Kadomi reviewed The river of shadows by Robert V. S. Redick (The Chathrand voyage)
Review of 'The river of shadows' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
The third book of the series continues right where the 2nd book has left off. The Chathrand has passed through a magical storm and has ended up across the enormous Ruling Sea, discovering an empire none have heard of before, Bali Adro. Arunis, the evil mage trying to destroy the world with the Nilstone is still a threat, and soon the Chathrand ends up stranded in a fantastical city of the natives.
The change in perspective away from the eternal voyage on-board to adventures in Bali Adro makes this book so much more enjoyable than the previous book in the series. However, there are still pacing issues. The book spends a long time on the situation in Masalym, and the resolution to the somewhat annoying love-triangle of the protagonists takes up entirely too much time as well.
However, as soon as the plot breaks off into more traditional fantasy tropes, …
The third book of the series continues right where the 2nd book has left off. The Chathrand has passed through a magical storm and has ended up across the enormous Ruling Sea, discovering an empire none have heard of before, Bali Adro. Arunis, the evil mage trying to destroy the world with the Nilstone is still a threat, and soon the Chathrand ends up stranded in a fantastical city of the natives.
The change in perspective away from the eternal voyage on-board to adventures in Bali Adro makes this book so much more enjoyable than the previous book in the series. However, there are still pacing issues. The book spends a long time on the situation in Masalym, and the resolution to the somewhat annoying love-triangle of the protagonists takes up entirely too much time as well.
However, as soon as the plot breaks off into more traditional fantasy tropes, and the Fellowship of the Ring, erm, Red Wolf, starts chasing Arunis cross-country, my enjoyment improved immensely. The whole last 15% of the adventurers moving through an area called The Infernal Forest was magical to me. It just screamed Numenera to me, weird, strange, fantastical and dangerous. It's given me a ton of adventure ideas for a trek through a scary, dark fungal forest.
I am looking forward to the resolution of the series now and hope it is as satisfying as this book was.