International bestselling fantasy author Markus Heitz returns with this thrilling sequel to The Triumph of the Dwarves.

The Hidden Land lies broken. In the terrible battle to save the home of the dwarfs, elves and humans, many sacrifices were made by great heroes, and at the last the älfar were defeated. Aiphatòn, the son of the indelible and erstwhile Emperor of the Älfar, has sworn that his race will never again pose such a dire threat to the world; he is determined to seek out and destroy the last of his own people.
But there may be a greater enemy to face: an enigmatic mage with powerful magic at her fingertips is threatening the entire country.
Suddenly the Hidden Land’s greatest enemy has become its only hope . . .
The action never lets up in this next exciting story in the saga of the dwarves and the älfar!
For more from Markus Heitz, check out:
The Dwarves
The War of the Dwarves
The Revenge of the Dwarves
The Fate of the Dwarves
The Triumph of the Dwarves

Out August 2019

544 pages

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is the conclusion to an ongoing story. Markus Heitz has an interesting story-telling voice. He likes to make clear the setting, the backstory and who the characters are as he should, however, he also tries to include far too much detail and description that ends up putting the reader off

When writing an epic story with intricate characters found in different settings that must be described in fine details in order for the reader to appreciate what the characters are experiencing, it’s always best to leave this type of narrative to the film industry. By using visual aids while the action is taking place, the predicament that the characters find themselves in is spoken and described silently while focus remains on the characters and their actions. The story line continues smoothly and without moments that take the reader away from the adventure or events unfolding affecting the Protagonist. Attempting to do this type of production through the written word takes a very strong and expertly written prose. Not many fantasy writers possess these abilities, the same that Tolkien, Lewis and Donaldson possessed/possesses.

I do enjoy Heitz’s creations. His characters grew on this reader because they were multi-layered and greatly flawed, believable too. Do not get me wrong when reading the above paragraph, I am not about to say Heitz, a multi-published author can’t write, because he most certainly can. I just found in this particular book, some of the story felt forced, stoic and well, boring. I skipped over those parts. His actions scenes are good and his characters, like I’ve said before, are very well-written.

I guess what I’m saying is that when I read a book like this expecting one thing and get something else, I have to wonder why the book was written in the first place, or, if it was written dispassionately and thus creating that stoic, forced appeal… What do I know. It was a bit of a disappointment, but I am reading  “The Dwarves” series and find it exceptional.

I gave this book: