Monday, April 11, 2022

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Discord of Gods by Jenn Lyons

 



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on April 26, 2022 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.


The Discord of Gods is the final book in Jenn Lyons' A Chorus of Dragons, a series I've loved so much (after a first book that was kind of a miss to be fair) that I've been doing a reread of each book for this blog.  The series has a lot of tics that would ordinarily annoy me - each book is written as if it's a text compiled by one of two characters complete with footnotes, even when that doesn't make sense; each book starts in media res even though that doesn't always work; etc. - and yet what it otherwise contains has overpowered those annoyances, with a ton of amazing characters (after a first book where that was a weakness), great relationships, and a tendency to make each book a bit of a puzzle box plot where you have to keep reading to figure out how things really fit together.  And so I've been so eagerly awaiting this fifth and final book....and have kind of reread it repeatedly since finishing it before even writing this review.  

And The Discord of Gods delivers for the most part.  While for once the plot doesn't start in media res, it retains its puzzle-box'ish nature, as the book sets up events, pieces, and characters to come into play in the final conclusion of the story, all the while jumping between a large assortment of protagonist and antagonist characters in the process.  It's a puzzle box that works incredibly well by being super fair, with the reader having all the pieces to figure out what might happen, without the conclusion ever being super predictable (at least to me), thus keeping things highly entertaining and satisfying all the way through.  And the characters and relationships remain excellent, as everyone begins the final steps towards saving or dooming the world.  It's not a perfect conclusion, as it has a decent chunk of parts that feel kind of superfluous in the end, but it's still incredibly incredibly satisfying, and makes this series definitely one I will highly recommend to any lover of fantasy.  

SPOILER WARNING: I will be doing a separate short spoilery review to talk about some things more in depth about what happens in this book.  You can find the spoilery post HERE.  This review will try to keep spoilers of this book to a minimum, but will still Spoil books 1-4 a bit, since there's no way around it.  You have been warned.



-------------------------------------------------Plot Summary-------------------------------------------------------
Vol Karoth, the King of Demons, is finally free from his bindings, and able to act to destroy the world.  And so Xaltorath (self proclaimed Queen of Demons) and Relos Var (the wizard turned dragon who created Vol Karoth) begin to put their own plans into motion, both of which rely on using Vol Karoth for their own ends.  For Xaltorath, those plans involve the destruction of everything.  For Relos Var, those plans involve the saving of the world....no matter how many lives that might cost, so long as it results with him ascendant with all the powers of the Eight Immortals.  

There's only one thing standing in Xaltorath and Relos Var's way:  Kihrin beat them to it, and sacrificed himself restore Vol Karoth's soul - his own soul - and now is in control of the alleged "King of Demons".  With this power, Kihrin and his friends plan on pulling the biggest con ever on Xaltorath and Relos Var, stopping their plans for good and saving the world in a way that doesn't sacrifice millions of lives.  

Unfortunately, doing so will require Kihrin to actually be able to control Vol Karoth's powers in a way that doesn't result in him destroying everything, something his foes are all too willing to take advantage of.  Even worse, Relos Var and Xaltorath both have devastating backup plans, ones that even Kihrin and his friends could never have anticipated......
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Every book in this series has been written as if it's a text written by either Thurvishar (books 1 & 3) or Senera (Books 2 & 4) documenting what happened leading up to a certain major event for at least one other major character to read (with footnotes from the writer making often humorous or explanatory comments about events that occur).  The Discord of Gods sort of continues that framing device, as the book contains footnotes from both Thurvishar and Senera (who often snark at each other), although unlike the prior books, it doesn't explain how this text is being made and who it is being made for....thus leaving it a mystery what could have happened (with some of the footnotes very cleverly teasing events in an ambiguous way).  

But really, like the last two books, this is a story that is told in snippets and chapters from one of many many characters' points of view: Tyentso, Kihrin, Thurvishar, Senera, Xivan, Galen, Jarith, Sheloran, Qown etc. etc. - even hitting some of the antagonist's points of view at times (we get a few chapters from Relos Var's perspective).  The story very much continues to build upon the character developments and relationships as they've shifted and grown over the series, with different alliances of characters forming to various ends as the good guys attempt to deal with the major antagonist's master plans coming together.  

But even more than that, so much of this book is essentially the story pulling together puzzle pieces from the prior novels, as well as establishing new puzzle pieces based on those foundations, such that these plots and ideas can come into play.  And the story is so so good at that, making the actions of most of the characters and most of the plots make total sense as they come about, even if they often aren't wholly predictable.  Pieces that we've heard about and had explained but never seen before naturally show up here in full splendor, and characters' habits from the prior books from the core of how they act here and it all comes together in a finale that works generally pretty damn well.  Not only does it work well - but well, it's FAIR - with the story giving you all of the things you need to even guess what the main characters are going to do throughout the story in such a way that it never feels pulled out of the air (unlike the end of Book 1), even if it isn't something you may see coming a mile away.  And the ending is just pretty great and fitting, a satisfying conclusion to the whole series in total.  

Not everything works of course, with one major subplot reminding me of parts of Book 1 in that it well, doesn't seem to matter in the grand scheme of things (and while one main antagonist is using this subplot as a distraction, the book carries on with it past the point that seemingly should matter.  There's a few continuity errors I think, and one plot element I think seems to be wrong and shouldn't affect a character the way it does.  And yet to be honest, none of that matters because this is just so so good as a series ender, with the characters all getting fitting conclusions, and the battles between the protagonists and antagonists - with dragons, demons, wizards, and more all colliding - just coming off near perfectly.  

I've loved this series, and this book only cemented it more as one of my favorites.  (More specifics in the spoilery post).

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