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Wartorn: Obliteration | Rating | |
| C | |||
| Robert Asprin and Eric Del Carlo | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Wartorn | Wartorn: Resurrection, Wartorn: Obliteration | ||
The Felk army of wizards and warriors continues in its war of conquest under its ressurected general Dardas. But an army is finally being arrayed against him, and the strategist behind it knows exactly how Dardas thinks. A grand trap is shaping that may utterly defeat the Felk - if their leader doesn't spot it and turn it around on them. Meanwhile, a rebellion brewing in the occupied cities behind the lines is raising trouble of a different sort for the Felk.
The six main characters from the last book are back. This time, though, they are already arranged into three plots that weave in and around one another. There is Dardas, the great general trapped in an uncooperative body, and his watcher, Raven, now in a much prettier shell but with her loyalties torn. There is Bryck, leader of the resistance movement in Callah, and Aquint, the security agent assigned with bringing him in; between the two is Radstac the mercenary, stuck working with one side but longing for the other. And all on her lonesome is Praulth, the scholar-turned-strategist whose ego is growing by leaps and bounds the more her skills are called upon. The decisions and actions each character makes will alther the paths of all the others, even those not nearby. Indeed, they will chose the shape of the war.
The book goes through this cast in a set order, devoting perhaps a dozen pages to each before moving on to the next character on the list. This is the story's main strength, making the tale go along quickly. It is extremely easy to read, and it's never long before something happens. With so few pages to work with, the authors get to the purpose of each scene without much wasted text.
Yet it is also the novel's greatest weakness. A sozen pages is really not all that much - especially given the book's generous spacing and font size. Events might move a bit too fast, forcing the authors to skim over some scenes in order to keep it moving, when I rather wanted to linger and see things in detail. The text is easy and quick to read, yes, but that's because there's not much to it.
Even moving as quickly as it did, though, I was surprised when I reached the end to find that this was likely the end of the series. Suddenly everything was done. It was quite unsatisfying. I had expected at least one more book out of this. And if the authors did want to end things - as evidently they did - it certainly would have been nice of them to show us, rather than giving us the information third-hand.
I rather liked the first book, even if it did move along a little too quickly at times. This one had the same flaw, whith the addition of an ending that is jarring in its suddenness. The majority of the book is good enough, and certainly doesn't take much time or effort to read through. But the abrupt end to it all left me with a sour taste in my mouth as I closed the cover.
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