Review: 'Light of Requiem' by Daniel Arenson
What a finale! Every trilogy needs an end that is
representative of the entire trilogy and ‘Light of Requiem’ definitely
delivers.
War has ravaged
the world. Cities lie crumbled. Forests smolder. The crows feast.
In the ruins, Requiem's last dragons lick their wounds and mourn a death among them. But they will not have long to grieve. From the ashes, a new enemy arises, one more horrible than any before.
His soldiers dead, the tyrant Dies Irae collects severed limbs, heads, and torsos. He sews them into rotting, maggoty mimics of life. With dark magic, he animates his creations... and sends them hunting.The mimics live to kill. They do not sleep. They feel no pain. They never stop hunting. Worst of all, they undo all magic around them. When mimics are near, Requiem's survivors cannot become dragons... and must fight as humans.
Without their greatest gift, how can Requiem's children survive?
In the ruins, Requiem's last dragons lick their wounds and mourn a death among them. But they will not have long to grieve. From the ashes, a new enemy arises, one more horrible than any before.
His soldiers dead, the tyrant Dies Irae collects severed limbs, heads, and torsos. He sews them into rotting, maggoty mimics of life. With dark magic, he animates his creations... and sends them hunting.The mimics live to kill. They do not sleep. They feel no pain. They never stop hunting. Worst of all, they undo all magic around them. When mimics are near, Requiem's survivors cannot become dragons... and must fight as humans.
Without their greatest gift, how can Requiem's children survive?
I really enjoyed the first two books and especially the challenges
that were thrown in the way of the characters. Unfortunately, one of my
favourite characters died at the end of the 2nd book but therefore
we get some great new characters. I especially loved Umbra, who simply kicks
ass. Here I would like to allow myself to make a point about Daniel Arenson: he
creates great characters. In all of his books I have read so far there have
been great female characters. Gloriae is very interesting, especially in this
book as she finally tries o come to term with her actions in the past and her
new found identity as Vir Requies princess. Talking about characters, Lacrimosa
greatly improved in my opinion. In the previous two books I felt that at times
she didn’t live up to the other characters, but in ‘Light of Requiem’ she
became stronger and memorable.
This is a darker book than the previous two. The previous two were dark at times, yet there was always an element of hope. Here, as in all good finales, all hope seemed lost, completely vanished, towards the end. There was no way tat the Vir Requies could defeat Dies Irae one more time. Especially now tat he has gone mental and created mimics. Those mimics are terrifying. Arenson has a talent for creating creatures and he went for it in this book. But he still manages to make the reader feel sorry for these horrible creatures, making the story so much better by it.
Many of Arenson’s books, I feel, are about the coming together of people who are trying to overcome an evil. For example in ‘The Gods of Dream’, still one of my favourite books by him. He executes this perfectly in this book, showing how diversity can benefit everyone. I especially liked the Earthen, who believe in an Earth god, because I have a weakness for those kind of groups. It links in perfectly with the theme of sacrifice that runs strong through the book. In the face of certain death, sometimes it is still better to fight than run, even if it might cost you your life
I give this book…
This is a darker book than the previous two. The previous two were dark at times, yet there was always an element of hope. Here, as in all good finales, all hope seemed lost, completely vanished, towards the end. There was no way tat the Vir Requies could defeat Dies Irae one more time. Especially now tat he has gone mental and created mimics. Those mimics are terrifying. Arenson has a talent for creating creatures and he went for it in this book. But he still manages to make the reader feel sorry for these horrible creatures, making the story so much better by it.
Many of Arenson’s books, I feel, are about the coming together of people who are trying to overcome an evil. For example in ‘The Gods of Dream’, still one of my favourite books by him. He executes this perfectly in this book, showing how diversity can benefit everyone. I especially liked the Earthen, who believe in an Earth god, because I have a weakness for those kind of groups. It links in perfectly with the theme of sacrifice that runs strong through the book. In the face of certain death, sometimes it is still better to fight than run, even if it might cost you your life
I give this book…
4 UNIVERSES!!!
I truly enjoyed this book and think it is a deserving finale to a great trilogy. Arenson has achieved to create a truly inspiring story with all the major themes that make epic literature: honour, sacrifice, love and friendship.
I truly enjoyed this book and think it is a deserving finale to a great trilogy. Arenson has achieved to create a truly inspiring story with all the major themes that make epic literature: honour, sacrifice, love and friendship.
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