Lee and the surviving team return for book three, and all I can say is that this is a welcome return after the kick in the feelz that Dean gave us in the last book. One thing I will say about the Lord of Beards is that he knows how to entertain. After the events in the last novel, Lee is in a funk, and he isn’t looking to break out of it anytime soon. To say that the quality of his mercy is strained would be an understatement. This leads to one of the funniest scenes in the book, in which Lee and the amazing Miller rush to defend a monument Lee built at the end of book two. Sorry, spoilers and all that, so I can’t reveal anything, but there are two moments in which Miller steals the show. The first comes from the eating of the nobleman’s heart, and the other is the spear to the face and Miller playing thing off with the line, “Well, you said to kill anyone moving towards the statue.” I burst out laughing, and chuckled for another ten minutes after the scene was played out. I admit that I am a Miller junkie. And, if I am being honest, that is the only complaint that I have about this book. There is not enough Miller. He is missing for a big chunk of it, but it is for reasons that I cannot reveal. So, I just cherished every moment I had with him.
Thankfully, Lee keeps things interesting as he goes around killing blind children and old people, this is all about culling the weak, after all. While this might sound controversial, it is simultaneously funny, heartbreaking, horrifying, and moving as Lee is only doing what he must. Meanwhile, poor Augustus is getting his butt chewed off for having a herald who goes around killing other heralds. Even though that is pretty much expected of him. Augustus is probably my second favorite character, because he just does what he wants, and worries about consequence later, since he doubts they will ever affect him.
Dean also introduces a new character, Jade, who could be a Patty Duke styled cousin to the Bathrobe Knight’s Stephanie. She is a fun character who has no issue speaking her mind, lives as if she were in a Manga Anime series, and just so happens to see non heralds as NPC’s who are not real. Her POV is . . . . . . . . . . . . . .different , to say the least. You can tell that Charles had a blast writing her, and that Lee is in some serious trouble with her as a companion. To say that she makes life complicated for him would be an understatement. Dean is almost making a harem for Lee, who just isn’t biting. We have Ling, Brigid, and Jade, but for me Masha is the best and most practical choice for Lee in my humble opinion. I really like her, and think that he has an emotional tie with her that the others all lack. If I was going to play MFK with these ladies, I would marry Masha. I love Jade, as a character, but she is far too crazy town for me. Like I said, she reminds me of Stephanie, and while both I and my kids loved her, we wouldn’t want to marry her.
The story is fast paced, and we finally get back to Satterfield. Lee gets to know the game AI, and the herald he faces off against is about a bat crap crazy as you can get. I don’t think that there was ever a moment that wasn’t dragging me along at a break neck speed, an awesome fight was taking place, or danger didn’t loom off in the corner. This is a tightly written tale that fulfills every need for comedy, action, adventure, emotion, and big events. Dean just continues to step up his game. I see him improve in every book he has written, and I know that WA4 is going to be even more amazing. I have no complaints on the word front.
As for the narration, well I have to say that I have never heard Jeff Hays do better. I don’t think there is another person who could pull off Jade the way that he does. Are multiple reasons Jeff is amazing, and his ability to do believable female voices is one of them. Still, he hits the attitude and exuberance that is Jade like he lived with her as a kid. Between his performance of her and that of Miller I don’t know how Lee ever gets a voice of his own. Jade definitely steals the show. Annie plays a fine Brigid, and who I’ll call the crazy chicken lady (because that is all I could see when she transformed). She nails them both like she was a gas powered hammer. I really like their chemistry, these two don’t work so well together as they just blend flawlessly with one another. They go together like water and a Kool aid packet. Like peas and carrots. As always, the sound production is exemplary and the book is as clear as Crystal Lake right after summer break. SBT has the highest quality standards when it comes to storytelling that you could ask for.
War Aeternus: The Culling literally cut away every weak moment that it had, and left us with the most choice cut of pure Kobe Beef. This story had real meat on its bones, and I most happily dug in and asked for thirds when it was all over. I am giving this book a 9. It is solid, surprising, funny, and poignant. I could not have asked for or expected more.
Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. Getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.
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