@Rhemalda @CasPeace 1 #Review: "King's Artesan": Book 3 of the Artesans of Albia trilogy by Cas Peace

Welcome to my stop on the King's Artesan blog tour!  I hope you have had a chance to follow along and take part in the giveaway. If you'd like to catch up to the previous stops (and today is the last), here is the post with the links to the other blogs and the Rafflecopter form for the giveaway.  I'm fairly sure the giveaway ends today, so hurry!  Before I leave my review, let me tell you a bit about the excellent author of these books, Cas Peace.  You can find links to her Facebook and website on the other post, so I'll just put up a short bio here.

As well as her love of horses, Cas is mad about dogs, especially Lurchers. She enjoys dog agility training

and currently owns two rescue Lurchers, Milly and Milo. Milly has already had some success in the agility ring, and Milo will begin competing in late 2011.

Cas loves country walks, working in stained glass and folk singing. She has also written a nonfiction book, "For the Love of Daisy," which tells the life story of her beautiful Dalmatian.

Author Website

Cas Peace on Facebook
Cas Peace at Rhemalda

Book Songs

You are all seeing my review first (other than on Amazon), but not by much. As soon as I'm up and about later today I'll be posting this everywhere else.  In the meantime, here is my review of King's Artesan.

King's Artesan review

Author: Cas Peace
5 out of 5 stars

Please note: If you are reading this review on a site that does not allow formatting, please follow the link in my profile to my blog, Now is Gone, to view formatting and links.

Book Info: Genre:
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: Fans of the series, fans of epic fantasy
Book Available: Paperback was released August 15, 2013
Trigger Warnings: violence, murder, killing, treachery
Extra Stuff: Music to go with the book can be found at the author's website, linked here where permitted.

My Thoughts: What an ending to this first trilogy in the Artesans of Albia fantasy series! This is not the end, though, as additional books—a new trilogy—are planned, and therefore this book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so I certainly hope that the next book will not be long in coming.

The author does a great job developing very complex characters. Things are not always as they seem, and many characters that start off hostile to our heroes end up being quite likeable when more is learned about them. However, the antagonistic characters are all really awful people. It's a sad reality that there are way too many greedy and power-hungry people in the world, whether that world is ours or a created world like Albia, and then you have the types who are so afraid of things they don't understand that they simply need to destroy everything. They are the ones I dislike most, because they are so full of their own sense of self-importance, and their rightness, that they can often be quite chilling.

This book had one scene that I was really confused about, and it was after Sonten's plans for the Staff were discovered. I can not understand why Robin did not immediately contact General Blaine about the situation rather than waiting an entire day until they returned to Albia. It would have saved everyone grief. Another thing that has really bothered me is how no one is willing to push the situation with Parren. He does many things that are fully deserving of punishment, yet no one is willing to speak up and do anything about him. He's a nasty sort, and I really wish they would so something about him; I can sense he is going to be a major source of trouble in the next trilogy.

I confess that starting at about the 50 percent mark I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It didn't take long! There is a great deal of suspense in this book, and it really held my interest; I read it straight through. I have just loved this entire series. Cas Peace is a master storyteller, providing a depth and breadth of information about her worlds and their people that is just staggering. As I already mentioned ,her characters are complex and multi-dimensional, and I have very much enjoyed reading this series. I am also looking forward with great anticipation to her next novel in this series. I heartily recommend this series to anyone who enjoys epic fantasy, strong world-building, and beautiful storytelling. Highly recommended!

Series Information: Artesans of Albia trilogy
Book 1: King's Envoy review linked here
Book 2: King's Chamption review linked here
Book 3: King's Artesan full review to be posted August 22
Another series is planned, to be called Circle of Conspiracy. I have no additional information as to book titles or publication dates at this time.

Disclosure: I received an e-book ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review in conjunction with a blog tour. Follow the link to see tour dates and locations. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: Unable to purge herself of the poison that is slowly killing her, Major Sullyan remains trapped in Andaryon. The only thing that can save her is the Staff, which still lies buried in Taran’s cellar.

Robin Tamsen sets out on a desperate quest to recover the artifact, but the enemy is two steps ahead of him. Sonten knows where the Staff is, and he will stop at nothing to get it back. If he does, Sullyan’s life will be forfeit and no Artesan will be safe.

The race for the Staff has begun.

I am not alone in my praise for this book. Here are a couple other comments from other readers:

“One of the best fantasy books I’ve ever read. The balance between background story and action is just perfect. I’m very glad I found this author. You won’t want to miss this series!” ~Denyse Cohen, author of Witch’s Soulmate, Book 1 of the Living Energy Trilogy

“Splendidly written in a wonderful voice, drew me in immediately. Ms. Peace’s imagination alone gets 5 stars. Spectacular worlds and enchanting scenes. Anyone who enjoys losing themselves in a world of a charming fantasy with plenty of layers and a host of intriguing characters won’t be disappointed!” ~Rosary McQuestion, author of Once Upon Another Time

“As soon as I finished this book I was eager to start the next. I highly recommend this book. Great Job!!” ~Janus Gangi, author of Elizabeth Rose and That Morning After

There you have it! I hope you've enjoyed this post, and feel free to hurry on out and buy your own copy of this excellent book.