Destiny

Finished the third book of the Symphony of Ages over the weekend. There's another three books, but they take place later, from what I understand. And hey, there's actually some closure here. I may or may not look for the follow-ups later.

Overall, the series feels to me like a roleplaying game run by an enthusiastic, but probably inexperienced, friend. There are some really neat ideas in there. There's a lot of worldbuilding, laying out histories and culture. And yet, it still feels like there's something missing on a technical, literary level. The pacing isn't very satisfying (with no real climax until the third book), the central characters are really over the top, and the relationships get painfully soap opera-esque.

So it was okay entertainment, but not one of those series that I'm compelled to read through because it strikes a chord or is just that good.


Rhapsody really didn't need to be awesome at so much. Namer of incomparable, unrealized power. Legendary sword-wielder. Queen. Bearer of burdens. Caretaker and gifter of top religious positions. Adored and desired by all. And what flaws did she have? Umm... she constantly underestimated herself in most of those ways, I guess (which, given her Naming powers, probably should have actually made her less of all of that)?

Ashe was about as bad, and he didn't really have the endearing nature and background to make him interesting in spite of all of it. I was also disappointed at how his dragon side was set up as almost a different entity, but after the first book it was just sort of his impulsive side.

Achmed was a badass, but mostly just at killing people. He got less "screen time" though, so maybe that's expected. I rather wish he was better explored, though I fear he might have ceased to be as interesting if he was.

Grunthor... felt like a neat character, but honestly just sort of fell by the wayside. He filled the role of Achmed's general and go-to guy, but didn't seem to do much himself.

Llauron was an utter disappointment. Okay, fine, everyone's right and he wasn't the F'dor (though I still can't see why everyone seemed to make that assumption). But he's this scheming, manipulative bastard and once he accomplishes his ascendancy... that's it. I guess from his perspective, that's fine. He got what he wanted. But as a reader, I feel like there was build up of the character with no payoff.

The F'dor was... okay, I guess. The final fight with it seemed somewhat lacking, given all those previously-amazing mind control powers. It was still more challenging to the heroes than what had come before, though. And he got in one good "hit" at least.

Anwyn seemed to come up as a villain sort of out of nowhere. She's shown to have allied with the F'dor, but I never got a good sense of why.

Meridian generates a little interest. I like that he shows some remorse over changes to the timeline, even if for the greater good. It makes me curious about the "original" events. But at the same time, the character feels overwhelmingly overpowered - fitting, perhaps, as son of Rhapsody and Ashe. Somehow that subjects almost all the points of interest that he otherwise earned in my scoring.