Customer Reviews

Always Forever (Age of Misrule 3)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Chadbourn's final book in the `Age of Misrule' is a sparkling read where the Quincunx of Church, Shavi, Veitch, Laura and Ruth lead the Tuatha De'Danaan into battle against the Fomorri and Balor. Ruth and Church are on the Waverunner, a magical ship-Tardis where they save and gain the respect of the Danaan. Church and Baccharus form a great fighting friendship after Callow and the Nightwalkers storm the ship, capture Manannan and bring the Wish-Hex with which to unlease a great plague to destroy the Golden Ones. Ruth becomes over more powerful, whilst, a world away, Veitch enters the underworld, Orpheus-style to rescude Shavi, whilst Tom gains immense power from the most ancient of Gods enabling him to control deities such as Epona.
The circle is turning as our human Fragile Creatures' realise the Pendragon Spirit and become leaders in their own right.
Laura reawakes after birthing Balor and finds her self with the Bone Inspector. During the titantic struggle Church realises his love for Ruth and the pair head for the Western Isles, home to the Danaan, so Church can take the water from the Pool of wishes to cleanse himself from the Roisin Dubh's taint. There they discover the Danaan are on the verge of civil war over the potential of humans but manage to secure the aid of the Golden ones in unleashing another war on Balor and the Fomorri. What follows is a battle royal as the three separate armies converge on London, one headed by Ruth and Veitch, the other by Church, Tom and the Bone Inspector, the final by Laura and Shavi. Along the way they fight every dark creature under the mythical sun, crawl through more London tunnels that we ever knew existed and find their own personal glory. Come the denoument we discover the unwitting traitor, people die nobly and Balor is defeated. However, there is a cyclical ending with Church and hope for a new beginning.
All in all a great trilogy that brings together many Celtic myths and weaves a fine tale around them that drags the reader in. The central characterisation across the trilogy is not terribly strong but the supporting cast are well drawn and provide enough support. Of the three, this final novel is the best as Chadbourn seems to relax in his writing style, the first half given to the Waverunner being the best of it. The denoument is suitably climatic and not cliched. So all in all a good first series from this author and well worth any fan of Celtic fantasy reading.

Always Forever is the third novel in the AGE OF MISRULE trilogy by Mark Chadbourn, and at the start of this final installment, things definitely aren't looking up. As Darkest Hour ends, the five Brothers and Sisters of Dragons are scattered and broken, and the dark god Balor is loose in the land again. If the five heroes can't somehow stop Balor by the festival of Samhain, when he comes into his full powers, it may spell the end of humanity.

In one sense, Always Forever is a direct continuation of the first two novels in the series, World's End and Darkest Hour. The Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, aided by True Thomas the Rhymer, travel across England, with occasional forays into the Otherworld of myth and legend. They meet people, fight monsters and interact with gods. Moments of genuine mysticism alternate with hectic hack-and-slash action and all-too-human bickering. The dialogues are, as always, well written and entertaining. The many references to contemporary culture provide yet another contrast between the normal world and the new, surreal age (with my new favorite being the conversation between Jim Morrison and Tom in this novel).

On the other hand, there are a few changes in Always Forever that make this novel a departure from the first two books. For example, in the earlier books, I really enjoyed the powerful contrast between the mundane English countryside and the supernatural creatures invading it, which led to some memorable scenes. In Always Forever, much of the first half of the novel is actually set in the Otherworld, on the "Ship of Fools", and the lack of contrast with the normal world made that section feel more bland than the rest of the series -- it frankly dragged a bit for me, despite containing some of the most surreal scenes of the series. Also, the Tuathe dé Dannan now seem less alien than before, which takes away some of what made them so exciting before: you can see factions in this group of formerly unknowable gods or near-gods, and they suddenly appear much more vulnerable. All of this causes them to lose some of their prior mystique, which for me was one of the most attractive aspects of the series until now. On the other hand, the fact that Mark Chadbourn defies expectations by continuing to build up the complexity of an already challenging concept like the Tuatha dé Dannan is admirable.

I don't often highlight this aspect of books in my reviews, but this trilogy deserves an exception: the three recent US re-releases by Pyr make a gorgeous set of books, thanks to John Picacio's cover illustrations and Nicole Sommer-Lecht's book cover designs. The contrast between the terrifying creatures on the covers (Cernunos, Mollecht and Balor, if I'm not mistaken) and the five comparatively tiny heroes is a perfect illustration of one of the trilogy's recurring themes. The books -- all in Pyr's sturdy trade paperback format -- make an instantly recognizable set on any shelf. As far as book design goes, this edition of the AGE OF MISRULE trilogy is flawless.

If you enjoyed World's End and Darkest Hour, you'll find much to like in this concluding volume of the AGE OF MISRULE trilogy. While one of the twists in the climactic ending was definitely telegraphed too strongly, the final 100 pages or so are an action-packed thrill ride that combines the strongest elements of the trilogy and lead to a worthy finale that places the entire story in a new perspective.

I loved this series. I was so excited to find something where Celtic mythology was one of the main drivers of the plot. If you've gotten this far in the series, you won't be disappointed. Well, maybe a little. Be forewarned: This is a trilogy of trilogies. The next set is due to be released in the US in the summer. I can't wait!

Mark Chadbourn has written a brilliant trilogy.
Read all three, you won't be disappointed.
This is the last in the Age of Misrule trilogy, in which five champions, known as the "Brothers & Sisters of Dragons" and their companion Thomas the Rhymer travel the length and breadth of Britain to save humanity from the horrors of the Fomorii and the apathy of the Tuatha de Danaan.
Fantastical creatures and otherworldly beings who have shaped our myths, legends and nightmares from humanities earliest days have been slipping into the "real" world with devastating consequences. Dreams or imaginings made real can be truely scary.
The writing is powerful, the characters are solid and very human, inhabiting a world of unimaginable chaos.
All three books are complete and whole but I would advise reading them in order, there are so many back stories and small details that build up to complete the trilogy.
Anyone who enjoys well written fantasy, Celtic mythology or urban paranormal novels will be engrossed in this trilogy.
It is such a joy to find an author who can take the unbelievable and make it so tangible and real.
There is another trilogy from Chadbourn, "The Dark Age" which I'm planning to dive into next.
Also, the cover designs & artwork on all three books are stunning.

While I grew increasingly irritated with Church's incessant whining about Marianne all the way up to the darn last pages ... and the characters were a bit under-developed (or should we say the epitome of what they represented) ... I really liked the series! Unplanned I finished reading it on Halloween (there are no coincidences) ... in any event the the author pulled everything together at the end. The author bogs us down with what I imagine to be playlists from his mp3 player ... yawn ... and Tom and Shavi tend to delve into these historical documentary asides a bit longer than they need to ... yawn ... but the guerrilla warfare, the trials and the powerful, underlying metaphysical discourse (there is always something bigger), I found, to be very entertaining. I was not anticipating what occurred in the last few pages and was pleasantly surprised. There is definitely room for a sequel ... or would it be a prequel in this case?

The only thing missing was a reckoning for those called gods in the book. Deep down inside I wanted Ruth to strike down the Queen of the Court of Yearning and members of the Court of the Final Word with a bolts of coruscating blue fire. Sigh ... perhaps soon enough.

Overall the series was a good read!

The ancient Gods and the Fomorii demons have brought Balor the Heart of Shadows into the world for the first time in eons. The power of the all evil essence is growing and on Samhain the WORLD'S END will be completed.

The last hope for humanity ,the five Brothers and Sisters of Dragons, have been defeated by the Fomorii after a horrific battle though they did their best it proved futile during the cataclysmic THE DARKEST HOUR. They are leaderless, scattered apart or dead. Though despondent and filled with a hopeless despair, each one of the quintet continues to risk their lives as they separately try to move past the insufferable loss and seek one another as well as persuade Queen Tuatha de Danann to help them defeat the Fomorii to prevent Balor from succeeding. Church, Ruth, Shavi, Ryan and Laura must find their inner strength for if any falters, it means Balor rules and the end of mankind. Even if they prove successful starting with obtaining Tuatha's help, they will still need to deal with the potentially treacherous Queen.

The third book in The Age of Misrule saga is an excellent finish to a fabulous saga as readers will mark this author for future tales. The story line is action-packed as the follow-up to the stunning defeat in the aptly titled THE DARKEST HOUR which is filled with escapades and adventures, but also allows the audience to see into the hearts and minds of the fearsome five who have no hope for the future as all seems lost. Fans will admire them for their courage to carry on in spite of their anguish, accentuated by the belief some of their allies died. The quintet brings the souls to Mark Chadbourn's great trilogy.

Harriet Klausner

Thomas the Rhymer, fancy mythological ships, and more, as the Brothers and Sisters stage a guerilla campaign to try and drive out the evil beasties and others that would like a big nasty void to happen.

Fighting a fimbulwinter with no technology is not a lot of fun, so they have to use their powers to see what they can do about getting some airpower support, in the form of large, flying lizards, who share the same magical source of energy.