Ready at last to take the throne of Kiriath after a long and brutal struggle, Abramm Kalladorne now faces more difficult enemies than the army his brother had set against him. Determined to undermine his throne, his country, and his faith, more ethereal foes take the stage, and Abramm finds himself holding down a seething conflict between his people as countries gather their forces on the horizon to invade.
Morality
There is both good and evil, this being another allegory of evil’s struggle to triumph over good. While evil comes masked as good at times, the lines between right and wrong are ultimately never blurred.
Spiritual Content
Some of the key characters are rhu’ema, the demons of the Guardian-King world. They are only visible as ribbons of light and are typically hosted by people, a form of possession. Once again shadowspawn, creations of evil, play a part in deceiving people. Also, this is a tale of a man’s faith in God: a very intricate aspect of a Christian’s walk.
Violence
There are fights, hand-to-hand and naval; there are deaths, and close shaves with death. In some instances it comes so close it can make the reader’s stomach clench, but in no way was this book meant to be a horror story.
Drug and Alcohol Content
Wine is consumed.
Sexual Content
A man and a woman to whom he is not married are caught together, but this is not detailed. A woman is raped by her divorced husband, but this is not described save in retrospect.
Crude or Profane Language or Content
Mild oaths such as ‘plagues!’ are used.
Conclusion
While this was not quite as well written as the first two books, it is still very good in its own right and, aside from its deep messages of a man following after his God into the darkness, make for an interesting depiction of a king’s struggles with the politics of his country. Never a dull moment to be found within these pages, it makes for a nice break from the troubles of winning a throne. And even when all is lost, the deeper message rings out: a man’s first task is to obey his God.
This review is brought to you by Jenny.
