Series: Blood of Kings #3
Published by Enclave Publishing on April 2011
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Suspense, Fantasy
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Achan steps into his role as Crown Prince and prepares for war. But war against whom? Could Esek still be alive? Has Lord Nathak taken Esek's place? Or is the mysterious Hadad the true enemy Achan must confront?
Vrell has her own agenda of serving Prince Oren as a healer, but when she is stormed and lost to the Veil, Achan does all he can to bring her back. His conversations with her are strange, though, as if she has no memory of who he is.
In a land consumed by Darkness, the fate of Er'Rets hangs in the balance as Achan endeavors to take the throne and end the reign of Darkness.
Achan Cham, the stray recently discovered to be Gidon Hadar, heir to the throne of Er’Rets, has finally accepted his destiny. By Darkness Hid told us the story of Achan’s discovery of his heritage while From Darkness Fled dealt with him accepting it. But accepting a destiny does not guarantee it. A war must be waged to bring light into Darkness. And that is the story of From Darkness Won.
Williamson expands her mythology, explaining a bit more about the supernatural dark side of Er’Rets and the reason for Darkness in the first place. Unresolved questions of the past find themselves answered naturally through the story while the action continues at a mostly relentless pace. Characters not seen since the saga began also make a reappearance to be of more use and tie off their storylines. From Darkness Won is a story of the path to victory, a path that will not be easy.
Like in the first two novels, Williamson offsets Achan’s storyline with a storyline from Vrell’s point of view. I think this technique worked well overall in the trilogy, not just allowing for more than one point of view, but also to draw in both male and female readers with characters they can more easily identify with.
Vrell’s storyline finally shows some development. Although I know it was Williamson’s goal—at least in part—by the middle of this novel I was incredibly annoyed with this girl who showed such strength, maturity, and independence when we were first introduced to her and reduced that to running away from her own feelings. She does end up making a decision and following through with that, endearing me to her once again.
My criticisms are minor and few. Some time is spent introducing and fleshing out the concept of veil warfare, which ties to the bloodvoicing ability that plays a large part in the series. I think there were points where this was overdone or overemphasized, which stalls the story at points. The novel’s secondary relationships and love triangles (or quadrangles) also bog the story down, even if they do offer interesting conclusions to those character’s storylines.
The story’s conclusion is magnificent and breathtaking. Williamson does a good job of not making things too tidy while providing the reader with a sense of closure. The written saga is over but the narratives of the characters in The Blood of Kings continue on. With two novels of buildup, Williamson does an excellent job of delivering in this finale. From Darkness Won is an excellent end to an amazing series and Williamson has entrenched herself in the hall of authors I’ll be keeping an eye on.
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