Steven C. (SteveTheDM) -
Helpful Score: 1
I really wanted to love this book. I've been a fan of Smedman's for a while now, and have generally enjoyed the books she's written. But Ascendancy of the Last just left me mostly confused throughout. I constantly felt like there were details that I must have missed, or stuff that I should have remembered from the prior volumes in this trilogy that had slipped my mind.
There's no character development to speak of, and little in the way of evocative description of anything. It really feels like the book just hit point after point on the outline from the publisher contract. It never breathes on its own.
Is there good here? Yes, despite all that I did sort of enjoy the novel. I like the world in which it's set, and I like the interplay of the various elements of the setting. I enjoy the lore and the communal world building that's inherent in the Forgotten Realms. And I'm glad to have gotten the end of the story (seeing as this is book 3 of a trilogy).
3 of 5 stars.
There's no character development to speak of, and little in the way of evocative description of anything. It really feels like the book just hit point after point on the outline from the publisher contract. It never breathes on its own.
Is there good here? Yes, despite all that I did sort of enjoy the novel. I like the world in which it's set, and I like the interplay of the various elements of the setting. I enjoy the lore and the communal world building that's inherent in the Forgotten Realms. And I'm glad to have gotten the end of the story (seeing as this is book 3 of a trilogy).
3 of 5 stars.
