My Five Word TL:DR Review : I’m Missing This Series Already

Wow.  Just wow.

Okay, the Empire of the Wolf has been a truly amazing series.  In fact I hardly know where to begin with this final review.

I was in fact scared to pick up this final instalment, I always feel a little worried when I’m on the last book of a series, especially one that has been so very good.  Will it continue to impress – in fact sometimes I think that’s why I have so many incomplete series in my past – fear that things would go pear shaped at the very end and ruin my happy glow.  Basically, right now, I’m procrastinating because I can’t get my thoughts into order.

I would mention that I’m going to dive straight into my review without too much description of plot, I hope to avoid spoilers but I can’t promise anything more and I would say if you’re reading this review without having read the first two books you should go back and start from the beginning.  This is a series that has gone from strength to strength, the characters have grown – not always in ways you may like, some have fallen along the way and the plot has developed into this terrific melting pot of religious zealotry, horrific infernal beings that threaten the existence of humankind and one man’s stand for justice and peace – even if he’s becoming a little frayed around the edges.

TToE drops us back into the story where we left off.  Lets just be brutally honest, the Empire is having a nightmare of a time, it’s basically teetering on the brink and faces almost certain destruction.  Vonvalt, one of the few men with the strength and faith to make a difference is living in exile, outlawed by the Emperor but still not ready or prepared to accept defeat.  In this final hour he is determined to rally together allies from the most unexpected quarters. at the end of the day (which coincidentally is nigh), when all humanity is faced with evil and chaos, well, the enemy of your enemy is your friend (for a short time at least).  So, yes, Vonvolt looks to all quarters for aide.  Of course he has some explaining and convincing to do because why should these old enemies help the Empire now?

This third in series does have a different feel to the previous two books.  Previously there’s been a mystery of some description taking place that Vonvalt has been called to investigate and mete out justice.  This time round, well, there’s no time for such niceties.  There’s much racing across the country in search of allies.  The tension is ratcheting up nicely, nerves are fraught and the main two characters are definitely not getting on well.

Which brings me to Helene.  I love her as a narrator and in fact love the choice that the author made to have her as the storyteller.  She surprised me a little in this edition.  She’s always been quite a steadfast character but in this final edition she becomes a little too inflexible at times.  She judges Vonvalt for his actions.  Lets just say she’s always had him on a pedestal, a paragon of virtue and now he is sullied by his actions – in her eyes at least.  Of course, he isn’t acting totally within the parameters that he would have previously.  Vonvalt is a man of the world, he’s older and more experienced than Helene and he realises that sometimes you have to sacrifice some of your values for the greater good.

In this final edition not only the tension is ramped up – there is plenty of action.  Vonvalt manages to rally some of the strangest allies to the cause and for a brief moment you begin to feel almost hopeful.  Then things get absolutely crazy and literally go to hell – with or without a handcart.  The finale, well, what can I say.  There was so much going on, so much death and destruction on both the mortal and spiritual plane – which actually leads me into another trail of thought.  Swann has given us such a lot to think about with this series.  Ultimately, it feels like everything revolves around right and wrong, good or evil, but at the same time it shows us that nothing is ever quite that simple be it religion or justice.

And, I think I should end there. I don’t want to inadvertently give anything away although I also feel like I’ve said not nearly enough – and such it is when reviewing a book that has stolen your heart.

To conclude the Empire of the Wolf is an absolutely brilliant series.  It took my breath away and completely surpassed any and all expectations that I had.  The third was perhaps a little heavier on action and missing the mysteries that I had enjoyed previously but regardless was a perfect end to an absolutely fantastic fantasy trilogy.  If you haven’t started this series, or maybe you’re sitting on the fence a little, I would encourage you to jump on board and give this a try.  Frankly I’m hopeful of a return to this world.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4.5 of 5 stars