The Watcher Of Dead Time by Edward Cox
Nov. 6th, 2016 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Labrys Town, home to a million humans cut off from the rest of the universe, has been invaded. Those who protected it have been deposed.
The Relic Guild are scattered across the worlds of the Aelfir. Many of them are dead or dying. The Genii control everything. The war is almost over.
Clara, a young woman barely able to control her werewolf side, has seen her friends and mentors killed in front of her. She is the last hope for Labrys Town.
But someone is watching her …
It’s immediately after THE CATHEDRAL OF KNOWN THINGS. Van Bam is dead. Viktor Gadreel has connected Clara to Known Things and now knows the location of Lord Spiral’s prison in Oldest Place. But all isn’t lost. Marney’s voice is in Clara’s mind and she knows that Known Things contains more secrets – secrets that could mean the defeat of the Genii once and for all. At the same time
Meanwhile Hamir has freed Lady Amilee from her dreamscape and is seeking answers on how to free Labrys Town from the control of the Genii and the mysterious blue spectre is leading Sergeant Ennis on his own quest to find out more about the new Resident and what her agenda for Labrys Town really is. Finally, Samuel, Glogelder, Namji and Hillem are on a quest of their own, which takes them to the Sisterhood of Bells (whose motives are firmly against helping Labrys Town’s inhabitants) and leads Samuel to suspect that someone is using the Relic Guild to play a very long game – a game that started 40 years earlier …
The last book in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy ties up all the plot threads and time lines in a satisfying way and although it suffers from two-dimensional antagonists (with the exception of Fabian Moor who’s given more depth), the world building and pacing makes it a satisfying conclusion. I particularly admire the way Cox is able to run two separate time lines in this novel, which enables him to show the development of his Relic Guild characters (from Sam’s cynicism and disillusionment to Marney’s relationship with Van Bam and the impact of her adventures on her own personality). Cox is also excellent at keeping his different plot lines running, which lends pace and I enjoyed the slow reveal of secret plans and how they tie in with points from the previous books. The big problem is that the antagonists are two-dimensional at best, particularly Lord Spiral who is little more than a cartoon villain. Fabian Moor’s disillusionment does offset that to a degree, but while he’s fleshed out more here I’m not convinced that it was enough to give credence to his crisis of faith. Ultimately I think that this is a solid conclusion to the trilogy with the overall story working well over the 3 books and on that basis, I will definitely check out what Cox writes next.
The Verdict:
The last book in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy ties up all the plot threads and time lines in a satisfying way and although it suffers from two-dimensional antagonists (with the exception of Fabian Moor who’s given more depth), the world building and pacing makes it a satisfying conclusion. I particularly admire the way Cox is able to run two separate time lines in this novel, which enables him to show the development of his Relic Guild characters (from Sam’s cynicism and disillusionment to Marney’s relationship with Van Bam and the impact of her adventures on her own personality). Cox is also excellent at keeping his different plot lines running, which lends pace and I enjoyed the slow reveal of secret plans and how they tie in with points from the previous books. The big problem is that the antagonists are two-dimensional at best, particularly Lord Spiral who is little more than a cartoon villain. Fabian Moor’s disillusionment does offset that to a degree, but while he’s fleshed out more here I’m not convinced that it was enough to give credence to his crisis of faith. Ultimately I think that this is a solid conclusion to the trilogy with the overall story working well over the 3 books and on that basis, I will definitely check out what Cox writes next.
Labrys Town, home to a million humans cut off from the rest of the universe, has been invaded. Those who protected it have been deposed.
The Relic Guild are scattered across the worlds of the Aelfir. Many of them are dead or dying. The Genii control everything. The war is almost over.
Clara, a young woman barely able to control her werewolf side, has seen her friends and mentors killed in front of her. She is the last hope for Labrys Town.
But someone is watching her …
It’s immediately after THE CATHEDRAL OF KNOWN THINGS. Van Bam is dead. Viktor Gadreel has connected Clara to Known Things and now knows the location of Lord Spiral’s prison in Oldest Place. But all isn’t lost. Marney’s voice is in Clara’s mind and she knows that Known Things contains more secrets – secrets that could mean the defeat of the Genii once and for all. At the same time
Meanwhile Hamir has freed Lady Amilee from her dreamscape and is seeking answers on how to free Labrys Town from the control of the Genii and the mysterious blue spectre is leading Sergeant Ennis on his own quest to find out more about the new Resident and what her agenda for Labrys Town really is. Finally, Samuel, Glogelder, Namji and Hillem are on a quest of their own, which takes them to the Sisterhood of Bells (whose motives are firmly against helping Labrys Town’s inhabitants) and leads Samuel to suspect that someone is using the Relic Guild to play a very long game – a game that started 40 years earlier …
The last book in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy ties up all the plot threads and time lines in a satisfying way and although it suffers from two-dimensional antagonists (with the exception of Fabian Moor who’s given more depth), the world building and pacing makes it a satisfying conclusion. I particularly admire the way Cox is able to run two separate time lines in this novel, which enables him to show the development of his Relic Guild characters (from Sam’s cynicism and disillusionment to Marney’s relationship with Van Bam and the impact of her adventures on her own personality). Cox is also excellent at keeping his different plot lines running, which lends pace and I enjoyed the slow reveal of secret plans and how they tie in with points from the previous books. The big problem is that the antagonists are two-dimensional at best, particularly Lord Spiral who is little more than a cartoon villain. Fabian Moor’s disillusionment does offset that to a degree, but while he’s fleshed out more here I’m not convinced that it was enough to give credence to his crisis of faith. Ultimately I think that this is a solid conclusion to the trilogy with the overall story working well over the 3 books and on that basis, I will definitely check out what Cox writes next.
The Verdict:
The last book in Edward Cox’s fantasy trilogy ties up all the plot threads and time lines in a satisfying way and although it suffers from two-dimensional antagonists (with the exception of Fabian Moor who’s given more depth), the world building and pacing makes it a satisfying conclusion. I particularly admire the way Cox is able to run two separate time lines in this novel, which enables him to show the development of his Relic Guild characters (from Sam’s cynicism and disillusionment to Marney’s relationship with Van Bam and the impact of her adventures on her own personality). Cox is also excellent at keeping his different plot lines running, which lends pace and I enjoyed the slow reveal of secret plans and how they tie in with points from the previous books. The big problem is that the antagonists are two-dimensional at best, particularly Lord Spiral who is little more than a cartoon villain. Fabian Moor’s disillusionment does offset that to a degree, but while he’s fleshed out more here I’m not convinced that it was enough to give credence to his crisis of faith. Ultimately I think that this is a solid conclusion to the trilogy with the overall story working well over the 3 books and on that basis, I will definitely check out what Cox writes next.
