By Randi Gardner
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the audiobook producer for the opportunity to read and review this Advanced Listening Copy (ALC).
This is the third book of a series (“The Fragile Divine”) that I had never crossed paths with until the audiobook popped up on my NetGalley feed. Because it was narrated by two of my favourite voice actors (Shane East and Lauren Horowitz) I requested it not caring that it was the 3rd of the series. It meant that I had to track down and read the first two books, and now I’m reviewing this book after the publication date – so it’s already out there! No waiting!
I did not write long reviews for the first two books, so I will try to incorporate those stories into this review, but the series starts with The Goddess of… and continues with Even in Death. Obviously you will need to read those books before this one, so consider this review an overview of the series so far.
in The Goddess of… we are introduced to Kaia, the eldest daughter of the high Goddess of the seas, a really nasty piece of work, but her father, the high god of nature is loving and compassionate and makes up for the brutality of her mother. Kaia has several brothers and sisters, whom she has various degrees of love and hatred for, depending on where they fall in their mother’s eyes. Kaia is being forced into a marriage she doesn’t want, so she makes a deal with the High God of Death and Curses for a chance at freedom…in exchange for a curse, to be named later. The first book is a fantastic mix of high fantasy and urban fantasy, with gods and witches and curses and prophecies, with a strong love story. I initially gave it 4/5 stars. A great book, but I did not know where the story was going next.
The second book Even in Death is a continuation of the overall story, but now we are focusing on another main couple. I love when fantasy books do this because romance stories are better in a standalone and fantasy books are better over a longer series – well the epic fantasy books work better this way so the world can be fully developed and we can build the conflict into something global. Changing the focus of the main characters also gives us a bigger cast which I prefer in an epic fantasy. This time our romance is between Naia’s beloved baby brother, Finnian, and his enemy/lover Cassian, the aforementioned God of Death and Curses. Naia and Ronin are still major characters, but we follow Finnian’s path as it intertwines with Cassian. The stakes are so much higher for their relationship and the storyline is relentless. I gave this a 4.25/ 5. The urban fantasy aspects of Gardner’s world are put aside as we spend more time in the land of the dead, we learn more about the realm of the gods and their hierarchy and how they came to be. Naia and Finnian’s father is featured heavily at the end of this novel, and his fate becomes the crux to the third novel, which is the novel that is the most recent release and the most heartbreaking, tear rending, epic story so far.
Ache of Chaos continues the story of the world altering conflict that has been building since book one. I’m going to attempt to describe the book without giving away any of the important plot points that occur in books one and two, as this series has been so underrated in the Romantasy communities where I spend most of my time and I have to assume that most people who read this review have not read any of this series.
The story continues with Naia and Finnian’s sister Marina – high goddess of shadows and darkness – who has spent the last 800 or so years trying to live up their mother’s expectations. Which means trying to recapture Naia and return her to her mother, and just a basic hatred for Finnian for his love of Naia and his vow to see his mother destroyed. Marina has done many hateful things on her mother’s behalf, although we learn that Marina is actually a broken woman, since she was a girl searching for the love of her father that she feels has abandoned her, and the approval of her mother which never comes. The reader spends most of book one and two dismissing Mirena as an evil unfeeling entity but in this book we learn so much more about her. She has finally seen her mother as the narcissistic monster she has always been and now carries regret and a soul aching loneliness with her. Gods have eternal life and cannot be killed. No matter what you do to their bodies, they will respawn. Depression without the sweet release of death for millenia, all Mirena feels is despair and emptiness. Meanwhile, Acacius – God of Chaos and Ruin – is seeking revenge for the death of his lover, whom he blames Mirena for so he searches her out in order to cause her as much pain and agony as possible, but the thing is, Mirena welcomes it, as punishment for all the terrible things she has done in her life She has also decided to protect her sister Naia with her life, as a vow to her father, as penance for her wrongs, even if Naia never forgives her. This is a book about regret and loss and failure, and about redemption, about family and parental love. I can’t tell you how much I cried during this book – both from heartbreak and from the cathartic release as Mirena finds her place among her kin, her friends and love with Acacius. I wanted to rate this book 5/5 (I’ll give it 5 stars on Netgalley) but settled on 4.75 because the epilogue gives a glimpse to the next couple, plus the high stakes conflict is still building and the threat is greater than ever. I need to leave room for the next books, but overall the series is 5/5
What I love about this series, beyond the writing, the visual landscapes, the characters that are so well rounded, the love stories and some fantastic spice, is that every book adds to this growing found family. Gardner never forgets the characters that we have grown to love in each book, they are not hidden away in their “happily ever after” stories. They may not feature on every page but they still have their essential part to play in this epic storyline. I love epic fantasy with grand landscapes and a large cast of characters, and now I get to experience it with some of my favourite bits of romance mixed in. I do not know why this series has not captured a larger audience when there are some very poor representations of fantasy in this genre.
I chose to listen to all three novels as audiobooks and the producers have done a top notch job in their choice of voice actors for all the characters. Whether one chooses to read or listen to these books, I think you will be as submersed in the world in either media.
