Customer Reviews

Fall of Thanes (The Godless World)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I also commend Mr. Ruckley for fininshing the series in three books. During the second book I feared it was going off the rails but the Fall of thanes brings it back together. Great resolution of the main story arcs for the protagonist and antagonist and much of that is due to the pretty solid writing. Last couple of chapters certainly brought me to tears.

That said, a couple of negatives for me. I don't mind bleak, but I do mind pointless, and I felt several of the side characters who I thought had great promise from the first books just fade away in this series. Also, I felt much of momentum stemmed from great descripitive writing even though much of the action did not really advance the plot. Lastly, I thought the lack of even a modicum of sex almost off-putting given the level of violence that pervades the book. It was like the entire world just consisted of violence and death and the neutered chaste.

In the end though, well worth the time. And I will certainly pick up the next book he writes since so few writers can execute such a consistent vision over several books that deliver a coherent emotional pay-off. well done.

First off, I feel like I have to applaud Brian Ruckley for ending the series at three books. Too many fantasy authors these days like to milk their fans for all they're worth, with diminishing results each time. So thanks for taking the high road, Mr. Ruckley.

When we last left the gang at the end of Bloodheir, the bad guys had a seemingly insurmountable lead. The Black Road have defeated the True Bloods at every battle worth counting. Most of the northern cities have already fallen. Aeglyss' power is growing by the day, and now he has a zombified Mordyn under his thumb. Can Orisian, still in exile, get back to his people so they can muster a defense? Is there ANY way to defeat Aeglyss?

My main complaint with the first two books was that the heroes were simply herded along in the direction of the plot. They are simply pawns in a vicious war that none of them chose. As underdogs their decisions are not really theirs to make, and they never have to go through the painful moral dilemmas that plague characters in, say, ASOIAF. Thankfully FAT rectifies this somewhat. After being baggage in Winterbirth and Bloodheir Orisian tentativly grows into his role as thane, albeit thane of an army of refugees. On the other side of the battle lines, Kanin's resentment grows at the cult of personality surrounding Aeglyss, and the result is a tug-of-war that pits them against each other.

There's still a strong undercurrent of "minor characters doing minor things" syndrome, but Mordyn, Torquentine and Anyara are much better utilized this time around. Subplots that didn't make sense in Bloodheir come to fruition here, and are given as much importance as the war itself.

The senseless violence in this book approaches George R.R. Martin levels, albeit not as graphic or entertaining. It seems every other page has descriptions of people dying in obscene ways. Since these are just nameless, faceless villagers, one can't be expected to care all that much. The man at the center of all this carnage is Aeglyss, who is using his Jedi mind tricks to cast himself as a present-day messiah. I have two minds about this. I like the idea of a beleaguered people giving in to their base instincts, but I have to wonder why the main characters are so immune (except for Wain).

In the end the heroes lose and lose, only to win at the very last minute with some well-placed help. But victory, although welcome, is far from sweet. Too many have died, and those who remain face an uncertain future. A fitting end for a war that more often then not resembled a drunken brawl.

As a villain Aeglyss turned out to be everything I thought he would be, though I found his style somewhat contradictory. On one hand, we're told he can look deep into your heart and pull out whatever he finds there. On the other hand, he can brainwash people and send entire armies fleeing. I prefer it when people do things because they WANT to, not because they've been coerced by Jedi mind tricks.

In the end it probably would have been better had Aeglyss coerced me into liking A Godless World. I mean conceptionally it's right up my alley. It's bloody and morose and drags itself through the mud to avoid easy cop-outs. Non-typical fans will like it because it's gritty (in a PG sense, no sex or swearing) and the story really hits its stride when everyone is set on their "proper" course. But far too often the author uses forced characterization to put them there. But still it's memorable and well-written, and I look forward to whatever Ruckley does next.

PROS:
- Original and well thought-out premise.
- Avoids blindingly noble/ monolithic evil clichés.
- "Brutal" without being masochistic/ tastelessly sadistic.
- I thought the writing was consistently good.

CONS:
- Too many place names sound the same.
- Characters have little personality besides "doing your duty", which usually involves fighting.
- Uneven pace.
- No humor or moments of levity.
- Lack of major surprises, series lurches towards inevitable conclusion.

I have to first of all thank Ruckley for typing up his novel in 3 books. If only George R.R. Martin had the same idea - I digress.

This is one of the best trilogies I've read in recent times. The hero Orisian is not your typical farm boy-turned-super-hero, he's a gentle young man burdened by grief and regret, Thane to a people tittering at the edge of extinction, and with no clear or attainable solution to the plight his world faces. Suffice to say he epitomizes beleaguered, and it is for that reason he can't help but be compelling to me.

Accompanying Orisian are a ragtag group of Krynin and Nakryinim, as well as the dependable Taim, captain of what little military force is left to the Lannis people. His sister is a prisoner of the hated Haig blood. His allies, the Kilikry are overcome by the madness that's spread across the world.

In summary, when society is floundering in all its corners, and when the hero is equipped with nothing but hope and desperation against the crisis visited upon his world, the conclusion can't be anything but equal parts tragic and triumphant. A great read.

Brian Ruckley has a stunning ability to describe cold, dank, and desolate scenery, surely inspired (like the placenames of the Godless World) by the misty mountains of his native Scotland. This alone makes the entire series worth reading. Coupled with a George RR Martin-like lack of nostalgia for the characters, the series is refreshing to those with a thirst for bleakness. I thoroughly enjoyed it ...almost. The ending was enormously disappointing. A carefully crafted and emotionally-binding plot ends in seeming farce as the central characters of the opposing sides (good v evil) butcher each other off one-to-one in order of hierarchy until none remain. It is a fast-moving action-packed conclusion but utterly fails to satisfy emotionally.

With the monumental defeats at the hands of the more powerful Black Road armies, the True Bloods are in trouble. Adding to their seemingly inevitable annihilation is the alliance collapsed as each Blood Line chooses to save itself. At the same time Aeglyss' mental state seems increasingly deranged.

Blood Thane Orisian realistically understands what he and his people face as he has few shieldmen warriors left with his line nearing extinction. While his sister Anyara remains with Aewult the Bloodheir of the Haig Blood who are also in trouble, Orisian travels with Ess'yr the Fox Kyrinin and her brother. He knows he is falling in love with Ess'yr, but must defeat Aeglyss. At the same time, Kanin the Horin-Gyre Thane raises a heretical force of half-breed soldiers to fight Aeglyss.

The third and final Godless World epic fantasy is a great ending to an overall terrific saga. The story line is fast-paced along several well written fault lines that ultimately converge in an anticipated epic center confrontation. However, the key to this entire trilogy is the cast. No one is a John Wayne like hero as everyone has prejudice and a willingness to sacrifice those they consider lesser. The battles are graphic and the other scenes vivid as history on this world seem destined to repeat itself with the flow of the True Bloods almost defiantly heading to extinction. With the exception of needing a glossary handy, Brian Ruckley completes his chronicle with a wonderful winner.

Harriet Klausner

Ruckley's conclusion to a well written and involving series is one of the most detested of things a reader will ever experience: a cop-out. After two fabulous and thought provoking books, this final installment is one big disappointment.
After the reader becomes completely involved and very emotionally invested in the characters that Ruckley creates, he or she is then treated to very abrupt and uncaring solution to the problems that the characters encounter.
The loyalty that Rothe devotes to his charge was very impressive. Guess what happens to him out of the blue?
The character of Mordyn Jerain is very well thought out. He's a bad guy, but you can feel some sense of goodness that might be salvaged. The love between him and his wife is elaborately described. You almost wish for his redemtion for the sake of his wife's character. Guess how he gets treated.
Torquentine is another person who is intriguing. Excellent development of this guy. Although Ruckley never elaborates on his history very much, you can almost get a sense of how he got to where he's at. What ever becomes of him?
Then there's Aeglyss. I don't know if there's a character I've ever felt so mixed about. He's as evil as evil gets, yet you feel bad for him because Ruckley does an excellent job of showing you how he became that way. You want to see him understand his own evilness. Guess how Ruckley solves that problem?
Aewult, Ragnoc, The Haig Thane,.......all the people Ruckley spends so much time developing.....are treated in a rapid and sudden manner.
I've always relished convoluted solutions to the problems characters encounter. Evidently, Ruckley does not. He goes through a very involving process to create drama and involve the reader, then brings it all to a very abrupt halt. What a cop-out.

I am a huge Fan of this series. I can vividly remember the scenes and plots from both Winter Birth and Blood Heir. They remind me of George R.R. Martin Books in scope. This third book recaps what has gone before perfectly and you are pulled into the mind of Orisian as though you had never left. The images of the dark insidious plague that creeps into everyone and everything that incites madness and violence feel like a reflection of the world today. One simple personal vice and you become a pawn of Aegliss without realizing it. You are suddenly a puppet at the whim of a madman. The compelling truth is that Gods must come into the world to save men from themselves. A finer concept I cant imagine.

If you've plugged away through the first two novels don't give it up now. It's worth the read even if the ending isn't what you had hoped for.

I've read the series and a lot of the reviews and quite frankly I'm surprised no one seems to notice the following...

The 1st 2 books seem like the "bad" guys know every move the "Good" guys are going to make and take preemptive action. It's like there are spies everywhere and they have cell phones back to "bad guy central".

There are too many plots moves where it is hard to suspend disbelief. For instance, somewhere in the 2nd book an underworld figure is assassinated and his young son (12-ish?) vows revenge. The assassination was at the request of perhaps the 2nd most powerful character in the story, Mordyn, who leaves town (a rather large city) the next day chasing the protagonist Orisian. This young street child not only figures out Mordyn left, he figures out which way he is headed, leaves town in chase, steals a horse and tracks him into the mountains and successfully guns him down while Mordyn is surrounded by 20 guards. This from a kid that I had the feeling never had left the city before in his life. Give me a break!

Beyond that I found it hard to have much sympathy for any of the "good" characters and what sympathy I had was for the "bad" ones. In the end, I was fed up with Orisian could not care less about his outcome. You kind of knew where things were headed when his tepid romance with Ess'yr ends so trivially.

I liked the 3rd book the best

The Godless World trilogy started out with promise, but faltered at the end. Fall of Thanes is the least entertaining of the three books. Rather than all the events coming to a climax in the final book, the story just kind of peters out and ends.