Legacy of Kings

Magister Trilogy, Book 3

By: C. S. Friedman

Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers

The young peasant woman Kamala has proven strong and determined enough to claim the most powerful Magister sorcery for herself - but now the Magisters hunt her for killing one of their own. Her only hope of survival lies in the northern Protectorates, where spells are warped by a curse called the Wrath that even the Magisters fear. Originally intended to protect the lands of men from creatures known only as souleaters, the Wrath appears to be weakening-and the threat of this ancient enemy is once more falling across the land.

©2011 C.S. Friedman (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

A bit of an anticlimactic end to the series.

it wraps everything up but feels more like a checklist of things to do.

overall the first book was my favorite, and made me finish the series, but i feel kind of disappointed, I felt it had more potential than what it ended up being.

Fun story, mediocre performance

The final part of the story really brings all sorts of loose ends together. There were some plot points that were kind of obvious but it played out well regardless.
There were a few good twists and turns which were all very enjoyable.
Like my comments in the previous 2 books, the narrator's performance is generally good but she lacks the ability to bring the stronger emotional lines and opted to go for a hushed, suppressed whisper as if she does not want to disturb her neighbors during her recordings.
I also find that there were not many variations on the voices of different characters to help differentiate either with accents or with tone. while the main characters do get a relatively unique voice, they sometimes blend.

A fantastic trilogy

As usual for me that is CS Friedman has lead me on a journey of fantastic characters and landscapes of imagination. I will always look forward to her upcoming written stories.

So sad its over!

If you could sum up Legacy of Kings in three words, what would they be?

exciting, engaging, great

What was one of the most memorable moments of Legacy of Kings?

the final battle!

Which scene was your favorite?

All the scenes revealing connections between magisters and soul eaters

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

both!

Any additional comments?

loved it, thought the book wrapped everything up nicely

It is finally over

I liked the story for the most part. I did get tired of hearing about the faint smiles that everyone was having. It was like she learned a new writing device and over used it to the point of sickening exces. What the heck does a soul eater really look like is it a combo of a Dragon and a Dragonfly? I listened to it to know the end of the story. I did like how Kamala (if, I'm spelling it correctly) managed to work the angle that she did. I didn't supremely enjoy it; however, it was necessary to learn the fate of one of my most favorite characters.

Dark and Enigmatic ... Yet Powerful and Willful

Would you consider the audio edition of Legacy of Kings to be better than the print version?

I have listened to and read this series. Both are quite excellent. A female narrator who enabled the voices of the male characters quite brilliantly in the audio version.

What other book might you compare Legacy of Kings to and why?

I have no comparison for this story line and have read and listened to uncountable tales. This is fairly unique to what I have read in the fantasy line. Though I do not enjoy generally such dark tales this one caught my attention because of the uniqueness of the story line.

What does Elisabeth Rodgers bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A fantastic voice. The characters were easily identified, male and female alike. The best rendition I have heard of a females take on male voices.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending of the third book. Do not want to spoil it .. but the series is worth reading and or listening to simply to see change affected.

Any additional comments?

Can good come of evil or rather that which is evil turn good? My thoughts on these books go deeper than most might .. indeed my thoughts on most books ... then there is always the appearance of good in that which is evil .. it is what made these books interesting.

good story covering all bases.

Is a very good read, contains all the pieces needed to be a compelling story.

Nothing compelling here.

This review is of the entire trilogy:

After an interesting beginning, I was so hoping that there would be something about the main character that would make her interesting. Unfortunately that never happened. I was so disappointed. She was quite dull and shallow.

The author was too predictable. One of the problems I had was with how she would always kill off potential mates of the main character. Some of them started of quite interesting and likable. Yet you knew there were going to die like red shirted crewmen on Star Trek.

Most male characters were cookie cutter as well. They were mostly self centered, shallow, and misogynistic. Very few were worthy and noble.

It is sad. There were a lot of missed opportunities with this series.

The narrator was not very good either. She is pretty flat and emotionless. She did not help the story at all.

Overall, I recommend passing on this series. There is nothing redeemable.

Thesuarus

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Mrs. Friedman is a talented author but she really needs to come up with a few synonyms for the word "flesh" Through the first 2 books at least it has gotten absurd to the point of comedy. Would make a great drinking game ;-)

refreshing

this book was probably the most fulfilling book I've experienced. annoyed with the trappings of the previous books I wondered how C.S Friedman was going to wrap up all the plots that seemed to have holes in them. the coalescence of all of them into a tangible concrete form was quite rewarding. there were many misdirects and fallacies planted in the foundations of the previous books that were carefully crafted so that when the truth was revealed one would feel as excited as the Magisters uncovering a long held secret.

as for the writing, a section towards the middle of the book was plagued by the same issue of the ending to the last book. there were too many redundant words. a sentence would begin and end in the same word or the next sentence would use it too closely to it's last uttering which becomes exceedingly obtrusive when rendered in an audiable form.

this series as a whole was indeed a masterpiece if one had the fortitude to make it through to the end. much of the material was rather off-putting and audience restricting in the beginning which may have hurt it's performance in the grand scheme of things, but towards the end it was a palpable work of fiction.

as for the narration Elizabeth Rogers finally developed a connection to the characters that was found lacking in the previous two books, but in this one she gave it a true breath of life. hopefully this carries on to her works in the future. the characters were well defined; emotions and drama were adequately conveyed.

over all I would recommend this series to anyone with a taste for high fantasy with a splash of Regel elegance but also a tinge of folklore/mythology. it is much more routed in history than the Coldfire trilogy which is refreshing. however I advise however for one to push through any reservations they experience in the first book.