, yet that's tossed in as an aside in the last few pages.
The Sandman and his eventual fate was one of the better topics in the book. Ted struggles to do something, as perhaps the only person who can do something against the monster.
Overall this was a disappointing cap on the series, with the exception of the Sandman. Don't read it if you haven't read the first two books or you'll probably just get lost. Neutral.
August 13, 2012
This review is for all three in the trilogy (The Veil #1, 2, and 3). Very interesting premise; characters are diverse, rounded, interesting and we don't always know their motivations. (The Sandman as a villain creeped me out & I'm not usually creeped out by things in books.) You do have to read these as a trilogy, though.
The first book (for me) was like a really long set-up - which is ok, just not what I expected... but it gave us a good foundation of what the other side of the veil is like(which is really interesting, actually), and I liked that it was very much character-centered. The parts of #1 with Det. Halliwell seemed to move along at a good pace while the parts about Oliver on the other side of the veil sometimes seemed to drag a little by comparison (though I wondered if that was purposeful considering the two sides of the veil and Oliver's state of mind?). And I don't know why I was so tickled by the idea of The Atlantic River, but I was.
I really enjoyed #2; it's a little darker than #1, I think, but also purposeful in tone (again, maybe reflecting where Oliver's state of mind?) Lots of interesting things happened [i.e., Sandman vs Dustman]; the reader (and Oliver) finally get some answers; more character development and some new characters are introduced - but always purposeful. (I think reading #1 then #2 immediately after is a must b/c it is more satisfying in that you get *some* answers to all the questions posed in #1.)
#3 is takes us up to The Final Epic Climactic Battle - which, again, is ok (but I think that feeling is more about me than the book since I've read quite a few of those lately and I may be Final Epic Climactic Battle-d out. Actually, I don't want to be unfair - it's a well-written and satisfactory Final Epic Climactic Battle even if one of my favorite characters dies). However, in #3, things really do come together - even things from #1 come full circle.
The first book (for me) was like a really long set-up - which is ok, just not what I expected... but it gave us a good foundation of what the other side of the veil is like(which is really interesting, actually), and I liked that it was very much character-centered. The parts of #1 with Det. Halliwell seemed to move along at a good pace while the parts about Oliver on the other side of the veil sometimes seemed to drag a little by comparison (though I wondered if that was purposeful considering the two sides of the veil and Oliver's state of mind?). And I don't know why I was so tickled by the idea of The Atlantic River, but I was.
I really enjoyed #2; it's a little darker than #1, I think, but also purposeful in tone (again, maybe reflecting where Oliver's state of mind?) Lots of interesting things happened [i.e., Sandman vs Dustman]; the reader (and Oliver) finally get some answers; more character development and some new characters are introduced - but always purposeful. (I think reading #1 then #2 immediately after is a must b/c it is more satisfying in that you get *some* answers to all the questions posed in #1.)
#3 is takes us up to The Final Epic Climactic Battle - which, again, is ok (but I think that feeling is more about me than the book since I've read quite a few of those lately and I may be Final Epic Climactic Battle-d out. Actually, I don't want to be unfair - it's a well-written and satisfactory Final Epic Climactic Battle even if one of my favorite characters dies). However, in #3, things really do come together - even things from #1 come full circle.
February 2, 2009
Absorbing. Resolute. Heart-breaking. Hopeful. Just in many ways, unjust in others.
The conclusion is probably far more realistic than some would like (funny to say about a fantasy read). It's not a happy-go-lucky, walk into the sunset ending.
Oliver, along with the Borderkind, Lost Ones and legends, is off to war, determined to bring peace back to the Two Kingdoms. And true to the idea of war, blood is shed, courage is tested, and friendships and loyalties are proven. As others have said, favorite companions are lost in this installment, and while sad and senseless, I think it only fair. In war, unfortunately, not everyone lives to see the end, to experience the peace they strove to bring about. In war, many things are sad and senseless.
I suppose I had one dissappointment. In the epilogue, I would have loved a more expansive description of the world in the aftermath of war. I wanted to know what happened to ALL of our treasured characters and how they were coping with the changes wrought. And what happened to Cronos!
Having completed this series, I am going to seek out Golden's other novels. If all of his writings are as interesting, vivid, and engrossing as this series, then I am certainly in for a treat.
The conclusion is probably far more realistic than some would like (funny to say about a fantasy read). It's not a happy-go-lucky, walk into the sunset ending.
Oliver, along with the Borderkind, Lost Ones and legends, is off to war, determined to bring peace back to the Two Kingdoms. And true to the idea of war, blood is shed, courage is tested, and friendships and loyalties are proven. As others have said, favorite companions are lost in this installment, and while sad and senseless, I think it only fair. In war, unfortunately, not everyone lives to see the end, to experience the peace they strove to bring about. In war, many things are sad and senseless.
I suppose I had one dissappointment. In the epilogue, I would have loved a more expansive description of the world in the aftermath of war. I wanted to know what happened to ALL of our treasured characters and how they were coping with the changes wrought. And what happened to Cronos!
Having completed this series, I am going to seek out Golden's other novels. If all of his writings are as interesting, vivid, and engrossing as this series, then I am certainly in for a treat.
September 8, 2009
A good afternoon read but not to set the world afire.
I'm somewhat ambivalent about this series. I began them because they were recommended as Urban Fantasy, but they aren't.. they're portal fantasy set in the current era. I haven't read straight fantasy for some while and I think this series reminded me why I had moved on.
The books are engaging enough but there is a cold distance about all the characters. I didn't really feel very close to any of them except a couple of the extras, certainly not the main "hero" who was always elusive and ultimately not very likable.
The world building was strong but it all seemed a bit too "Young Adult" despite the gratuitous swearing that increases across the series.
In the end I was left with the awareness that I was calculating throughout the series when each plot point was set to occur - when each tumbler in the fantasy formula ticked over. I was not caught up in the story or the characterisations because the formula was so heavily wrought.
If you like to lose yourself in a rich fantasy story this probably isn't the one.
I'm somewhat ambivalent about this series. I began them because they were recommended as Urban Fantasy, but they aren't.. they're portal fantasy set in the current era. I haven't read straight fantasy for some while and I think this series reminded me why I had moved on.
The books are engaging enough but there is a cold distance about all the characters. I didn't really feel very close to any of them except a couple of the extras, certainly not the main "hero" who was always elusive and ultimately not very likable.
The world building was strong but it all seemed a bit too "Young Adult" despite the gratuitous swearing that increases across the series.
In the end I was left with the awareness that I was calculating throughout the series when each plot point was set to occur - when each tumbler in the fantasy formula ticked over. I was not caught up in the story or the characterisations because the formula was so heavily wrought.
If you like to lose yourself in a rich fantasy story this probably isn't the one.
September 21, 2010
In this series, I liked how Golden pulled together variations of myths from all over the world, and when could he showed variations on the same myth in different cultures, such as the Japanese trickster, Kitsune the Fox and her American cousin, Coyote. Or the two variations of the Sandman--the original one who instead of being a gentle helper for children to sleep, would kill them if they were still awake--and his brother the Dustman who did what we now associate with the Sandman. The imagination was definitely interesting, drawing on all those cultures.
But in the end the book didn't fill me up. He gave no reason for the desire of the Atlanteans wanting to completely close the Veil separating our world from the one of myths and legends. (Other than the one of just all around evilness.) The villains were never really fleshed out or explained. That really drained the book of its power. All in all a rather disappointing finish to something that promised more.
But in the end the book didn't fill me up. He gave no reason for the desire of the Atlanteans wanting to completely close the Veil separating our world from the one of myths and legends. (Other than the one of just all around evilness.) The villains were never really fleshed out or explained. That really drained the book of its power. All in all a rather disappointing finish to something that promised more.
October 12, 2010
In my review of the second installment of this series, I mentioned that the world Golden has created was a little less impressive since a reader had already been exposed to it. This critique is certainly untrue for the third installment. Once, Golden introduces Atlantis the reader is wowed all over again.
This installment isn't as good as the novel that started it all, but it runs circles around the second book. The second book is the bridge that connects the imaginative exposition to the absolutely breathtaking battle that brings the trilogy to a close. This battle is EPIC in every sense of the word.
I was sad to see this series come to an end.
Kudos to Mr. Golden. He kept me riveted for many, many months.
This installment isn't as good as the novel that started it all, but it runs circles around the second book. The second book is the bridge that connects the imaginative exposition to the absolutely breathtaking battle that brings the trilogy to a close. This battle is EPIC in every sense of the word.
I was sad to see this series come to an end.
Kudos to Mr. Golden. He kept me riveted for many, many months.
February 5, 2010
Awesome. This series continued to build itself up and finally in the final book we see everything come to a bloody resolution. Golden manages a sense of closure that plays at your heartstrings and a desire to find out what eventually becomes of the characters, humans, legends and gods that he creates.
The grand conclusion left a little to be desired and some of the creatures in this final installment were a little laughable (flying sharks and octopi???), but there was a sense of "epic-ness" that definitely reminded me of Tolkein.
Poor Kitsune! And how cool is the new Sandman? I can readily imagine myself reading this again on a cold winter day with rain pattering at the window.
The grand conclusion left a little to be desired and some of the creatures in this final installment were a little laughable (flying sharks and octopi???), but there was a sense of "epic-ness" that definitely reminded me of Tolkein.
Poor Kitsune! And how cool is the new Sandman? I can readily imagine myself reading this again on a cold winter day with rain pattering at the window.
June 3, 2011
I liked it! I really enjoyed this saga, even though there was so much sorrow and loss. I think it ended the only way it could, honestly, though I didn't guess it. At first I felt like he was just throwing in every mythological creature ever thought up for filler. But now I'm glad they were all there, for they all had a part to play in the final, epic battle. Not much else to say really. I can't give it a full 5 stars, but a 4.5 is about right.
Again, damn you Goodreads for not allowing half star ratings.
Again, damn you Goodreads for not allowing half star ratings.
February 18, 2015
I really wanted to like this book. I was totally in love with the 1st two. This one, however, left me dry and bitter. I could NOT get into it. The style was so different than the 1st two. This one was way overboard on the details on the battle itself and very little on the characters which I had grown to love. And I wanted more, so much more, on THEM. I know that this novel's focus was on the battle, and the others were on leading up to it but still Golden ya let me down. You can, however, make it up by giving us another book and let us know now that the war is over... what next.
April 14, 2008
This was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Honestly my interest sort of fell off a cliff at the end of the second book when the evil villain reveals his plan in a scene straight from the evil overlord's list and it's not meant as a joke. Much of the book consists of fighting and there are no real surprises.
June 17, 2008
This is the first series that I have in my spreadsheet on ongoing series that I'm actively reading (58 at last count) which has been concluded by the author (ie, the publisher didn't decide to just stop).
I liked the book, and liked the series. Good fluff reading on what it would mean if fairy tales and myths were real, and were just separated from "the real world" by a magic wall.
I liked the book, and liked the series. Good fluff reading on what it would mean if fairy tales and myths were real, and were just separated from "the real world" by a magic wall.
June 19, 2009
This was a good ending to the trilogy. Most of the book is about the war between the Borderkind/Legends and the Atlanteans. The gathering of forces and actual battle. Oliver and Collette also come into their magical abilities and see themselves for the legend-born that they are. All in all a satisfying end.
Read
July 26, 2011I liked this book, but it had a few issues: like the jumping of the plot from one character to another (that to me was too jarring) and a LOT of the characters I loved and respected succumbed to "Stephen King Syndrome": You like/love them and they DIE. It wasn't exactly the "happily ever after" I was looking for, but I guess it was an ending. Good read, but somewhat of a disappointment.
October 14, 2015
While I was not as thrilled with the last book as I was the first two books, I still like the series. The primary problem I had was that the author kept explaining things, recapping situations and people - I read the other two books, so I already knew these things. It felt more like filler than writing.
January 15, 2009
I loved the entire series. Normally, I don't read fantasy books, but I was hooked on the very first book and could barely wait each year for the next one to come out. I'm only sorry there are no more left in the series.
gave-up
March 15, 2013I gave up on this because so much time had passed between this and reading the first two, I couldn't get back into the story.
July 2, 2008
Trilogy started out great, didn't end as well as it started.
July 21, 2008
Book Three of The Veil and worth the wait. Golden wraps everything up nicely and reminds us that not all rewards are as we expect them to be, and they all come at a price.
October 5, 2008
Slow is coming but I enjoyed the series. See Myth Hunters (#1) for my review.
December 13, 2014
I felt like Golden got a little sloppy with this one. Plus he killed my favorite character, so now I can't recommend it to my husband who doesn't like reading anything where people die. ;)
February 9, 2009
Really fun read. Action packed. Good plot tension. Well rendered battle scenes. Wraps up the trilogy nicely. Looking forward to reading more Golden
December 9, 2009
Eh...it's alright.
It's all build up and lacking on the delivery.
It's all build up and lacking on the delivery.
January 6, 2010
A fantastic and appropriate conclusion to a riveting series.
July 8, 2011
Last installment in Golden's trilogy. I loved loved loved this trilogy. For you fanasy lovers out there this is a must read.
August 2, 2012
The ending to the fantasy trilogy. Well written, worth reading.
February 15, 2013
I really wish there were more books in this series. It was fascinating to be taken along on this journey, though I do think some of the characters could've been explored a bit more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews