Lucas Blogs About A Breach in the Heavens

Hey, some doofus has his hand covering part of the author's name.

So, are you going to make any kind of New Year's resolution?

Nope. Besides, wasn't Thursday the time to ask about that?

I don't usually show up in Simplified Series.

No, I suppose you don't.

So, what's this book's deal?

Well, had you appeared in last Thursday's post, you'd know that A Breach in the Heavens is the conclusion of N.S. Dolkart's Godserfs trilogy.

Godserfs?

Oh, that's what the elves call humans. You see, the elves were like humanity's rebellious older siblings who were banished to another dimension because they wouldn't worship the gods.

So, humanity is like the goody-two-shoes younger sibling?

Yeah. Anyway, this is the first time I've reviewed a non-first entry in a series on this blog so, I'm not sure how to handle the dreaded SPOILERS.

Well, why not just say that you pretty much have to spoil the first two books to discuss the third one?

That works. So, if you want to read the first two books, Silent Hall and Among the Fallen (I would recommend them, they're both pretty good), maybe just go do that. Otherwise, feel free to continue.

Let's jump in.

All right, these books follow the adventures (or misadventures) of a group of teenagers who coincidentally (well, not really) all leave their island home just before a goddess kills everyone on said island. After which they take up with a wizard who has spent the last several decades hiding from the gods as much as any human can expect to. Over the course of the first two books, our protagonists manage to become some of the most influential people on the continent and have run-ins with elves, pirates, mercenaries, racism, teen pregnancy, and any number of other really big problems that you might expect to find in a fantasy setting with Iron Age technology.  A Breach in the Heavens picks up ten years after the conclusion of Among the Fallen. So, in the time since they managed to avert a war between the major powers on the continent, Narky and Criton now find themselves living pretty comfortably. Narky, once a farmer's son and murderer, is now the head priest of Ravennis and a father. However, this just gives him something new to worry about, particularly when he's confronted by a blasphemous (or is it) tract circulated by a disgraced former priest. Meanwhile, Criton is living as the king-in-all-but-name of the dragonthouched (a race of humans with scales and claws, and various magic powers) with his four wives and many children. Speaking of his family, his most recent wife, Delika, is his adopted daughter, which is . . . awkward. Meanwhile, his former wife, Bandu is aging twice as quickly as she ought to because of a deal she made with the Ravennis to bring Criton back from the dead in the last book, which is still something of a sore spot for Bandu's new wife, Vella (We're almost done with set up, I promise). Phaedra has spent the last decade running around and closing doorways between her world and that of the elves, in an effort to keep the Yarek, an ancient tree monster that once challenged the gods, from pulling the two worlds together and destroying everything. Unfortunately, as the skyquakes on both worlds attest, the efforts of Phaedra and her master Psander have actually been making everything worse. Meanwhile, Hunter has been with Psander, defending the villagers in her fortress from the elves and pining away for Phaedra.

Could you have found a more convoluted way to get us all caught up to the beginning of the novel?

Look, there's a lot of stuff going on in the book.

Okay, so it's not like readers can just drop in here?

No. I would recommend starting back at Silent Hall.

Well, let's dive in with the big question: was this a satisfying conclusion to the series?

Yes and no. Overall, Dolkart does an admirable job of following the series' themes and character arcs to a natural conclusion. However, the fact that there are five plus main characters means that some of them aren't really given much to do. Bandu and Hunter, for example, both have storylines that are more or less complete by the end of Among the Fallen. In Bandu's case, her decision to bring Criton back from the dead and then live in seclusion with their daughter and her new wife highlights that while she is willing to make sacrifices for the greater good, she considers her role in these events to be concluded. Meanwhile, Hunter has found a purpose in protecting the villagers (and teaching them to protect themselves) and is largely confined to mooning over Phaedra while she's trying to save the world (though it does at least subvert some of the old school fantasy gender stereotypes).  That said, both Phaedra and Narky have pivotal roles to play in the finale, largely due to their conflicting views on the nature of the gods and faith. And that storyline works. However, Dolkart doesn't quite seem to know what to do with Criton now that he's back from the dead. Sure, in the previous book, it was necessary for peace between the dragontouched and the rest of the continent, but after that there isn't a whole lot of room for character growth. His experiences haven't really changed him, not even when he learns about Bandu's sacrifice, and his involvement in the finale just seems to serve as a reminder that he's impulsive and overconfident.

I am totally lost.

Yeah, maybe reviewing the last book in a series was a mistake.

No, remember: if you reads, it ledes.

That's the spirit. Where are we going from here?

Umm, let's get away from character and story specifics. Since this is a contemporary fantasy novel would I be correct in assuming that the story is told in alternating third person subjective?

You are correct, Hypothetical Reader. The point-of-view character shifts in every chapter, something of a necessity with so many characters running around. It's not just limited to protagonists, either, Dolkart writes chapters from the point of view of minor characters, villains, and even a surprise appearance by someone who hasn't popped up since the first book. While this does mean that readers get a more complete view of the story, it also leaves them waiting a bit longer when a chapter ends on a cliffhanger.

But that can help build tension.

It can also be frustrating.

What about style?

It's pretty standard in that regard. Dolkart's prose is readable and the novel is more concerned with exploring questions about religious faith than it is about wowing the reader with scintillating sentences.  And I don't mean that as a dis, Dolkart writes clean, effective prose that foregrounds the story and characters, not the language itself.

This is the second time that you've alluded to the novel's concern with the nature of faith, would you care to elaborate?

Well, in a setting where gods definitely exist and make their wishes known to their followers, you wouldn't think faith would be such a big issue. But then there are people like Psander or the elves, who don't believe that the gods are worthy of worship just for existing. But the two views that are most strongly contrasted in the novel are those of Phaedra and Narky. Over the course of the series, Phaedra develops a strong faith in God Most High (the god that created everything, including the other gods). And part of her plan to save the world rests in her trust that God Most High will not destroy the worlds if they prove themselves worthy of his favor.  Meanwhile Narky, while the high priest of Ravennis, views all of the gods as coercive and manipulative, and follows Ravennis's orders out of fear of the consequences of disobedience.

So, sort of an optimism vs cynicism type of conflict.

That's a valid way of putting it. Anyway, I guess that plays into one of the reasons that the novel isn't that satisfying a conclusion overall. The real conflict ends up being that of Narky and Phaedra's viewpoints, but the characters have been so split up by previous entries in the series that Dolkart has to do a lot of stage setting just to get them to meet up and argue with each other.

Okay, I think we've got it mostly covered, any other thoughts you'd like to share?

Well, this almost became one of the Books that Made Me Cry towards the end. It really just made me sniffle a little, but (EVEN MORE SPOILER-Y SPOILERS) at the end of the previous novel when Bandu goes to the Underworld to rescue Criton, she's given the choice of  reviving either Criton or Four-foot, her wolf companion from her time as a feral child. At the end of this novel, Bandu feels compelled to run towards the mouth of the Underworld where she finds a wolf cub that's missing a notch from his ear like Four-foot and realizes that the underworld has given him back. Also, I should mention that when she was a feral child she called herself Two-foot, but gave her new human friends the name of Bandu after the sound of Four-foot's heartbeat. Yeah, this spoiler is getting long and is super-corny, but whatevs.

That's gonna be kind of a pain for people to highlight and read isn't it?

Meh, it's my blog, I'll write it how I likes it.

A Breach in the Heavens by N. S. Dolkart, Angry Robot Mass Market Paperback edition, 2018, 425 pages, pairs well with a nice hot bowl of potato soup and dour winter contemplations

Links:

Like last time, here's NS Dolkart's website, if you're into that kinda thing.

Here's a guest post that Dolkart wrote for another blog about tropes he enjoys subverting.

And since I've been lazy about the links lately, here's a link to his author profile on his publisher's site that has links other things he's written about his books online.