A War in Crimson Embers

November 6, 2017
Marshall concludes his Crimson Empire fantasy trilogy with more of the mayhem and magical chaos that readers enjoyed in the first two books. The now-aged “baddest of the bad,” war leader Cold Zosia, won a legendary battle but then failed miserably as queen. She keeps jumping back into trouble: first to save the new queen, Indsorith, who once tried to kill her, and then to save her world from being overrun by hordes of demons and other evils. All she has to do is escape a death sentence, find her scattered friends, and resolve to go down fighting if the world ends. Ragged, sharp edged, and expansively flawed Zosia is still the center of the story, but Marshall broadens the story and gives her far-flung friends and enemies more depth and time in the spotlight. The heroes and villains now face brutal extremities, including literal hells, that flay them open and expose every bit of bravery and evil within them; these personal developments are as cataclysmic as the epic final battle. This is a must-read for fans of Marshall and the Crimson Empire’s antiheroes. Agent: Sally Harding, Cooke Agency.

November 15, 2017

In her quest for vengeance, former warrior queen Cold Zosia has destroyed her reputation and her alliances. Her world is now burning, and her former allies are scattered and caught up in their own dangers. Sullen has been left to carry out orders of a dead goddess, and Purna is off on a wild goose chase to learn if the barbarian Maroto, a captive of a demonic army determined to destroy the Crimson Empire, is still alive. But Zosia must rally her old comrades one last time for a final battle. While the conclusion will have heavy consequences for the protagonists in unexpected ways, this action-packed, fast-paced dark epic fantasy will satisfy readers impatiently awaiting George R.R. Martin's next opus. VERDICT This last entry in the "Crimson Empire" trilogy (A Crown for Cold Silver; A Blade of Black Steel) will please series followers with its expansive setting and well-rounded characters.--KC

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2018
Apocalypse, rebellion, betrayal, and blood-soaked quests for personal redemption drive the plot of the final volume of the grimdark Crimson Empire trilogy (A Blade of Black Steel, 2016, etc.).The island of Jex Toth has risen from the First Dark, and its devil-possessed council of undead sorcerers plans to purge the continent of the Star and restore the Fallen Mother, who, although worshiped by the Church of the Burnished Chain, is less a goddess and more an extremely powerful devil. Meanwhile, deposed Queen Indsorith of the Crimson Empire and her predecessor and unlikely ally, Cold Zosia, face an army of revolutionaries in the ruined city of Diadem, Gen. Ji-hyeon of the Cobalt Company is lost in the hellish landscapes of the First Dark with a newly mutated eye, and a motley group heads toward Jex Toth in search of the mercenary Maroto, who, for his part, makes some incredibly dubious and self-serving choices at first to save his life and then to salve his conscience. Will our widely scattered heroes manage to join together and stave off an apocalypse teeming with slimy monsters and floods of crawling sentient bugs? Alex Marshall is the pen name of Jesse Bullington (The Folly of the World, 2012); the relationship should've been obvious from the first, given both personas' penchant for lovingly described grotesquerie and the lavish spurting of a variety of bodily fluids. There are also thrilling action set pieces, the tying off of most (but not all) loose ends, and multistage battle sequences, all building up to, well, somewhat of a fizzle. The author may intend the climax as a cynical metacommentary on how such epics usually end; or perhaps to explain how it isn't the end that's important, just the messy, limb-destroying journey to get there.Satisfying, almost.

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December 1, 2017
The Crimson Empire trilogy concludes in this epic story of redemption. Zosia, the once-heroic warrior, now lives as an outcast, her former comrades-in-arms spread out around the world, and the world itself on the verge of destruction. But Zosia isn't prepared to simply watch the world die. She has one last battle in her, but she can't do it alone; she needs to rebuild her army and regain her sense of purpose. As is often the case with fantasy series, this one needs to be read sequentially. For those familiar with the events of A Crown for Cold Silver (2015) and A Blade of Black Steel (2016), this finale, in which the author jumps right into the action, clearly assuming the reader is up to speed, provides a fitting conclusion to an original and exciting fantasy trilogy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)