Rewind Book Review

The Price of Valour by Django Wexler

Audiobook Edition, narrated by Richard Poe

Finished on 11/30/2016

Goodreads 

Genres: Fantasy, Flintlock Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Military Fantasy, GLBT Fantasy, Kickass Female Protagonist(s)

Civil War is Spiraling out of Control, Demon-Possessed Priests Stalk the streets, and only 1 Hyperintelligent General, 1 Immortal Queen, and 1 Demon-Eating Soldier can stop the Downfall of Vordrani Civilization  out of 5

Spoiler-tastic Review

The Shadow Campaigns series (the first book of which is ‘the Thousand Names’) is a preeminent star in the firmament of the Flintlock Fantasy Genre. ‘The Price of Valour’ is the third book in that series.

Death stalks the streets of Vordan City. Even newly liberated from the Clutches of the Duke Orlanko, the Black Priests and the Duke’s spiderweb of spies are everywhere. This is a fun series, mixing a complex plot with strong characters and setting. Vordan City lives and breathes; you can smell the blood on the streets, the smoke of the black powder, the stench of the River Ost. The characters who inhabit the city are equally enthralling: Mad Jane’s pettiness are a mirror opposite to Winter’s drive to take responsibility, but both are endlessly enjoyable to read about.

If I have but one complaint it is that the antagonists are rather flimsy. We get to meet the antagonists, The Priests of the Black, but their motivations are simultaneously opaque and hypocritical. On one hand they want to fight against Queen Raesinia because she is possessed by a demon, but on the other hand the priests of the black are possessed by demons. Despite this common bond, there could be no diplomacy between good guys and bad guys. This raised the stakes too fast, meaning that from the beginning we always knew there would have to be a showdown.

I truly enjoy the series, of which four of five books have already been published. I have read but the first three books, and am waiting for the fifth to come out so I may binge both the fourth and fifth book in a row. I highly recommend this series, but the reader should start with the first book in the series ‘The Thousand Names.’