Review: Relic of the Gods by Philip C. Quaintrell

Blurb:

THE ECHOES OF FATE HAVE BEEN HEARD. AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS, THE PROPHECY HAS ALMOST COME TO PASS...

The final days of hope have come and gone. The kingdoms of Illian stand on the edge of ruin, threatened by the armies of Valanis. As evil spreads across the land, too few are left to hold the line.

A world away, the children of fire and flame may be the only hope for the realm, but the dragons have been defeated before. Now Verda’s future hangs in the balance.

Reeling from their losses, Asher and his companions journey north, trying to outrun the savage Darkakin. A confrontation awaits the ranger but, even with Paldora’s gem, he dare not challenge Valanis yet.

The days of the Dragorn have come again, and with them, a relic of the gods has been brought into the light. The knowledge of Verda’s true history weighs on Gideon Thorn, and he would see the world rid of the evil that has cursed it from the shadows for so long.

A great change is coming, and a new Age dawns on the horizon. Whether it be the light or the dark that finds victory, one soul will suffer the burden of destiny for all...

RELIC OF THE GODS CONTINUES THIS UNMISSABLE EPIC FANTASY SERIES.

Review:

This is the conclusion of the first of three trilogy arcs that make up The Echoes Saga. I am so pleased there are still more books to read in this series, there are SIX more! If I am being honest, there is absolutely zero reason that the entire series couldn’t just end here and I would still feel content knowing that I am satisfied with everything so far. However, having the series split into multiple arcs in the same world, with time skips, new characters, leaves the ability for some old faces to maybe appear, the world to be expanded and the history of the world to develop further; it also gives us as readers the chance to see how the changes affect the world overtime.

“I don’t think love cares whether you’ll both live or not”

Relic of the Gods picks up exactly where Empire of Dirt ended, there is not much more needed to say regarding the plot of this, but the battles are going to be massive. I will be honest my heart is still broken, reading through the epilogue it was great to get all the updates on the characters, all the questions I still had were answered. This is what I mean when I say, the series could just end here, the future of Verda could be left for you to wonder.  It is crazy to think that the writing could get better from where we were in Empire of Dirt, but seriously, the battle scenes in this book make you feel like you are watching a movie. By now it is no secret to you that I love dragons, and dragon riders, everything about them is something I really admire, if they were real I would definitely be in awe of them. In Relic of the Gods we retain all those classic fantasy tropes we all love, when written well they will never get old, this is a fine example of an epic fantasy that I could read over and over again. There are often a lot of comments that this series is grimdark, it isn’t, this is your classic epic fantasy, there are some descriptions that are very detailed, but it is certainly not  

“We all have something that tethers us to ourselves. Something we fear to let go of.”

The cast of characters in this first arc are some of my favourites of any series. My favourites are Asher, Gideon Thorn and Galanor, in particular the friendship that develops between Galanor and Gideon is one that I really love. The journeys of the original cast of characters since Rise of the Ranger and their growth between then and now, is so rewarding to see, they still mention things that happened in Rise of the Ranger and some of their experiences will live with them forever, it is nice to see that humanity aspect of them, they don’t experience these things and forget them which can sometimes be seen in books. There were a lot of characters that gained voices in Relic of the Gods and became more prominent, however this was never an issue, they were all unique, they had their own stories, history and voice.

“He didn’t belong with them anymore. What he’d become… I don’t think he could come back from that.”

I never expected the conclusion of this arc to be so devastating. There are some incredible scenes captured during Relic of the Gods, battle scenes, dragon riding, a herd of dragons, storms of fire, duels, movie style entrances. Relic of the Gods is definitely the top book in this first arc for me. I have enjoyed Quaintrell’s worldbuilding so much, the lore, the characters, the story, this is one that will live in my “thought-cage” for a rather long time. I think my husband is sick of hearing me talk about it already. I am extremely excited to start work on the second arc of The Echoes Saga, it is safe to say if this is the conclusion to the first arc, then the next two will only be better. If you have read The Echoes Saga then feel free to reach out, I would love to hear what else you have read so I can give that a go!

“Now you have forever.” He could tell they didn’t know what that meant yet, but in time, they would. “You have to live. Live for me…”