Author: Ashok K. Banker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster India
Have you read the Burnt Empire Trilogy?
The Blind King's Wrath brings the tumultuous Burnt Empire Trilogy to a
thrilling end. Krushni, the prophesied Dark Queen, has risen in the East,
determined to have her vengeance on Jarsun, her father in her past life and
murderer of her mother and grandfather. She is joined in her quest by the five
children of Shvate, Karni and Mayla, now grown to young adulthood, and a host
of other champions all burning with righteous rage against the God Emperor. As old
foes emerge and new allies reveal themselves, the stage is set for the greatest
clash of all. A great war. On one side are the valiant but hopelessly
outnumbered forces of justice and righteous vengeance led by Krushni and the
Shvate Five. Looming against them are the brutal, demonic forces of their
enemies led by Jarsun and the tyrant king Dronas. In a shocking turn, Emperor
Adri dispatches the vast armies of the Burnt Empire, countless tens of millions
of brutally efficient killing hordes, against the brave champions. On this blood-soaked
field, the fate of the Burnt Empire will be decided once and for all.
The last book in the trilogy brings the chapter of the Krushans to a close.
Pulling all the threads together from the previous books, this book begins with
Shvate’s death and how the grand plan comes to fruition. This part of the
trilogy moves faster than the others and the events take place quickly as we
see the characters come together and the final picture starts getting clearer.
The one thing I liked about this book was the pace and the storytelling which
made for an interesting read. The previous books were heavy on detail and the
pace slow, but the reverse was quite refreshing to read. Another good aspect of
the story is the conclusion that Ashok builds into the story and the take he has
on the events of the inspiration he had used. The thing which was a major let down
was the fact that the initial books had built up the hype so much that I
thought the war would be an interesting part of the story, which did not turn
out to be the case. Another drawback for me was that of Jarsun’s story and
while it had been created with so much of intrigue, the climax was quite bland
and hurried.
This book focuses on the closure of the stories of most of the
characters, and there are both good and not-so-good aspects in the way the
characters are treated. The five children of Shvate feature prominently in the
story, however their role in the story is primarily that of narrator, and while
they do show their talents in the story, the fall quite shy of the expectation
one has from characters of this caliber. The character of Krushni is
formidable, and I loved the way her role and character has been created. Her
role in the grand scheme of things is quite interesting and for me, she stood
out as a character in the book. The others, however, such as Dronas, Dhuryo
etc. felt incomplete somehow, specially in the picture that Ashok was painting
in the book.
Overall, a decent book that gives a good end to the trilogy. The book
scores a 4.06/5 from me.
I was provided a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Get a copy of the book on Amazon India or your nearest bookstore.
Read my review of the previous books in the trilogy:
awesome
ReplyDelete