| Title | : | Temple of the Oracle (Fate of Wizardoms, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1949382206 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781949382204 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 340 |
| Publication | : | Published January 28, 2020 |
Thrones lie vacant while a power-hungry wizard lord seeks world domination. Armed with unequaled power, who can stop his mad lust for conquest?
Monsters from legend arise and stalk the land. Who or what is behind their return?
The Seers of Kelmar, a reclusive sect of prophets, claim the future has become obscured from their visions. What foreboding future awaits the Eight Wizardoms?
A band of reluctant heroes embark on a quest to stop the chaos sweeping over the Eight Wizardoms. Can they prevent the end of their world?
Temple of the Oracle is the third entry in Fate of Wizardoms, a thrilling epic fantasy saga from bestselling author Jeffrey L. Kohanek.
Temple of the Oracle (Fate of Wizardoms, #3) Reviews
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This series gets better and better with each book!
There is something about Jeffrey L. Kohanek's writing that makes you forget the world around you, and get lost within the pages of his tale.
In the third installment of The Fate of Wizardoms Series, the plot thickens, the mystery deepens and the characters shine.
The Eight Wizardoms are threatened like never before. By monsters from legend, that arise and stalk the land and by a power-hungry wizard lord, who seeks world domination. But that is not the worst of it. The Balance of magic keeps shifting and the Gods may not welcome the change.
Our band of reluctant heroes are continuing their quest to stop the chaos sweeping over the Eight Wizardoms. And this part of their journey takes them to the fabled Temple of the Oracle, home of The Seers of Kelmar, a reclusive sect of prophets. They claim the future has become obscured from their visions and require help in divining what foreboding future awaits the Eight Wizardoms.
The pacing is little slower this time around, not so full of battle scenes. And yet, the tale is even more engaging. Because the pieces start falling into place and we start to get some answers. And then there is that irresistible charm of the characters who grow and develop right before our eyes.
Jerrell aka Jace, the thief, starts settling down a little. Hard not to do when princess and master wizardess Narine has had him bewitched - in the best sense of the word. :D Narine on the other hand, is slowly beginning to discover her more playful and daring side, constantly taking the rest of the band by surprise.
Adyn and Rhoa don't shine so much in this part of the tale, but Rawk the maker, on the other hand... I am so eager to see how things will continue with his newly found feelings for his - up till now - good friend. :) Nope - I'm not telling you who that is. You're gonna have to read this to find out. Though you've probably already guessed if you've read books 1 and 2.
Brogan, the retired soldier.... I absolutely loved him here! And Blythe, his companion, perhaps even more. Princess Priella is also a very interesting addition and I'm eager to see if she'll join the good side or revel in the dark.
The Fate of Wizardoms is an engaging epic fantasy series with something for every single reader out there. Wonderful wordbuilding, an ingenious magic system, beautifully crafted characters, great mystery and intrigue, witty banter and fun filled adventure, as well as dash of romance.
It is a wonderful and gripping tale that I highly recommend to all fantasy lovers out there.
Find this review and more on my book review and cover art blog
The Magic Book Corner -
I didn’t like it.
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I do try to keep my reviews spoiler-free for the book I am reviewing. Previous books in a series are a whole different thing so be warned- past book spoilers may be present.
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Jeffrey Kohanek brings us another fun story in the Wizardoms series.
Resuming the story almost directly after the events of the last book, with death of Lord Raskor (we seem to have a theme here where I start my review with the death of a past character) our group of friends are invited to the beautiful seer city of Kelmar. Likely built by Rawk’s people; Kelmar is found deep under the mountains and it is quite a trek through a frigid, and lifeless forest landscape to arrive at the entrance to the city lit with purple-hued gems of magic.
The Seers of Kelmar, seek our friends help in verifying the correct sequence of events out of their past prophecies in hopes that cancelling out some of those multitudes of possibilities, will help direct them to the correct future events- which have become cloudy and obscured to their scrying.
If they can figure out where on the timeline things went wrong, they may be able to change the path of the future and save their world from the destructive cycle it is on.
Meanwhile a worrisome prophecy seems to point to our main players having key roles in events that could drastically change the fragile bonds between them.
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This world is expanding as fast as the wizards are dying, bringing us lots of cool in-world ideas and places to visit. This story has a bit of the “middle book” feel as things do slow down a little and we get some needed character time and some plot/character pieces placed.
Of our friends-
Quite a bit of time is spent in Kelmar giving us lots character bonding time.
Rawk and Roah spend some time in the limelight after taking a backseat to Jace and Narine last book, we see their friendship becomes stronger and hints of a deeper kind of connection. That’s not to say Jace and Narine are ignored this time around either, Jace learns a few things about himself, including that he can be a bit of an ass and maybe needs to apologize occasionally.
Adyn is there as always to have Narine’s back (she happens to be my favourite of the friends).
And the Princess Priella, daughter to Lord Raskor and old acquaintance of Narine’s, has rejoined her mother and looks like she is going to be a handful for someone; we will see who she ends up causing the most trouble for in the next book.
Of our bad guys.
There is lot of shifting in power in this series. As the top dog falls, the wizards are scrambling to gain that vacant position of power, forming new alliances and old loyalties are being ditched quicker than these old men can change their socks.
Now some favorites (like Garvin) are starting to doubt their unquestioning loyalty to their employer and if they are worth following. There are hints of possibly big changes in this quarter which could shake a few things up in the future, making for some fun and interesting circumstances, I am sure.
Quick paced and actiony fun! I find these are nice bite-size breather books to read in between those heavier and darker themed chonkers that have filled up my kindle.
other notes-
-As always, I appreciate the “what has come before” in the form of Salvon’s journal. Even without the time between stories for me just the refresher on the names is nice because the cast is so large with people moving in and out, sometimes dying or doing things off-screen only to reappear in a later part of the story.
-I’d still class this this YA. A little more adult themed innuendos and some gore in this book but nothing you wouldn’t find on the CW. Still something I would let my teen read but that’s just me.
Last but not least- Thank you goes to Jeffrey Kohanek for the copy in exchange for a review! -
So much action happens in these books and book three is nothing less, it is full of sword and sorcery, a dark lord trying to gain entrance through the Fractured Lands, sending his hordes of darkspawn hoping to capture the eight kingdoms. In the meantime the eight kingdoms are also under threat as four wizards are now dead, another power hungry wizard is intent on taking over all power, daring to divert the devotional prayers from other towers to his own God, and thus to himself, whilst causing an imbalance in the magical field and allowing creatures of myth and horror to appear on the scene. The seers of Kilmar, the hidden city beneath the mountain, are also troubled as they can no longer see their prophecies clearly, so the mother seer Xionne, ventures forth to seek help. She travels to Illustan and after the funeral of the wizard lord of that kingdom she requests the presence of Salvon, who she calls the weaver, and who she knew before and our group of heroes who she orders to follow her to her city to help her see the future and to save the world. She knew about the amulet which Jace carried the Eye of Obscurance, and she gives them all titles, which she says she had seen in a prophecy and thus she knew them for who they were. Once they arrive in Kelmar and enter the hidden city of Paehl Lanor they come across many surprises and feel they are more prisoner than guest however they are invited to join the seers in the oracle room to help with the prophecies and then given a role none of them had ever dreamt to perform. They had to split up, into two groups seeking to find the objects of power and ultimately facing the dark lord himself. If not successful this would mean the end of the world, but no pressure huh!! A very intriguing story which gets more entangled and interesting the further we read, I must admit I am really into this series which is a story of good against evil both on the human front, and on the God front, in battles fought against monsters and darkspawn, using both sword and sorcery, and leaving space also for romance between our characters who seem to be coupling off. As it is I would say the series has it all, so enjoy this great fantasy epic saga where world building is amazing and the characters are so charismatic! I cannot wait to read book 4.
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Notes:
Yay for libraries!
Edited Notes on 1st book about Books 1-3 -
If you're sitting down to read this book for a specific amount of time then you'd better set a timer because I found myself getting so caught up in it that I'd loose an hour without even realizing it. The entire concept of this world and magic system is so perfectly organized that it's easy to follow and understand without ever having to question the validity of something.
I definitely liked this book best if all for a few reasons:
1) It was easier to follow and remember all the characters then the last book was.
2) We finally got some answers on why it seemed like destiny kept pulling them together as well as how to improve their chances of winning against such a seemingly unstoppable power.
3) I love the appearance of the Gods and now has me thinking that there will even bigger consequences than previously planned for.
4) Brogan reminds me of my Dad so now I kinda love him. My Dad is a huge man and a former teen guitarist for an 80s hair metal band who turned into career military man who's now retired and straddles that weird line between a sorta hippy "brew your own beer, make your own woodwork decorations" and the "hard as nails, ready to jump out of an airplane and open a can of whoop *** on anyone that threatens his" and they could probably be friends. My Dad also thinks that he could go right back into the action despite the noticeable softness he's acquired these last 10 years. And OMG! When Brogan broke the ladder I had flashbacks of my Dad sitting on the arm of my couch and breaking it in half a couple years ago. Oh, and did mention he also has a fiery red headed women many years his junior who's pretty awesome herself? Although her dog is Loki, not Phantom, but I mean the resemblance is uncanny. So ya, now I sorta love Brogan and I'm sorta scared for him because he obviously hasn't worked on his issues and now he's making impulsive, dangerous decisions that have me worried about his future. Jeesh....I could go on like this for awhile so I'll stop there and just say that I definitely recommend this book and please give this series a try because it's awesome. -
After reading this book, I wanted to write and post this review to share my honest experiences toward the story.
Jeff has done it again! Bringing our loveable band of heroes to a new adventure, this time to the temple of the Oracle. We see some new faces this time around, but the action is intensified as the plot thickens. This series has everything – great characters, witty banter, a strong storyline and deeply enriched plot. And even a bit of romance, but not enough to overtake the main plot. It was a pleasure to read this, now halfway into the series, things are well underway and the stakes are even higher. I look forward to seeing how the series continues! -
What a wonderful story. I loved following Rawk, Rhoa, Algoron, Jace, Brogan, Hadnodden, Narine and Blythe on their journey to save the kingdom. It was a neat book, I loved the part where they got to see the Temple of the Oracle, how the dark goblins attacking the hidden temple and all that lead up to this confrontation. It will be interesting to see what happens in Objects of Power next. Can not wait for it.
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It's entrancing the way in which the "day of reckoning" theme is taking shape.
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3.5/5
nothing really happened in this book but it was fun -
What a great bunch of characters and another great storyline to get book three going with... I enjoyed reading this series and this was amazing how once again this author has put these great characters to work to create such a great story
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Temple of the Oracle takes something of a left turn as dark powers start to be unveiled and we realise that the corrupt wizards are not the only figures of power that the crew have to be careful of. Prophecies, hidden powers and foreboding take the same raw ingredients from books 1 and 2 but make it into the start of something much more epic.
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As gripping as the first two
Following this band of unusual characters is a fantastic , fun-loving way to spend an afternoon. Though once I started this series I haven't been able to down!! I want to know where they're going next and what kind of trouble they're going to cause of stop from happening. With them, you never know! I have book 4 and starting it now...don't miss out on this adventure! This is a must read series!!!! -
This series is amazing so far, and this one just keeps it getting better. The group is contacted by someone and then they have to head to Kelmar. I am not sure its what they were expecting. They are attacked shortly before they plan to leave, and things get interesting. I can't wait to read the next book and see what happens to the groups next.
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Jace, Narrine, Rhoa, Rawk, Algoron, Blythe, and company get drawn deeper into a web of magic and deceit. They are being led on a quest and it seems they have no say in the matter. Exciting read that I didn’t want to put down.
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What an outstanding fantasy series this is from one of my favourite authors. This totally grabs you from page 1 and defy anyone not to agree that’s it’s a right riveting read.
No spoilers from me just a statement that it’s another awesome book from the pen of Jeffrey. -
The adventure continues in Temple of the Oracle (Book 3). Jeffrey L. Kohanek does great world-building and creates wonderful characters. There's Jerrell aka Jace (the thief), Narine (the princess and master wizardess), Adyn (Narine's bodyguard), Rhoa (the acrobat), Rawk (the stone-shaper dwarf), Brogan (a retired soldier), and Blythe (the archer). I'm interested to find out more about Princess Priella. Is she going to be one of the good guys or a bad guy? What about our storyteller, Salvon the Great?
Usually, the pacing is good, but I did find that things slowed down at Kelmar when our heroes are helping the sisters at the temple to understand the oracle. I listened to the audiobook. Travis Baldree does an excellent job narrating the voices of all the different characters. Whether you grab the audiobooks or read them yourself, this epic fantasy series has everything to keep your attention.
I received an Audible code from the author. This is my honest and voluntary review. -
Temple of the Oracle, the third instalment of Fate of Wizardoms, takes our heroes on a journey to the Kelmar. There, they aid the seers in divining which of all the foretold futures might be the correct one, as the seers themselves claim their vision into possible futures is obscured.
But that is far from all. The eight wizardoms fight for power between one another, and more dark monsters spawn, marking the beginning of what could be a most terrifying change - amongst the Gods themselves.
This book is not quite as action-packed as the first two, but it is in no way less entertaining. From cover to cover, this story held my attention in an iron grip, never letting up.
As with every great epic fantasy tale, things shift as the story progresses. Some characters steal the limelight perhaps more than others, but each and every one of them has a role to play, and are equally important to the story. They are all just as beautifully portrayed as in the previous books, and the changes they go through are fantastic to see, not in the least by Jace and how he softens, and Narine and how she becomes more relaxed and confident.
And there is romance! I'm not going to say there is a whole lot of romance, but more than enough to scratch that itch inside me.
TL;DR: This book, and the series thus far, has it all! From great world-building and fleshed-out characters, to a fantastic magic system (hats off!) and a highly entertaining story, this series has something to offer for everyone!
I cannot recommend it enough! -
As good as the first two installments
This series continues to be a nice, fast paced, easy read. The adventure continues with the protagonists heading to the titled temple of the oracle. To be honest I thought there was a lot of potential with the place the temple is located in, as at first there was quite a lot of mystery around it and some very creepy stuff going on. But this remains largely unquestioned by the protagonists and doesn't seem to really go anywhere.
There is still plenty of action, including in other parts of the world, and there are a few subplots and mysteries that I'm keen to see develop further.
A few strangely amateur spelling mistakes here and there ('site' instead of 'sight' as an example) but very very few.
I wanted to give 4 stars but I think there was wasted potential with this one. The ending also has the heroes heading off on a fairly generic 'quest'. I realise this series doesn't aspire to be anything overly unique or a massive undertaking of character and world building like Wheel of Time, but some degree of uniqueness would improve it.
I will continue to read it though, because I find the characters quite likeable and am keen to see where the story goes. At this point in the series there is still lots of the world that hasn't been addressed or explored. -
The exciting adventure continues, and now things are getting even more intense. While the first two novels in this series had a strong Song of Ice and Fire feel to them with the political intrigue and machinations between cities, now things have gone full-on epic in the classic style of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis with the additional elements of a battle between good and evil. Things also take a turn towards Dark Fantasy, since Jace doesn't have any hilarious heists in this volume.
The relationship between Jace and Narine has finally gone somewhere, and I really enjoyed how that developed. It's a nice slow burn side plot which adds some fuzzy feels in-between the nail-biting action. Drunk Narine was also cute.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of though. I was far more invested in the points of view from the band of misfits, while other perspectives from other parts of the world, although relevent, simply didn't capture my attention as much and I just wanted to race through them to get back to squad I really cared about. -
Temple of the Oracle (Fate of Wizardoms, #3). my ninth read from author Jeffrey L. Kohanek. Picks up seamlessly from the end of Balance of Magic (Fate of Wizardoms #2). Well-written with intricately developed characters you can invest heavily in and the storyline with its intricate twists & surprises as the tension & suspense ratchets up throughout the book’s length. 9-hrs 26-minutes/290 pages but reads even longer with the attention to detail written into the story. Kohanek’s fantasy worlds have become one of my favorite fantasy reads. I was impressed and enjoyed the vocal variety & inflections of narrator Travis Baldree. I look forward to reading Objects of Power (Fate of Wizardoms #4) when I get it. I was given an Audible copy of this book & am voluntarily reviewing it. (RIP Marley January 20, 2014 - July 24, 2018).
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Third book in and it was a cracker, Jeffrey L.Kohanek has brought us a magical fun and dark world to get lost in. Where Wizardlords rule the people and rule with god like powers wetherby for good or bad but with an iron fist, until another Wizard challenges them for the throne. There are eight Wizardoms and the worldbuilding is excellent with a diverse mix of cultures, beast, wyverns and some darkspawn (Goblins and Trolls) to throw into the mix. Jace and his companions are still on the run when they are approached by a seer, they are taken to the temple of the oracle. They maybe be the one's who might just save the world from the approaching darklord and his hoarde of darkspawn. A new dark adventure begins for our gang of misfits. This series just gets better with each book, full of action and so fast paced. Travis Baldree continues to give a great preformence, highly recommended..😁💥
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The third book in this series and it’s picking up but leaving me with more questions. Picking up right where the second book left off with our little team meets with the Oracles who are an interesting bunch of people to say the least.
Relationships are frowning, some are blooming and others are down right confusing at times.
With so much more to discover before the end I do look forward to the next installment to see where this all leads and what is to happen.
Highly recommended if you enjoy the journey and length of JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. -
Eye Candy
After I was halfway thru book 2, I found out this is considered a YA book. Heck, I’m 72! When my kids were young, I pre-read the books they brought home. I fell in love with the fantasy genre for all the good reasons. They are fun, teach so much about life, engaging, learning how to handle unusual relationships and stir the imagination in the best way.
This series does all that very well. I recommend the series, no matter your age. -
Good (spoilers)
I can’t help but have a bad feeling about Salvon. He killed the wizard lord guy, he always has a smooth reply for everything (and they always deal with him being injured), he acted mad when the evil cloud of death was dispelled from the seer, and he’s always missing when something bad happens (like an attack). I can’t help but think he’s an agent or something for the Dark Lord guy. -
This series just keeps improving. I love the character growth between Jace and Narine. I was super skeptical about the seers and what was really happening, but in true fashion everything was revealed. I wish I had more Rindle chapters, but I’ll take what I can get. The temple of the oracle really is a pivotal in the series and I can tell that shit is going to hit the fan even more so in the next book. I look forward to continuing this adventure on what is now one of my favorite sci fi series
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This author is well worth the time to listen or read his books, they are Excellent!!
To tell about what is happening would be to write Spoilers for anyone who have Not read/listen to previous books in this Series. Narrator did a wonderful job of bringing this story to life!
