Book Review of The Slain Divine by David Dalglish

 

Name of Book: The Slain Divine

Author: David Dalglish 

ISBN: 978-0-7595-5716-1

Publisher: Orbit 

Part of a Series: Vagrant Gods (THE BLADED FAITH and THE SAPPHIRE ALTAR are prequels) 

Type of book: Fantasy, religion, faith, gods, conclusion, secrets, history, destruction, fights, conquer, righting wrongs 

Year it was published: 2024

Summary:

In the thrilling conclusion to USA Today bestselling author David Dalglish's new epic fantasy trilogy, a usurped prince must master the magic of shadows in order to reclaim his kingdom and his people.

The Everlorn Empire's grip on Thanet is tighter than ever. The God-Incarnate himself has arrived on its shores to crush the struggling rebellion and carry out his final, sinister he will sacrifice the entire island in order to rise, reincarnated from its ashes. 

The rebellion is struggling to separate allies from enemies, and to figure out a way to stop the slow destruction of everything and everyone they care for. Meanwhile, Cyrus is disappearing deeper beneath the vicious mask of the "Vagrant". Under the mantle of the legendary assassin, he may be strong enough to take down the Empire, but at what cost? 

Characters:

Main characters are Cyrus/The Vagrant, Stasia, Mari and Arn. Cyrus/The Vagrant is a very conflicted young man who was literally raised/trained for one job, but then a lot of hidden secrets about his ancestry came to light causing him to question the right path and trying to give up the power to the rightful queen. He is wrestling with the aspect of The Vagrant Persona as well as the original Cyrus. Stasia is known as an extremely talented fighter but in this book she has to come face to face with a hidden part of herself that no one but Mari and her beloved father knew. She also has to get used to the idea that she has a wife and to become more trusting towards her loved one. Mari is known as the godspeaker and often placed her self confidence on her ability to channel gods. In this book she has to learn to depend on herself rather than on gods' abilities, and she has to make peace with herself as well, While Arn faced quite a few trials over the last few books, his trials aren't over, especially when it comes to revealing a secret crush on certain someone and dealing with his brother. All in all an awesome read. 

Theme:

Faith is a difficult job

Plot:

The story is in third person narrative from a variety of characters' points of view such as Cyrus/Vagrant, Mari, Stasia, Keles, etc. both good and evil characters make their points of view known. I definitely think reading previous books is a must, but in my personal experience its not necessary to binge read them because I was able to keep up with the story easily. For some odd reason, at first I thought Sinshei was the one on the cover and I expected her to have a larger role, but her role diminished. Instead Stasia had a pretty big role in the book along with THE VAGRANT, and the readers get to learn a lot more about the god system as well as history of where the sisters from Miquo lived and come from, which I appreciated, and yes plenty of history about the Everlorn Empire and the god. There are all sorts of emotional scenes strewn through the tale, from happy to sad to heartbreaking as well as unpredictable twists involving the Thanet's original gods (I am still confused as to the animosity between Endarius and Dagon?) 

Author Information:
(From goodreads)

N/A

Opinion:

I really want to be dramatic and say something like no, this can't be over there must be more to the story, but alas its the end of the story. Upon my restarting fantasy few years ago, David Dalglish's book, THE BLADED FAITH was one that got me hooked on fantasy, and in this book I have to say goodbye to the characters. Just like the previous two books, this was extremely well written and offers a lot of fascinating questions for the readers to ruminate through. While the story ended, there are loose ties that are left untied and one does hope that one day the author will continue writing The Vagrant's story. I also have to say that one thing I love about Orbit is the attention to book covers, especially in relation to plot. In a way they are a juicy puzzle for me to solve because I am dying to know how they are related to one another. (I think I figured out that this book cover possibly features Stasia) All in all, a bittersweet and twisty read for those who have joined in with THE BLADED FAITH.  

This was given for review

4 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)