Welcome to my tour stop with Celebrate Lit! Check out my review
of the conclusion to this epic series and enter the giveaway below...
War of Torment
(The Droseran Saga #4)
By Ronie Kendig
Adult Science Fiction, Space Opera, Christian
Hardcover & eBook, 635 Pages
April 11, 2023 by Enclave Publishing
Summary
The time for peace is over—now he demands vengeanceThey followed him back. Against his will, against his intention. Now enemies threaten from every direction. Amidst it all Marco Dusan struggles to lead his people, to help them survive, even mayhap win the war. He will take any advantage to even the odds. But only after tragedy strikes does he learn just how much he’s willing to sacrifice.
He’s not alone. Droserans fight as one, united against the offworlders— Symmachians who covet their planet. With the aid of unexpected allies, the Droserans battle on longer than anyone could have anticipated. Yet they cannot win. And the Faa’Cris, those supernatural warriors, fair of face and fierce of mien, do nothing.
But not all have turned their backs. After a bitter year of pain and loss, Kersei Dragoumis navigates a new heritage, ever intent on defending her people. Like her, light-years away from the Quadrants and even farther from the girl she thought she was, Eija Zacdari must come to terms with a new role. Or, rather, with an ancient one. And her success or failure may determine back in the Quadrants who lives and who dies.
In the end, Marco will have vengeance for the torment brought by this war. No matter the price. Not even if the price is his soul.
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My Review
WAR OF TORMENT starts right where
Shadow of Honor left off and gives readers just enough time to get their bearings before they're thrown into the chaos. It's another installment in this series full of action, strong characters, a fight on a personal and global scale between good and evil, and sweet romance.
Overall, it's a explosive and satisfying conclusion to this series.It took me a bit to remember who all the characters were and keep all the storylines straight. There is so much going on all over the place, but I loved all the different teams or groups of people and how massive the effort was to fight against these aliens. There are so many different relationships in this series, both familial and not and romantic and not. I really have come to love these characters, even though I also was very frustrated with them in places.
The action is intense and sometimes brutal.
I liked the character development and how that all played out. I also felt the romance wasn't overplayed, particularly the ending which brought everything around for me from the first book. I appreciated that the author didn't end the series in a perfectly sweet bow. There is grief and lost and hardship, which made the characters' perseverance and happy endings that much sweeter.
This book definitely brought out all the feels.I also had some frustrations with the book, particularly the way the characters seemed to always be arguing or fighting each other when they were on the same team. It took them a bit to completely get on board and some of that was immaturity or pettiness which I don't have a lot of patience for especially at this point in the series. Having said that, the ending made up for a lot of that. I would say the first half of the book was around 3.5/4 stars, but the second half to the end a 5. I also felt like some more minor characters could have been more of a mention instead of time spent on them. They were vital to the war effort but not always enough to warrant the page space they got.
In the end, was it what I wished for? This book, like the others in the series, is full of all the things space opera fans love. There is real struggle, heartbreak, endurance, but also friendship, hope and love. It was intense and climatic and ended pretty near perfectly. Definitely a series highly recommended!
Content: Violence related to the war and some suggestive content, but would consider this clean.
Source: I received a complimentary copy through Celebrate Lit but also purchased my own, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Excerpt from War of Torment
Anticipation tremored in his veins—it had come. The Progenitor’s War had finally arrived.
“Admiral on the bridge!”
“What’s going on? What was that swarm of ships?” Amid grating claxons and pulsing orange lights running around the bulkheads of the Command deck, Fleet Admiral Domitas Deken strode past the offices and conference rooms to the central Command hub of the newly christened Cronus, the flagship of the Symmachian armada. He glared up at the array hovering in the air between him and his handpicked officers, who had been transferred from other ships in the fleet.
“A fleet, sir.” Grim-faced, Captain Lasson Pount stood with the executive officer.
“What fleet?” Domitas demanded. “We have the only fleet in the Quadrants!”
“Unknown, sir.” Commander Wellsey Dimar, onetime XO of the Macedon, recorded the images and waved them to Command. “None we have record of, and the ships are . . .” He frowned at what he saw. “They’re entirely foreign. Fast. Advanced—incredibly so.”
Domitas compared radar to the moments before the arrival of the new ships. “Where’d they come from?”
“As far as we can tell,” Pount said with a shake of his head, “the jumpgate at the Chryzanthe.”
“Can’t be. Baric reported it damaged by that spherical ship.” Never would Domitas forget watching that alien ship explode from the jumpgate and come around, firing. The relay vids of the incident had taken nearly a day to reach the Cronus on its route to Drosero.
“Maybe they slipped through in time?” The captain quirked a blond eyebrow.
“Baric said it was damaged beyond repair,” Dimar noted. “Perhaps the ship came through one of the other Sentinels.”
“They’re not operational yet. With Baric’s flair for the dramatic, it’s possible the Chryzanthe isn’t as damaged as he reported.” Probably wanted a way to keep anyone from nosing into whatever he and that alien were doing. Domitas indicated to the array, then flicked the screen, rolling back the time. “Those ships are moving fast.”
“Like we were standing still,” Dimar noted.
“Any idea where they’re headed?”
“I’ll calculate,” Pount said, tapping on a console, then nodding at the results that splashed through the air between them. “Course and speed suggest a trajectory for Drosero.”
“In fact”—his fingers flew over the console—“the exact same course the first craft took.”
“We think,” Dimar added with a look to Domitas. “The engine signature of the first craft is so slight that, while we can confirm that fleet followed its course, we cannot say if they ended up at the same place.”
Not comforting. “Do we have a lock on the sphere’s final destination?”
“Speculation only, sir.”
Domitas waited for said speculation, and when neither officer expounded, he lifted his brows. “Is there a problem?”
“Pount and Dimar exchanged glances before the XO sighed. “Long-range scans suggest it entered Droseran orbit, but since we have yet to hear from the Damocles, we don’t know if those projections are accurate.”
Drosero. This war sure was waking up the ’verse, wasn’t it?
Other Books in the Series
(Linked to my reviews.)
Ronie Kendig is a bestselling, award-winning author of over thirty books. She grew up an Army brat, and now she and her Army-veteran husband have returned to their beloved Texas after a ten-year stint in the Northeast. They survive on Sonic & Starbucks runs, barbecue, and peach cobbler that they share–sometimes–with Benning the Stealth Golden. Ronie’s degree in psychology has helped her pen novels of intense, raw characters.
To celebrate her tour, Ronie is giving away the grand prize package of a copy of War of Torment in Hardcover and $20 Barnes & Noble gift card!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
Are you a space opera fan? Have you read this series yet or will you be?
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