| Title | : | The Empire of Ashes (The Draconis Memoria, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0356506444 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780356506449 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 560 |
| Publication | : | First published July 3, 2018 |
A drake of unimaginable power has risen, and it commands an army of both beasts and men. Rogue Blood-blessed Claydon Torcreek, Syndicate agent Lizanne Lethridge, and Ironship captain Corrick Hilemore, spread to disparate corners of the world, must rely upon the new powers and knowledge they have gained at great price to halt its forces–or face the end of all they know.
The Empire of Ashes (The Draconis Memoria, #3) Reviews
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ARC provided by the author and the publisher—Ace—in exchange for an honest review.
A decent conclusion for the Draconis Memoria trilogy, although it admittedly fell a bit short of my expectations.
The Empire of Ashes is the last book in the Draconis Memoria trilogy. I will let you know immediately that I really wanted to love this more than I did; I liked it but I didn’t love it. Please note that even though I had some problems reading through this trilogy, that doesn’t mean you will feel the same when you’re reading through it.
Without spoiling anything for the trilogy, the story continues immediately after the cliffhanger ending of The Legion of Flame. The beginning of this book was fantastic; Ryan is really good at showing the perspectives of the protagonists and antagonists, especially the POV from the antagonist’s side. If you have read the series up to here, you’ll notice that Ryan has been preparing for the final confrontation—which is the last 15% of the book—ever since the middle section of book one, and the final battle consists of a great large-scale action sequence. By this, I mean a horde of dragons, machinery, nautical warfare, and Ryan’s magic system are all incorporated into the last battle and some of the action scenes were really good. In this last installment, I also ended up thinking that my favorite character of the trilogy is the POV from the antagonist’s side who first appeared in Legion of Flame.
However, the preparation to reach the final battle ended up being too long for me and I felt the pacing dragged. The complex politics went on for a bit too long and Hilemore himself said the squabbling and minor politics didn’t matter. In a way, this goes to show just how selfish humans can be that even on the brink of disaster, all they’re thinking about is themselves but all the politics made me think "get to the war already, it's been too long". Eventually when the time comes, I also felt the final battle against the White Dragon ended too easily after all the buildup.
Personally, there was two aspects that I didn’t like about this trilogy. First, there was too much utilizing of the Blue Magic, which is the trance or the memory dive that is used to unfold the story, background, and world-building. Once or a few times is okay but after a while, it felt really distracting to me when a person is here and in the next sentence he’s immediately transported to the past for a long time. My second issue is that I failed to connect with the characters. I really tried loving/caring about them but other than Clay and the antagonist’s POV, I really didn’t care about the rest of the characters, and there are a LOT of them. Maybe my criticisms all came from my high expectations. I haven’t read the rest of Raven’s Shadow but Blood Song was one of the best reading experiences I’ve ever had; Vaelin Al Sorna is a character that I’ll always remember. There weren’t any too memorable characters in this trilogy since it felt more like a plot/action-driven book rather than character-driven (which is my favorite kind of story).
Overall though, this was a decent conclusion and everything has been wrapped up. Although this trilogy isn’t really suited for me, I had a good time with it and will be looking forward to Ryan’s next series. If you have enjoyed the trilogy up to here, there’s a huge chance that you’re going to love this one too. I recommend this trilogy to anyone who loves steampunk epic fantasy filled with large-scale dragons, battles, and machinery usage.
Series review:
The Waking Fire:
3.5/5 stars
The Legion of Flame:
4/5 stars
The Empire of Ashes: 3/5 stars
The Draconis Memoria trilogy: 10.5/15 stars
Official release date: July 3rd, 2018 (US) and July 5th, 2018 (UK).
You can pre-order the book
HERE!
You can find
this and the rest of my Adult Epic/High Fantasy & Sci-Fi reviews at
BookNest -
[4.5/5 stars!] Empire of Ashes solidified Draconius Memoria as one of the best series I’ve ever read!
For me this book started out with a bang and didn’t let up until the whirlwind finale. So much action and conflicts coming to a head that I wouldn’t recommend venturing into the last 25% if you have to get up early the next morning. This isn’t the kind of book easily set aside.
My favorite part was the convergence of storylines. This multiple POV series is unique for me because I feel equally drawn to all of the characters. It made for an amazing read because no matter which perspective had the stage, I was enjoying the ride immensely. Seeing how each person’s tale ended was particularly satisfying, as was the conclusion. I was really nervous this final book was going to be a letdown after how hard I’ve been fangirling for the series. It had a lot to live up to, and I’m so happy to report that it delivered.
As you would assume, this final book focuses more on action and conflict than exploration. The discovery of so many breathtaking places in the first two volumes is what helped solidify this series as a favorite. However in Empire of Ashes exploration is set aside in favor of action, conflict, and momentum. I missed that component a little, but at some point I guess it had to end (maybe I’m most upset that it ended at all – I want more!!). The story also contained quite a few answers to some burning questions I’ve had throughout the series. I find that the more I know, the more I want to discover. I’ll just throw it out there that this world is screaming for a prequel trilogy – there’s so much cool stuff packed into the histories that I feel we’ve only just scraped the surface thus far (Anthony Ryan, please write more!). :)
Let’s talk a minute about the dragons (or drakes, if you want to get picky). I absolutely love how well this series portrays dragons. Every aspect of their existence on this world and how it’s in conflict/harmony with humanity was in line with my favorite types of dragon stories. They’re not magical or ethereal, but their raw bestial attributes makes them feel magical, but still like the type of beings that could exist in our world. It might be funny to call them “realistic” dragons, but that’s how my dragon-obsessed mind thinks about them and why I loved them so much. Add to all of that practical uses for their blood (in the same vein that metals are useful to humans in Sanderson’s Mistborn series), and consider me sold.
Overall, Empire of Ashes had a lot of expectations to hold up to, and I’m thrilled it met all of mine. I’m still kind of reeling from the ending, but I’m certain that these gorgeous hardcovers will have a place of honor on my favorites shelf from here on out.
Recommendations: this series has quickly become my #1 recommend for fantasy readers, especially those who love dragons. It’s a cool flintlock fantasy that promises adventure, excitement, and intrigue at every turn. It is among my personal favorites and has the Obsessive Bookseller’s official stamp of endorsement. ;)
I’d like to thank Berkley Publishing Group, Anthony Ryan, and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy of Empire of Ashes. It was my most anticipated release of 2018, and you seriously made my year! :)
Via The Obsessive Bookseller at
www.NikiHawkes.com
Other books you might like:
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For me The Draconis Memoria series will forever remain in the shadow of Ryan's other great fantasy series the Raven’s Shadow trilogy. Raven's Shadow was fantastic for two books, good enough to match any of the other great fantasy series, and then Ryan botched things badly on the finale. The good news is that while The Draconis Memoria trilogy cannot match the heights of the Raven's Shadow trilogy it did not suffer from the same botched ending. The quality of this series remained solid throughout the trilogy and I was satisfied by the way Ryan managed to wrap up the various story arcs!
Ryan is an excellent fantasy author and one that can be depended on to deliver on multiple fronts. His world building is good, his plots are exciting, his characters have flaws but are still people the reader can root for, and his writing is always engaging!
The world in this fantasy series is a fascinating one. Two political superpowers jostle for dominance in the form of the Corvantine Empire and The IronShip Trading Syndicate. The Corvantine Empire is an Imperial Empire and the IronShip Trading Syndicate is a corporate run government. They have their own regions of power but have to share land on the mysterious and magic rich continent of Arradsia. Arradsia is key to global economy as it is the only place where drakes are to be found. The whole story is also taking place in era where steam power and guns and the like are just becoming common place. It gives the book a slight steampunk vibe to it when the magic and technology combine!
The magic is also pretty cool. Mages in this world are called Blood Blessed as they gain their powers from drinking drake blood. The various different colours of drakes blood grant different types of powers. It is the need for this supply of blood that makes Arradsia such an important place and powers the bulk of the regional economy!
This third instalment saw things ratch up in intensity across the three continents as the White drake, fresh from its conquest of Arradsia, takes its Spoiled army to the mainland in an effort to assert its dominance. It could not come at a worse time with the economy in disarray everywhere with the loss of the drake blood. Civil and financial issues plague the IronShip Trading Syndicate while the government in the Corvantine Empire are still at war following the revolution! Clay, Lizanne, and Hilemore have it tough finding a way to unite enough people to stand against the White's army and also digging into the secrets of the past to find a way to destroy the creature!
All in all I felt like the story in this instalment was an exciting one. We got a mix of action, intrigue, adventure, cool magic, and fun inventions. We also got a lot of military action as armies clashed on multiple fronts on land, sea, and even in the air! I felt that was both a strength and weakness for the story. Ryan is pretty good at writing action and battle scenes. He always keeps me fairly engaged and retains a good degree of tension throughout his various engagements and conflicts. That is impressive given I'm not always easy to keep engaged when it comes to lengthy action scenes! The only moan I have here was that this third instalment of the series contained just a bit too many battles one after the other so that by the time we reached the big finale at the end I was getting a bit burnt out on them. It was not too bad but I do wish we had a few more of the intrigue and adventure scenes that were a big part of the first and second books in the series and the early parts of this third book.
The good news is that I was engaged by the stories of all four major POV characters:
Lizanne Lethridge- A blood blessed spy and assassin in the employ of the Ironship Trading Syndicate.
Lizanne was the star of the whole trilogy for me and she again had a strong outing in this third instalment. Her loyalty to the Ironship Trading Syndicate was tested and she had to adapt more to the role of her Miss Blood persona and provide strong leadership to see the humans through the crisis rather than dip into the talents that had her as one of the Syndicate's great spies and undercover agents. Her full story arc in this one was enjoyable and wrapped up in a satisfactory fashion.
Claydon Torcreek - A young tough from the mean streets of an Arradsian settlement and a blood blessed.
Clay was always a likeable character and his adventures in this one were always interesting. He was tasked with continuing his mission to find a way to kill the White and free the Spoiled.
Corrick Hilemore - A naval officer on board an Ironship naval vessel.
With so much fighting both at land and at sea Corrick actually played a larger role in this story and got a chance to shine. It was good to see him involved in the major happenings of the story in this instalment as he had felt a bit marginalized in the others.
Sirus - Spoiled General.
Despite the horrible acts he commits while in thrall to the White it was tough not to like and sympathise with Sirus. I think it was a masterstroke from Ryan to introduce his POV in the second book as he gave us the chance to see how things were going in the White Drake's camp and how life truly was for the Spoiled. I always enjoyed his segments and loved watching him and the Spoiled leaders match wits with those of the human leaders in the various battle!
The ending could have been better but on the whole was more than satisfying enough that to leave me happy when the story concluded. I'd have lengthened the wrap up time rather than actually changed anything as my only complaint is that the story wrapped a bit to speedily after the big finale battle. Which seemed a pity as given the turmoil I'd have liked a more in depth glimpse at the world in the aftermath.
All in all this was a satisfying conclusion to a solid fantasy trilogy. It has definitely restored a bit of my faith in Ryan as a writer that was damaged by how Queen of Fire played out. I never doubted his talent or storytelling! Only his willingness to provide the sort of conclusion to his various story arcs that leave me feeling satisfied when the story ends. He did that here so I'll be looking forward to picking up more series by Ryan in the future.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Audio Note: I feel like this series really benefited by switching from Steven Brand to Steve West after the first book. Brand has a good voice but does not really voice act which can make telling the dialogue of the various characters apart a bit difficult. West has no such issues as his voice acting and character voices were both good. I also felt like he really matched the general narration tone and feel of Brand which really helped with the consistency. A good job from West all around! -
The Empire of Ashes is Anthony Ryan's final installment in The Draconis Memoria trilogy. One of my favorite things about this series is the diversity Ryan demonstrates; industrial type setting, modern weapons, great characters, magic system, dragons, espionage, revolution. He used all of these very well, and to great effect. These were all crucial elements of the story and affected the outcome. Some directly and others indirectly.
This was pretty much one big adventure from book 1 all the way to the end of book 3 for a few of these characters. To look back at the beginning and all the events that transpired until the end helped me appreciate this series as a whole more than I did with the books individually. Yes, I did have some issues, pacing in certain sections being the main thing, but nothing major. My enjoyment very much outweighed these minor issues.
The end sequence had plenty of action, and wrapped up most of the storylines nicely. But it did feel a little rushed in areas. Other than that, Mr. Ryan has greatly improved his skills on completing a series. Also, since he has decided to return to the story of Vaelin Al Sorna, I have little doubt he will eventually make his way back to this world. At least I hope he does.
The Draconis Memoria trilogy was a fun adventure and a great reminder of Anthony Ryan's talent as a writer. The greatest compliment I can give is if he writes it, then I will read it. I look forward to many more books from Mr. Ryan. I urge you all to go out and pick up one of his books and enjoy the journey he has set out before you."Time in war is not given....it's bought, with blood."
Actual Rating: 4 stars ****
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This was a solid ending to a good trilogy. I liked the magic system, and I've always loved dragons. The action scenes were well done, and the characters were many and varied.
My personal preference is for not quite so many point of views - I think the multiple outlooks kept me from getting emotionally involved to an extent. However, I think they were justified, because there was a lot to wrap up, and I don't know that it could have been done without seeing what was happening in so many places. -
He did it. He finished the trilogy as well as he started it.
The ending did seem a bit abrupt though. -
As it's been a while since I've read the previous 2 books it took me some time to get into this one and remember everything that has happened in the previous two. But the memory easily came back while reading.
I'm not very much into Pirates and all the description of the machinery sometimes confused me more than it helped (also in book 1 and 2). But I really enjoyed reading this book. Of course my two favourite characters are Lizanne and Clay but I also grew fond of Tekela and the Sirus. The world Anthony Ryan invented for this story is a pretty interesting one. With his other series I had the problem that I absolutely enjoyed book 1 (Blood song) but thought the other two couldn't live up to the high standard set with volume 1. That didn't happen in this series. It was a great read through all three books and I'll read them again some time. Only thing I thought sad was that (spoiler allert) all the "good" dragons died. But that didn't ruin the story for me :) -
very good ending to the trilogy - while a bit too pat on occasion, the book kept me interested and entertained till the end and it's definitely worth reading
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In the final part of this trilogy, the army of the white dragon army continues its horrific campaign by destroying one city after another and killing or enslave their inhabitants. At the same time, revolutions that break out divide people into political camps, making it impossible for them to understand that they must unite to deal with the threat that threatens the whole of mankind. Our heroes try to stop the destruction in every way by risking their lives but above all using their minds to find solutions and to be always one step ahead of the enemy. Somehow they do it, but in the end it is obvious that everything will be judged in a great final battle where they must strike the evil at its root.
The continuation of the story is interesting but I feel that this last book did not fully justify my expectations. For most of the book we are watching on the one hand the preparation for the great battle, with the training of the soldiers and discovery of new war technologies, and on the other the journey to find answers that will help. The first does not have enough interest as it is limited to various negotiations and descriptions of innovations, without the writer going further into the psychological parameter of preparation for dealing with such a terrible danger. This relative resting state was a very good opportunity for the writer to get deeper into the characters and their relationships, but he prefers not to do so. In the second we have essentially a smaller recurrence of the exploration story that we encounter in the second book, a story that is of course adventurous but does not offer anything new although surely the revelations encountered by the heroes put the reader in some thought. Of course there is some interest in all of this but the author does not manage to make the reader emotionally involved. An example of this lack is that while we closely follow the course of the white dragon army and its atrocities, their description is completely dry and thus has no emotional impact.
With all of this, we are on the way to the final battle, and things there are greatly improving till the epic finale. There, the author does a very good job describing the battles in a very exciting way that me at least swept me away. The nice thing is that in these battles, beyond the description of the events, we enter into the psychology of our heroes and so with the action there is enough emotion. This is magnified by the fact that the final battle takes place both at the level of the action of the troops and at the level of the emotional battle which is equally important. In other words, the author finally managed to compensate me, greatly reversing most of the negative impressions. At this end, even ending his reference to political systems, indirectly speaking of the infinite possibilities of compromise and linking it to the rest of history, it becomes clearer that the main issue is freedom and that the struggle in the end is about it.
Στο τελευταίο μέρος αυτής της τριλογίας ο στρατός του λευκού δράκου συνεχίζει την φρικιαστική εκστρατεία του καταστρέφοντας τη μία πόλη μετά την άλλη, σκοτώνοντας ή σκλαβώνοντας τους κατοίκους τους. Την ίδια ώρα οι επαναστάσεις που ξεσπούν χωρίζουν τους ανθρώπους σε πολιτικά στρατόπεδα κάνοντας τους ανίκανους να καταλάβουν ότι πρέπει να ενωθούν για την αντιμετώπιση το κίνδυνο που απειλεί ολόκληρη την ανθρωπότητα. Οι ήρωες μας προσπαθούν σταματήσουν την καταστροφή με κάθε τρόπο ρισκάροντας τις ζωές τους αλλά πάνω από όλα χρησιμοποιώντας το μυαλό τους για να βρουν λύσεις και να είναι πάντα ένα βήμα μπροστά από τον εχθρό. Κάπως τα καταφέρνουν αλλά στο τέλος είναι φανερό ότι όλα θα κριθούν σε μία μεγάλη τελική μάχη όπου θα πρέπει να χτυπήσουν το κακό στη ρίζα του.
Ενδιαφέρουσα η συνέχεια της ιστορίας αλλά νιώθω ότι αυτό το τελευταίο βιβλίο δεν δικαίωσε εντελώς τις προσδοκίες μου. Στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος του βιβλίου παρακολουθούμε από τη μία την προετοιμασία για τη μεγάλη μάχη, με την εκπαίδευση των στρατιωτών και την εύρεση πολεμικών τεχνολογιών και από την άλλη το ταξίδι για την αναζήτηση απαντήσεων που θα βοηθήσουν σε αυτή. Τον πρώτο δεν έχει αρκετό ενδιαφέρον καθώς περιορίζεται σε διάφορες διαπραγματεύσεις και περιγραφές καινοτομιών, χωρίς ο συγγραφέας να εμβαθύνει περισσότερο στην ψυχολογική παράμετρο της προετοιμασίας για την αντιμετώπιση ενός τόσο τρομερού κινδύνου. Αυτή η κατάσταση σχετικής ηρεμίας ήταν πολύ καλή ευκαιρία για τον συγγραφέα να εμβαθύνει περισσότερο στους χαρακτήρες και στις μεταξύ τους σχέσεις αλλά προτιμά να μην το κάνει. Στο δεύτερο έχουμε ουσιαστικά μία επανάληψη σε μικρότερη κλίμακα της ιστορίας εξερεύνησης που συναντάμε στο δεύτερο βιβλίο, μία ιστορία που είναι φυσικά περιπετειώδης αλλά δεν προσφέρει κάτι καινούργιο αν και σίγουρα οι αποκαλύψεις που συναντάμε οι ήρωες μας βάζουν τον αναγνώστη σε κάποια σκέψη. Φυσικά υπάρχει κάποιο ενδιαφέρον ακόμα και σε όλα αυτά αλλά ο συγγραφέας δεν καταφέρνει να κάνει τον αναγνώστη να εμπλακεί συναισθηματικά. Ένα παράδειγμα αυτής της έλλειψης είναι ότι ενώ παρακολουθούμε στενά την πορεία του στρατού του λευκού δράκου και τις βαρβαρότητες που κάνει, η περιγραφή τους είναι εντελώς ξερή και έτσι δεν έχει συναισθηματικό αντίκτυπο.
Με όλα αυτά φτάνουμε στην πορεία για την τελική μάχη και εκεί τα πράγματα βελτιώνουν σημαντικά μέχρι το πραγματικά επικό φινάλε. Εκεί ο συγγραφέας κάνει πολύ καλή δουλειά περιγράφοντας τις μάχες με έναν πολύ συναρπαστικό τρόπο που εμένα τουλάχιστον με παρέσυρε. Το ωραίο είναι ότι μέσα σε αυτές τις μάχες πέρα από την περιγραφή των γεγονότων μπαίνουμε και στην ψυχολογία των ηρώων μας και έτσι μαζί με τη δράση υπάρχει και αρκετό συναίσθημα. Αυτό μεγεθύνεται και από το γεγονός ότι η τελική μάχη γίνεται τόσο στο επίπεδο της δράσης των στρατευμάτων, όσο και στο επίπεδο της συναισθηματικής μάχης μου είναι εξίσου σημαντική. Με άλλα λόγια ο συγγραφέας στο τέλος κατάφερε να με αποζημιώσει, ανατρέποντας σε μεγάλο βαθμό τις αρνητικές εντυπώσεις. Σε αυτό το τέλος μάλιστα τελειώνει και η αναφορά του στα πολιτικά συστήματα, μιλώντας έμμεσα για τις άπειρες δυνατότητες που δίνει ο συμβιβασμός και συνδέοντας αυτό με την υπόλοιπη ιστορία γίνεται πιο ξεκάθαρο ότι το κύριο θέμα είναι η ελευθερία και ότι ο αγώνας στο τέλος αφορά αυτήν. -
Wonderful! RTC
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Môžem povedať, že celkovo ma séria Draconis Memoria bavila, ale samotný tretí diel Říše popela už bol na mňa príliš.
Autor píše veľmi pútavo, dáva priestor mnohym postavám a vytvára zaujímavé a nevšedné charaktery, ale mrzí ma, že ma ničím neprekvapil. Mám rada, ak pri čítaní ostanem vo fáze ,,sánka dolu”, ale tu bolo takmer všetko predvídateľné.
Pribudlo len minimum nových postáv, dej sa presunul z kontinentu do celého sveta a postavy sa presúvali z miesta na miesto, kde som neustále čumela do mapy, aby som sa zorientovali. Postavy sa medzi sebou počas deja preplietali, ale bolo jasne, že sa napokon všetky stretnú v jednej veľkej záverečnej bitke.
Až príliš často som mala pocit, že príbeh je umelo a niekedy až násilne naťahovaný a predlžovaný a myslím, že pokojne sa cela séria mohla okresať, aby som pri nej nezaspávalo.
Nebolo všetko iba zlé, ako som už spomínala, postavy boli skvelé, a to či už tie kladné ako aj záporné. Kazda dostala svoj priestor. Len tie boje - jeden boj tu, dalš�� zase niekde ďalej. Stále sa iba bojovalo, vyrábali sa nové zbrane, zháňali další ,,bojovníci”. Mnohí umierali, a to bielej ľudia, ale aj Skazení a draci a čakala som len na záver, kedy konečne porazila Bielokožca, aby to už skončilo. -
4.5 stars
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For hundreds of years, the Ironship Trading Syndicate was fueled by drake blood--and protected by the Blood-blessed, those few who could drink it and wield fearsome powers. But now the very thing that sustained the corporate world threatens to destroy it.
3.5 stars. This is the conclusion to The Draconis Memoria trilogy and I liked it quite a bit. I gave the first two books in the trilogy 4 stars each, but this time around I didn't enjoy the reading journey quite as much. I think some of it had to do with pacing. I felt this book was very slow to get to it's conclusion. There were several places that it dragged and I just wanted the story to move on. Another thing was, I really wanted to see more at the end of the book about what happened to certain relationships and how they end up. There were mostly hints about romances, but nothing more. The characters in general could have used a little more work. I think that there being so many characters in the series, it made it harder to really get to know them as well as we could have. Because there were so many, I would forget who a person was now and then, or get them mixed up, but for the most part the author does a good job at juggling them all.
One of the best things about this series as a whole is the magic system and the portrayal of the dragons. Anthony Ryan did a great job with the world building. Another thing I loved about this book in particular were the airships. I guess I have a thing for those. While I enjoyed reading this trilogy, thought it was very well written, and gave the books high ratings, I still do not count it as a favorite. I think the reason is simply that it was not as easy to connect with the characters as I wanted and the story is more plot driven than character driven. I still highly recommend this trilogy to anyone that likes dragons or steampunk inspired fantasy though.
Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing me with a copy of this book.
Review also posted at
Writings of a Reader -
Anthony Ryan is one of my favourite fantasy authors to date. I was therefore expecting something quite special when I came to read the final novel in the Draconis Memoria series. To some degree the novel delivered what I was hoping for in terms of a tidy conclusion, but there were far more battles and conflict compared to the adventure and exploration I enjoyed so much in the first two novels.
The malevolent White Drake is taking over the world, with only a handful of people who can hope to stop it. Claydon Torcreek discovers secrets of the deep past on his voyage with Corrick Hilemore, while Lizanne Lethridge works with the remaining military forces to bring an end to The White’s reign of terror.
Once again Lizanne Lethridge remained my favourite character of the series and every chapter of hers was filled to the brim with intense excitement and left me gagging for more. I have to say though, I enjoyed Sirus’s chapters considerably more this time round and thought the last couple were especially touching, if a little sad.
Once the novel hit the finale it became a nonstop roller coaster which left me in me in fear for some of my favourite characters. I was surprised that a large number of them survived. The only criticism I really have is that the ending felt a little abrupt.
On the whole I’ll give Empire of Ashes 4 out of 5 stars since I think it just missed the standard of the previous two novels. Overall Draconis Memoria is an excellent series, and a must read if you like pirates and dragons. I look forward to more novels set in this universe, be they prequels or sequels. For now though, I will see what Mr Ryan has written regarding Vaelin al Sorna in The Wolf’s Call. -
Wow! The battle scenes were so explosive, literally and figuratively. I don't think even the Dance of the Dragons or the wars during Valyrian Freehold's heydays - sorry, A Song of Ice and Fire reference there - had these many dragons.
I am so terribly happy this does not suck like the final book of his previous trilogy. This book could use some trimming but overall it has been an exhilarating experience with so many good characters including one of my now topmost favorite female characters ever, Lizanne Lethridge. Now I want to read more steampunk spy stories. Any suggestions? -
Review to come, but a pretty damn good ending
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3.5 stars.
Whilst this was a slow burn, it was a good book. I did thoroughly enjoy the story of this whole trilogy. -
Executive Summary: Another solid book. I thought this was a much better ending to this series than
Queen of Fire was to his previous series.
Audiobook: Steve West once again does a great job. I wish they would have just used him for the whole series rather than switching after one book. He does a variety of voices that adds that little something extra to the audio to make it worth listening over reading in my opinion.
Full Review
I absolutely loved
Blood Song, which seems to be a fairly popular consensus among my friends on Goodreads. I also loved
Tower Lord which was much less of a consensus. However most seemed to agree that
Queen of Fire was not a great ending to what I thought was an otherwise amazing series.
I was initially reluctant to pick this series up as a result. Getting a free review copy made me give it a chance and I was pleasantly surprised. I didn't enjoy it as much as his first series but it was an improvement over
Queen of Fire.
I keep referring back to that book because it loomed large in my mind as I went into this book. The last two books were good, but could he stick the landing this time? To me the answer is yes. I didn't love this book like
Blood Song/
Tower Lord, but it wasn't a drop off in quality from the previous books in this series that I felt
Queen of Fire was.
Once again my favorite story belongs to Lizanne, or as I like to call her "Jane Bond". I loved the idea of a secret agent with magic powers and cool gadgets that let her harness her magic powers in fun ways.
With regards to the others POVs, they were good enough. I was originally not a big fan of Clay, but his story got much better as the series went on. Hilemore felt completely disconnected at the start of the series but became relevant by the end of the first book. His POV felt a bit redundant/unnecessary at the start of this book, but was important again later on.
I did find some parts of this book slow, but it was always entertaining. I'm a big fan of dragons, so that helped carry me through some of the slower parts.
It sounds like Anthony Ryan will be returning to the world of his Raven's Shadow series next (which I'm cautiously optimistic about), but I'd happily read another book set in the Draconis Memoria world if he decides to make one down the road. -
I was struggling between 2 and 3 stars... and decided to give it 3, because I really enjoy Anthony Ryan's writing style, it is rich and flows beautifully.
Unfortunately, the last book in the Draconis Memoria series was too underwhelming, weird, and rushed for my taste. All of three books are long so let's say that the buildup has been going on for quite some time. However, it seemed to me as if the author was in a hurry to end the series? At the end, I felt no connection whatsoever to the characters or their fates. Some of the relationships weren't even explored to the end, and trust me, reading more than 1500 pages only to come to a rushed and incomplete conclusion makes me really disappointed. -
Notes:
Of the three books, the Empire of Ashes had the best pacing. Full steam ahead and all obstacles will be swept away by force or guile. Action packed, several plot threads are neatly tied and there's hope within the ashes.
Except, I really wanted more about the dragons, various histories and a better understanding between dragons & humans. Maybe I'm just a greedy reader, but I don't think I'm asking for too much.
I'm sure to re-read the trilogy. Curious to see how much of what I thought will stay the same or change.
Recommend reading the series vs listening to the audiobook. -
“Time in war is not given….it’s bought, with blood.”
https://thereadingstray.com/2021/04/2...
So what’s the book about?
Freedom will be paid for with much blood and fire in the war against the White Dragon. Everything is at stake and the sacrifices to be made are very high. The white dragon has risen and his army of beasts, dragons and spoiled are fighting the humans. Their survival is at stake. Former thief and unregistered Blood Blessed Claydon Torcreek, Lizanne Lethridge the agent, and Captain Corrick Hilemore are in very different places on Earth. But as the world goes up in flames, they confront the deadly force. But there is a glimmer of hope, and it lies in ancient forgotten knowledge that could make it possible to save the future. Secrets from ancient days must be uncovered to ensure victory against the reign of the white dragon.
These aspects attracted me the most while reading.
This book follows on directly from volume 2, after a diary entry by Lewella Tythencroft. So the suspense is back in full force right from the start. It gets even bloodier and crueller, but also very exciting again. There are many battles and also many victims. The action is not neglected here, as you learned a lot about the characters in the previous volumes, here the focus is more on the big showdown at the end, which will bring the decision. This part is clearly more battle-heavy and there are numerous descriptions of various strategies as the battle of superlatives is prepared. This time there are plenty of losses on the side of the defenders and we also have to say goodbye to beloved characters.
Variety is brought by the corrupt Sirus, who has recently joined the army of the White Dragon and describes things from his very special point of view. This gave the book strong recognition value and also insight into both opposing sides. Sirus is portrayed in an incredibly deep brokenness. This character’s emotions and interaction with Catheline are, for me, the strongest and most human scenes in the book – where he is actually suppressing humanity and she is insane. He presents the perfect commander, who it seems also wants the same goal like the white dragon. But already in the second volume you could see that he actually doesn’t want to support the whole thing and wants to destroy the white dragon’s rule. Sirus’ feelings were always torn back and forth and I had to suffer with him. His whole story is just riddled with madness and sadness and unfortunately this character doesn’t even experience anything of joy and happiness.
Lizanne goes down in history as Miss Blood. Her many adventures and exploits over the last two volumes are now paying off as she is known everywhere, even by the pirates. She has become a heroine in her own right, even though all she really wants to do is her job. As always, she also gets involved in politics – against her principles. She is one of the few female main characters I really like, because although she is a strong woman, she acts irrationally in many things, such as her relationship with Tekela. Actually, Lizanne is a tough personality who doesn’t allow room for love and affection, but Tekela transforms Lizanne. And Tekela’s development is also beautiful to watch, as the one annoying and spoilt brat becomes more and more her mentor. Just a great duo, I would love to read more of these two women.
In this book you also realise that dragons are not evil per se, but are also only victims of their circumstances. They are forced to fight, although they do not necessarily want to. They are intelligent beings who are tortured and hunted by humans and therefore have to defend themselves. Otherwise, they are normal beings who also have feelings and therefore take revenge on family members. This complex construct makes the dragons highly interesting and very exciting to read about.
Let the fight begin: Previous Books vs Final Book.
Volume three seamlessly follows the story of the first two volumes and a diary entry provides a very successful introduction to the third volume. I think the first two volumes differ in some points from the third volume, as the third volume focuses more on the battle, which of course was predictable. The first two volumes had given me more of a sense of an adventure journey like Indiana Jones and I had liked that kind of story better as a big battle. But that doesn’t make the third volume worse, it’s just different from the previous volumes. The characters are still exciting to read about, you know what makes each one tick and that’s why it’s very exciting to read despite the change of direction. If I had to decide which part I liked best, it would definitely be the middle volume – although there is often the middle book syndrome. The story in the prison town was my absolute highlight in this series.
So what are my final thoughts about it?
A world living on the magic of dragon blood undergoes slow industrialisation and is shaped according to the needs of a burgeoning capitalism. The war that suddenly breaks out demands efficient action. He tells the story with his usual rich imagery in a completely gripping writing style that draws the reader into the new world in such a way that it becomes increasingly difficult to put the book down. He strikes a brilliant blow here and, as befits a high-fantasy epic, everything culminates in a great battle. Ryan is again convincing with his creative style and so the 600 pages, which seem extensive at the beginning, are unfortunately quickly history. The end of this unbelievably great series was satisfying, but in my opinion the path of each individual could have been described in a little more detail. In the end, I liked this series very much and it is one of my favourites from now on! -
I really enjoyed ready this book, I really enjoyed how the author wrapped up the ending with a really fast paced and enjoyable ending with also leaving a possible return to this excellent world for more books.
From the start Anthony has written and created very strong female characters throughout the series who really came alive and grew as the book ended.
A excellant highly recommend book and series. -
If the writing style of this author didn't annoy me, I'd give this book and series four stars. Dragons versus the world in a make believe land. Ryan likes to center his chapters on the main characters going back and forth. Given there are maybe five characters of note, he will take each one in turn. His nasty and irksome habit is to end each chapter with something "about to happen." I call them cliff hangers. However, most outcomes are predictable once you get used to his story's theme.
This series of three books could have easily been one single book. -
I thought this was a stand-alone when I accepted it from NetGalley, but discovered it was book three in a long, complicated series.
The story throws the reader right in where the previous ones must have ended. So most of this book, until the last fifth, was preparation for an amazingly complex final battle.
I found it difficult to engage with the characters, partly because third book, but also the characters kept taking a magical drug that propelled them into the past. So it seemed as soon as the pacing would begin to pick up, wham, another long flashback. Mind, these flashbacks might mean a lot more to a reader of the previous volumes.
There was also what I considered way too much from the villains point of view. I get it, these are villains. I didn’t need yet another scene of killing hapless innocents in gross ways to get the idea across that these are all connected to the Big Bad, a White Dragon.
On the plus side, the world-building was complex and intriguing, with machinery, dragons, psi powers and magical drugs all mixed up. There was also quite a bit of petty politics, which again might have had more impact if I’d known the characters before. But a lot of them were so short-sighted and selfish I don’t know that I would have wanted to follow them for three long books.
It’s a strongly plot-driven book, with plenty of action and an interesting world, that comes to a gigantic smashup of a climax.
Strongly suggest potential readers begin with book one!
Copy provided by NetGalley -
![julia ☆ [owls reads]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1636739475i/5520447._UX200_CR0,0,200,200_.jpg)
First completed series of the year!
The Empire of Ashes was a fun read, but I expected a little more from it. I still loved the world-building surrounding the dragons and how involved it was with the plot, but I kind of felt like the great majority of this book was the characters moving from one place to the next so they could finally have the big final confrontation we were all waiting for. A confrontation which was pretty cool and very intense to read about, but still. -
The sheer span and scope is mind-boggling - in a good way. In a GREAT way, in fact.
I still can't get my head wrapped around how Ryan was able to put together such an expansive story with so many characters and information and keep it fascinating page after page. To me it's like part military history text of World War II (and I love that stuff), part steampunk novel, and part grand epic fantasy, all made to work in a way I would have previously thought impossible. This series, and particularly The Empire of Ashes, carries us through breathtaking campaigns all over the world, by land, sea, and air, while also describing the fascinating political, economic and technological military industrial developments akin to both that WWI and WWII - but add to that dragons, sea monsters, magic, and armies of the undead. I'm simply amazed. More so because the characters never get lost. They're front and center all the way through.
Speaking of the characters, I can't remember a book where they were more complex yet interesting. Ryan's ability to craft them and bring them to life is masterful - particularly in that we see our hero's sometimes do terrible things, and the most despicable characters at times do the most wonderful things - and most times when we least expect it. Friends can become our worst enemies, and enemies can become the most stalwart allies. It just feels real, but still with that sense of fantastical wonder we all crave.
As a final note: Without giving anything away, hats off and a deep bow with an ear-to-ear grin for the name given to one of the aerostats (from one of my favorite television shows of all time). Hint hint, nudge nudge, say no more... -
The final book in The Draconis Memoria Series delivered all that I was promised! I’m really happy how strong this series was throughout and I absolutely enjoyed my time in this world. If you haven’t added this book on your list here are a few incentives:
• Dragons – wild and untamed
• Unexplored and rich world – dense jungle, misty mountaintops, frosty poles, vast ocean, sandy plains and of course the hidden monsters
• Cool magic system
• Steampunk technology
• Great and diverse cast of characters
• Contemporary and social criticism
Concerning my last complaint that the POVs were not well connected, this instalment did not suffer from that problem anymore, where all the different characters slowly merged and pushed the story onwards. I almost couldn’t read fast enough. Finally, a few Spoiler comments and best references:
“Leaving thousands of refugees to fend for themselves in the middle of the ocean is an unconscionable act”
Wealth, it transpires, is what those in authority deem it to be.
5 full stars: highly recommended! -
I would say this was a satisfying conclusion to the Draconis Memoria series. I think my actual rating would be more of a 3.5 stars but I am going to round up. The biggest pro for me about this series is how after book one the series and story found a solid and stable footing. The first book was definitely a hard book for me to get into and some of the POVs that we had were not all that interesting to be quite honest. With that being said, The Empire of Ashes was so so good from beginning to end.
Lizanne, Clay, and the POV from the antagonists point of view were spectacular. Lizanne will always be my favorite, she was such a badass and she knew it. Clay progressively got more enjoyable with each installment. The antagonists POV was great from the get go, it added this edge that the story needed to keep you on the edge of your seat. Then we come to Hilemore, I wish he was left out. I never once got invested in his story unless he was integrated in with one of the other POVs. You can tell he was there for the action and really nothing more.
Now as much as I enjoyed the magic system we had in this series. I wanted more from it. The magic system uses blood from the different drakes and only the Blood-blessed can use it. You got Green, Black, Blue, etc. We spent a lot of the time using the blue to advance the world building and progress the story that the other aspects of this magic system kind of fell to the wayside a little bit. But I still really enjoyed it, don't get me wrong, I just wanted more.
I do agree with some other fellow reviewers when they say that this series will be overshadowed by what is undoubtedly one of the best debut novels ever (I'm looking at you Blood Song). But I want to say try and clear your mind because this series and that series are on two completely different sides of the scale. I definitely find faults in both, neither are perfect, but each are unique in there own retrospect.
The Waking Fire-3/5
The Legion of Flames-4/5
The Empire of Ashes-4/5
The Draconis Memoria-11/15 -
This series, The Draconis Memoria, is very interesting. First the setting. Unlike other Fantasies setting that use Medieval or Victorian setting, this series would have been put in the StreamPunk genre if not for the Dragons and their blood that take the place of the stream. DragonPunk ? The Dragon Blood also fuels the magic for the Blood Blessed, those who are super sensitive to the blood. Add guns, bombs and paddle ships fueled by Dragon Blood, you have a very different series. Anthony Ryan knows how to spin a tale, creating fleshed out characters acting in a smart and lively plot. Told by multiple POV first person narratives, both among the good guys, and the bad guys.
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Velmi slušné zakončení dračí trilogie, ale jednu hvězdičku přeci jen Ryan ztrácí. Z této série je třetí díl nejslabší.
U dvojky jsem vytkla příliš velkou štěstěnu hlavních postav - v trojce se však karta obrátila. Velké štěstí tady naopak mají nepřátelé, a to až neskutečné. I kvůli tomu se některé pasáže vlečou, byť v jádru je Ryan stále schopný vnést do děje dramatičnost a spád. Závěr není úplně nečekaný, ale čte se dobře, rozuzlení je však možná trochu uspíšené a nepořádné. Přesto má Anthony Ryan něco, co nutí číst dál a dál, a stal se bezesporu mým novým oblíbeným autorem. Těším se, s čím přijde příště.
