The sixth book of this wonderful fantasy series follows the travels of The Chosen and their getting to know each other a bit better.

Joseph has created a set of heroes, The Chosen, for this story that are everything but a cohesive unit working towards a singular goal, and, at times, this can become rather frustrating and annoying.   I just wanted them to sort their shit out and get on with it, but they just keep pulling in opposite directions with their own agendas being more important than the goal the gods set for them.   And the end result of my frustration and annoyance is i end up liking and admiring The Generals more than i do The Chosen.

So far this has been the strangest book of the series.   Whereas 'The Book of Deacon' was exploring how magic works within this series, this book is mostly spent with The Chosen learning to fight, both individually and together.   And i'm not a big fan of lots of fighting, so i can't say it all worked for me.

But, lots of buts, i suppose this was inevitable.   You take a bunch of people, some who don't want to be heroes and some who do, and throw them together for a goal that some don't care about and some do, and you're going to have chaos for a while.   And this is what this book is really for: bringing together these conflicts, internal and external, of our heroes and attempting to get them resolved before the big day ahead.   Will they all be resolved?   Will all our heroes survive?   You'll just have to read it and find out.

One more thing about this book.   The war between the Northern Alliance and Tressor has been going on for well over 100 years, continuously, and i kept on feeling that this book had a lot to say about war and the reasons we fight it...

"Peace is preferable to war.   If defeat is the price, I am now willing to pay it," the king stated solemnly.

"You claim to care for your people, yet you would sacrifice their freedom with victory so nearly at hand," Bagu scolded.

"Their freedom was not mine to sacrifice, nor was it theirs.   Their forefathers and mine gave it to the war long ago, and the war has been given to you," said the king.

"Remember this, Your Majesty.   Your continued power is an illusion for the benefit of your people.   The only true power lies in the hand that wields the sword," warned the general.

With that he returned to his lair.   The defeated king sat in silence.

Food for thought there. ( )

This book earns more 2.5 than a 3 from me. The storyline is good but there's something lacking... Some deeply empathic characters seem devoid of emotions when one they love dies. The description of action scenes is often confusing. I've come too far into the story not to be curious about the fate of some characters but this series won't be among my favorites. ( )