an unfortunately plodding third installment
930896
Key worked hard on characters and story with this one, sadly sacrificing the action that has been a hallmark of the series. there is a big battle and a lot of tension, but it all gets kind of bunched up at about the two-thirds mark. there are a lot of loose ends that need to get tied up, weighing down the end of the book.

it comes together okay, but ONLY okay. too bad, really
285241
As a fan of the Odd Series, we felt this recent installment skewed far from what made the other books so good.  Odd Thomas has lost the innocence and wonder that made him likable.  Instead of encountering everyday ghosts and isolated catastrophes, he is now battling world-wide destruction.  The encounters seemed overboard and silly.  Dodging bullets.  Killing sprees.  This is not Odd.
Plus the whole 'mysterious' girl who refuses to answer any inquires is simply annoying and frustrating.  He must be priming her for a future book, but here it was a waste with no closure.  At least tease us with some purpose or indirect bites.
Hopefully, this is not the path Odd Thomas will continue on.  Hopefully, Odd can return to his roots and make the story interesting again.
871129
I really enjoyed the first two books in this series, but this third installment lacks any real forward motion.  Angela Clark is a funny and at times bumbling character.  When the new magazine she's writing for sends her to Paris, Angela is thrilled that she can accompany her boyfriend, a musician traveling for a big gig, to the city of love.  But everything goes wrong for Angela--as it often does--from arriving luggageless, to encountering a conniving ex-girlfriend, to being stabbed in the back, long distance, by a jealous co-worker.  That said, none of this feels new, as we've seen Angela fumble her way through now 3 cities.  The crux of each story seems to be whether or not her career can be saved, in the face of unforseen drama, and whether she and Alex will survive.  Haven't read the two that come after this yet, but I'm hoping for some shake ups in Angela's life.  Still, a fun, fast, relatively mindless read.
2909097
I was anxiously awaiting this book for years, then found myself having to drag myself through it once it arrived.  I suppose after the cataclysms and upheavals of the previous installment this one was doomed to have a slower pace and more fragmented nature.  But I really didn't expect the feeling of having to drag myself through it - and still, at the end, very little has advanced or been resolved.  A Storm Of Swords kept me up all night; Feast put me to sleep early.
432841
In the world of fantasy there is one series that towers above all others, that being The Lord of The Rings. I always keep searching for a series that will enchant me like LOTR did. The two Thomas Covenant trilogies were brilliant. I had the same hopes for the Wheel of Time series. The first three books were terrific, full of wonderful, vibrant characters and lands. The series has gone steadily downhill since then. Jordan seems to be just going through the motions with Path of Daggers. Nothing happens, just more moronic ramblings by Rand. It's frustrating when potential greatness goes awry. Jordan is slowly descending into hackneyed fantasy hell, along with Eddings, Goodkind and a host of other hacks. This motley bunch would cause a Nazgul to cower in fear. At least we still have George Martin to keep us enthralled with his marvelous A Song of Fire and Ice series.
4947539
This is an preliminary review because I have not gotten far into this third book of the trilogy, and am actually disappointed after having waited all this time for its publication. I'm having a hard time getting connected with this book and its characters. The first two books had me riveted from start to finish, but something seems to be lacking so far from this one. Characters seem flat and the events given cursory passovers. But I'll give it another go and hopefully get more engaged on the second go-round.
4284802
This is yet another creepingly slow entry. It is also the last safehold book I will buy as soon as it comes out. I am tired of the cliffhanger endings. I am tired of the fact that we don't really seem to be moving toward a resolution of the story line. Frankly, I have become bored. My plan is to wait until the series is finished or Mr. Weber dies to read another Safehold book. I started out loving this series, and I eagerly anticipated this book. Unfortunately, after reading it, I realized that I really do not care anymore what happens to Safehold or the Gbaba.

I have read the reviews and I see that most of the are extremely positive. I am glad there are people who unreservedly recommend this book. My review is not for those who adore everything Mr Weber writes. My review is for those who have reservations about paying full price for a hardback book in a series that doesn't seem to be making much progress and who are wondering if it is worth the investment of time and money. In order to make it easier for the curious to wait their turn for the library book, I am going to share what I think the highlights are.

Spoilers:
We learn that Aivah is the Mother Superior for the Sisters of St Kohdy, a secret mainland order somewhat analogous to the Brothers of St Zherneau, and that Seijin Kohdy was a real person and that he left behind a journal much like the one the Brothers of St Zherneau guard. By the way, in spite of the way the last book ends, Aivah doesn't ask Merlin to take her to Zion in this book.

The war goes well for Cayleb and crew. However, Mother Church has new weapons in development that may pose a problem for the Charisians. We don't see those weapons deployed in this book, but they will probably be in the next book.

Clinton seems to be loosing his grip. The others in the group of four stand up to him a couple of times in this book, and there is a successful attack that kills several of Clyntan's allies in the Church.

There is another sea battle where several Charisians are taken prisoner by Dohlar. This time Charis rescues them instead of letting them be hauled off to Zion.

Merlin and The Charisian army start doing something about the concentration camps.

Clyntan decides to take Thirsk's family hostage, but Merlin and Nimue rescue the family and blow up the ship that was being used to transport Thirsk's family to Zion.

The book ends with Thirsk sitting in his study in front of a fire drinking whiskey and pondering how he has lost everything because he believes his family is dead. Merlin steps into the study and the last words in the story are Merlin saying, "Forgive me for intruding My Lord, but you and I need to talk."

The story ends on page 679, but there are 784 pages in the book. The last 105 pages are the list of characters and the glossary.
2638259
After three books showing such steady improvement in this series, this fourth installment in the Dragon Nimbus series was a particular disappointment. It definitely was the lowest point of the series. I had a difficult time even forcing myself to finish it. The plot dragged on and on, the characters completely ceased displaying any individual traits, and the dialogue became totally cliched and interchangeable between characters as they each lost their own voice.

The book also ends quite abruptly - particularly since this is the last book in the series. Radford has left her created kingdom in a complete disarray with nothing resolved whatsoever. Although, to be honest, after this travesty of a novel, I don't know that I would have any interest whatsoever in picking up a fifth volume.
3214391
Heroes from books one and two appear in this third tale.  We already care for them, so [Myers'] already has our interest.  The struggle between Brandon and Sarah (now married) was frustrating, and a bit odd.  Yes, there are parallels in Scripture, and God can move in mysterious ways.  Nevertheless, this part of the story line proved distracting.  Overall, the plot and character development were more complicated, and less crisp than the previous two.  Myers did well, and Fire of Heaven is a worthy recommendation--but it falls a notch from the others in this trilogy.
3356023
The final installment of The Century Trilogy has been a disappointment.  Follett digresses too often into political attacks which slows the narrative and detracts from the story.  And, it is too long.  I went through the first two volumes quickly, but this one was a slog.
4951480
After a strong start to Year Three, Tom Taylor stepped down as Injustice's lead writer and Brian Buccellato took over. Sadly, the writer change doesn't work in the series' favor as Taylor was the stronger creative force in my opinion. The biggest issue is that numerous plot points from the first half of Year Three fail to carry over into this concluding half. The fact that Bruce sold his sold to become the new host of Etrigan the Demon is never mentioned (nor does he transform back into Etrigan at all in this volume). John's brilliant scheme to cast a sleeping spell on Superman (and then dismantle the regime in his absence) is immediately undone by Ares. This means that John's huge plot to take down Supes only lasted a single issue (the terrific dream sequence issue that ended Volume One). The bigger issue is that the plot threads concerning the Specter are hastily tied up in a red herring. After numerous references seem to suggest that the spirit of the Joker has infected the Specter or taken control of him, it is revealed that the true corrupting influence on the Spirit of Vengenace is Mr. Mxyzptlk in disguise. It's not that this is a bad twist, but all the effort the writers go to to make it seem like the Joker is back was a waste. Also, Mxyzptlk's explanation for his motivations feels weaker than if the writers had just continued to use the Specter. After all, the Specter has attempted to eradicate the forces of magic before (the Day of Vengeance story arc) so it made more sense for him to be the big bad instead of Mxyzptlk.

Buccellato's run also exacerbates an exhausting trend of too many character deaths. After characters like Jason Blood and Harvey Bullock died in the first half of Year Three, a few too many other bodies get added to the count in this volume. All in all, it sometimes feels too much like the creative team feels the need to wipe out ANYONE that wasn't featured in the video game's story mode. Since the video game's story opens with Batman almost all on his own, this unfortunately means that most of his allies end up constantly biting the dust. Buccellato also includes the tired trope (that he reuses again in Year Four) wherein the two warring factions have to set aside their differences to deal with a larger threat. With Mxyzptlk controlling the Spectre, Constantine goes for a hail mary and tricks Trigon the Demon into fighting Superman's forces. The battle between Mxy and Trigon is so powerful it threatens to wipe out everyone so the regime and the resistance have to team up momentarily to end the threat. It is a tired comic book trope that doesn't fit that well here when the conflict between Superman and Batman has become such a blood feud. All in all, a decent book but a huge letdown to the magic users arc started in Year Three Volume One.
3452396
I just couldn't get into this book like I did with the first three. There was almost no action and there was way too much "small talk" which had me skimming over a few pages at a time. The only reason I would recommend this book is that it does tie up some loose ends in the series so far. Hopefully, if there's a next installment, it'll be way more fast paced.
691427
The third installment is definitely the weakest, it starts to feel repetitive and I finished it just to get through the set.
2940339
2.5 stars. I started reading this book in the hopes that the story would redeem itself from the third installment but sadly, while it may have been better than the third, it was no where close to being as strongly written as the first two installments.  I felt there was too much and yet not enough; too much unnecessary drama, too much unjustifiable internal and external conflicts and dare I say, too much gratuitous sex that felt more filler than story forwarding.  To me, it felt like this book was another bridge to the conclusion but a bridge that never needed to be crossed, like when your GPS leads you way off course.

The book itself was written well but the story wasn't tight at all.  There were too many subplots going on and I could see what the author was trying to do and how these side plots were supposed to play into the overall story arc to get to the point of the climax but they all felt rather contrived and more like filler.

As for Gideon.  Well, I liked that we got his point of view but I'm still waffling over my feelings over his head space.  While he was completely aware of Eva's issues with certain things, he acted like he was completely justified in railroading over them himself.  Yet, I suppose that was to be expected to a certain extent.  If a man goes as far as to kill someone for someone they love, there really isn't much they can be expected not to do.  But over all, I felt the more Eva was making an effort to put herself together, the more Gideon unraveled.  And what is it with the women in his life?  Are they all mentally unhinged?  The only normal female he seems to know is his sister.

Overall, it wasn't a bad read but it was just disappointing.  The story felt scattered, unfocused and many things unjustified.  Rising tension came in spits and spurts and at points instead of biting my nails with anticipation, I felt myself asking "oh for crying out loud, what now?" with an eye roll. I was pleased with where it ended but I struggled most with how it got there.  It feels like this book and the previous one were ways to make more money and bilk the fans and I don't like that feeling.  I will likely buy the next (and hopefully last) installment and I can only hope the wait this time around won't be as long.
4618631
This is the third volume of the trilogy that started with the Road to Jerusalem.  (Which I did not review but would have given 5 stars if I had).  It is the longest and the least enjoyable of the three. (My wife got me a birthday present from Amazon.co.uk where this was released in March)

What can I say?  Arn Magnusson makes it back from the holy land with a motley crew of Saracens, Franks and others who are bound by oath to serve him for five years.  Arn uses their skills to help him achieve two goals.  The first is building an invincible fortress for the Folking clan and the second is building a new church.

Basically, this volume wraps up the whole Folgung-Erik saga.  Arn gets back with Cecilia Algotsdotter of course.  And Arn works to build security of the eventual kindom of Sweden.  But this is all done at painful length without any of the bright dialog. action and pacing of the first novel.  Most of the real action comes in the last 50 pages (of almost 600) as the author ties up the real history with the battle of Lena and its aftermath.

There is no way I can give this more than three stars as it almost feels as if a different author wrote this ponderous tome.
7783
Third book in the series, and I feel for the author. It's very difficult to redo the A-Team in space and keep it interesting. Our beloved leader isn't quite as beloved any more, and I found his reactions to things rather more forced than in previous stories. Ultimately I was somewhat disappointed in this book.  Not enough to stop reading the series, but mindful that it could have been better. To many issues were left unresolved, just who is crusher anyway, and why is Jason so bent on not learning everything he can about the tech he controls so effortlessly?  Why the sudden hostility between him and Twingo? Actions are semi inexplicable. Jason had seemed to pretty much have it all packed in one sock previously is now all head strong and quite unhinged in some areas. Toss his ex girlfriend into the mix and he is nearly useless. So yeah Jason gets a little uncomplicated canoodling but at what cost to his soul? And yeah he will be coming back to earth because you know the incredibly stupid and boorish military will stop at noting, including the upcoming kidnapping of said ex girlfriend and family. And I don't care what kind of super hacker genius you might have on hand, a lottery of random balls can't really be fixed three days in the future. All in all there are some glaring idiocies in this story, but then again I am fairly sure I can't write a better yarn.
2672898
In an effort to bring readers up to date with virtually ever character who was even mentioned in previous books in the series, the authors let the narrative drag and drag and drag. I found it impossible to keep track of the many many minor characters reintroduced here. And the over-all Huguenot conspiracy was not only complicated beyond belief, but involved stick characters whose fate is of supreme indifference to the reader.

Let's hope subsequent volumes restore vitality to the series.