Book Review: From Cold Ashes Risen, by Rob J. Hayes
The third book of the War Eternal: Eskara becomes the Corpse Queen.
Self-published, 2020, 446 pages
The Corpse Queen comes.
Eskara has lost everything. The War Eternal has cost her everything she loves, and the Iron Legion has taken the rest. Yet there is something that is still hers, something that kept her warm during her time in the Pit: anger and a lust for vengeance. First on the list of those who must pay: the Emperor of Terrelan.
Her friends counsel peace, but her inner demons push for war, and Eska finds herself caught in the middle. Will she find a way to reap her vengeance? Or will the enemies of her past catch up to her first? One thing is certain. The world will soon know fear when the Corpse Queen ascends her throne.
The third book of The War Eternal has not slackened in its pacing or revelations, and if it follows fairly standard fantasy tropes (the protagonist faces ever bigger challenges, suffers ever greater hardships, acquires ever greater power), it does so really well. This indie-published dark fantasy series is really enjoyable and satisfying, and while I won't say it's exceptionally original, I haven't hit any dull or pointless stretches and the writing remains far better than I expect from self-published work.
From Cold Ashes Risen features a resurrected (literally) Eskara who is becoming quite the Big Bad herself. Like the second book, book three picks up right where the last book ended. Eskara Helsene, one of the last surviving sourcerers for the Orran Empire, gets her ass kicked by the Iron Legion, a man who used to be her idol, in an epic magical battle that costs her the life of one of her dearest friends. He leaves after telling her to stay out of his way. As if. Eskara is an angry little vengeance-demon and that motivation is what drives her throughout much of this series.
Still bound to Sserakis, a literal fear-demon, she goes on a rampage across the world trying to rescue her childhood friend Josef and avenge herself against the Terrelan Emperor. Eskara is a hell-raiser who reshapes the world several times in this book, not always for the better. There is also a long and grim sequence in which she gets her wish and meets the Terrelan Emperor - as his prisoner, in his torture dungeon. And despite how dark things get, this isn't even the worst threat she has to overcome, since the Big Bad of the book remains the Iron Legion, a megalomaniacal mad scientist who who wants to bring back the gods.
In the first book, Along the Razor's Edge, we met Eskara as an angry 15-year-old imprisoned in the Pit. Over the course of three books, Eskara has entered middle age, lost an arm, given birth twice, and remained mostly fueled by anger and vengeance, but she is getting older and wiser, and even her bound Horror, Sserakis, is mellowing out a little (but don't tell him that!).
I've compared Rob Hayes to Brandon Sanderson before, and there is definitely some D&D-ish influence here, but I think Hayes actually does a better job than Sanderson of hiding the dice. His worldbuilding is mostly pretty logical and does not require picking up on a bunch of hidden easter eggs; narrating the story to us from the future, Eskara basically tells us when we encounter something her younger self didn't understand but which will be important later.
From Cold Ashes Risen could have been the end of a trilogy, as most subplots have been resolved, and Eskara even tells us that she's done telling her story. But there are actually two more books in the series, and Eskara hinted way back in the first book that her daughters have stories of their own. So I am still enjoying these books enough to keep going.
Also by Rob J. Hayes: My reviews of Along the Razor's Edge and The Lessons Never Learned.
My complete list of book reviews.
Self-published, 2020, 446 pages
The Corpse Queen comes.
Eskara has lost everything. The War Eternal has cost her everything she loves, and the Iron Legion has taken the rest. Yet there is something that is still hers, something that kept her warm during her time in the Pit: anger and a lust for vengeance. First on the list of those who must pay: the Emperor of Terrelan.
Her friends counsel peace, but her inner demons push for war, and Eska finds herself caught in the middle. Will she find a way to reap her vengeance? Or will the enemies of her past catch up to her first? One thing is certain. The world will soon know fear when the Corpse Queen ascends her throne.
The third book of The War Eternal has not slackened in its pacing or revelations, and if it follows fairly standard fantasy tropes (the protagonist faces ever bigger challenges, suffers ever greater hardships, acquires ever greater power), it does so really well. This indie-published dark fantasy series is really enjoyable and satisfying, and while I won't say it's exceptionally original, I haven't hit any dull or pointless stretches and the writing remains far better than I expect from self-published work.
From Cold Ashes Risen features a resurrected (literally) Eskara who is becoming quite the Big Bad herself. Like the second book, book three picks up right where the last book ended. Eskara Helsene, one of the last surviving sourcerers for the Orran Empire, gets her ass kicked by the Iron Legion, a man who used to be her idol, in an epic magical battle that costs her the life of one of her dearest friends. He leaves after telling her to stay out of his way. As if. Eskara is an angry little vengeance-demon and that motivation is what drives her throughout much of this series.
Still bound to Sserakis, a literal fear-demon, she goes on a rampage across the world trying to rescue her childhood friend Josef and avenge herself against the Terrelan Emperor. Eskara is a hell-raiser who reshapes the world several times in this book, not always for the better. There is also a long and grim sequence in which she gets her wish and meets the Terrelan Emperor - as his prisoner, in his torture dungeon. And despite how dark things get, this isn't even the worst threat she has to overcome, since the Big Bad of the book remains the Iron Legion, a megalomaniacal mad scientist who who wants to bring back the gods.
In the first book, Along the Razor's Edge, we met Eskara as an angry 15-year-old imprisoned in the Pit. Over the course of three books, Eskara has entered middle age, lost an arm, given birth twice, and remained mostly fueled by anger and vengeance, but she is getting older and wiser, and even her bound Horror, Sserakis, is mellowing out a little (but don't tell him that!).
I've compared Rob Hayes to Brandon Sanderson before, and there is definitely some D&D-ish influence here, but I think Hayes actually does a better job than Sanderson of hiding the dice. His worldbuilding is mostly pretty logical and does not require picking up on a bunch of hidden easter eggs; narrating the story to us from the future, Eskara basically tells us when we encounter something her younger self didn't understand but which will be important later.
From Cold Ashes Risen could have been the end of a trilogy, as most subplots have been resolved, and Eskara even tells us that she's done telling her story. But there are actually two more books in the series, and Eskara hinted way back in the first book that her daughters have stories of their own. So I am still enjoying these books enough to keep going.
Also by Rob J. Hayes: My reviews of Along the Razor's Edge and The Lessons Never Learned.
My complete list of book reviews.