The third book in the Vellhor saga continues where the first one left off. And it keeps the pace and story, as well as some of the issues the series displayed so far.
The second book saw the main group arrive in the heart of the Dwarven lands. Now, Gunnar needs to unite his people, which isn’t going to be easy – the four dwarven groups have been fiercely independent for quite some time, and they all have their agendas and priorities. Worse, some of them have been working with the enemy – and while some of them have been exposed in the first two books, many collaborators are still lurking around. Furthermore, dwarves have developed a strained relationship with magic, so Gunnar’s power isn’t accepted easily, especially among one of the groups.
Meanwhile, Anwyn is still comatose, which doesn’t help Gunnar and his friends to keep their optimism. As the issues in the dwarven lands are almost settled, Kemp, Ruiha, and Dakarai head away to try and find not just hints for cure for Anwyn, but also a way for Kemp to control the power that kept him alive, but now tries to take control of him.
Soon after the issues among the dwarves are settled – at least for now – the dawrves go on a counter-offensive against the drogo tribes that have undermined their society, which turns into several fierce battles – in some of which they share the path with Kemp’s group. However, things aren’t exactly easy, and there will be a lot of trouble to overcome, as well as losses to deal with – I won’t say more to avoid spoilers.
Read date: 15.-21.4.2025
Published: 1.8.2024
Goodreads/Amazon rating: 4,09/4,1
My rating: 70%
Length: 377 pages (Kindle edition)
My highlights
With that said, the book still has issues with repeated phrases (which, three books in, are getting way too annoying), and the combat sequences at the end were, in some cases, skimmed through a bit too much for my taste. Also, the early part seemed to have a bit too slow pace. And while the story is gripping enough to be interested in the outcome, I’m still unsure whether to continue it.
Tomas - the wandering dreamer 