I recently have been working my way through the DemonWars Saga by R. A. Salvatore, a series based in the world of Corona and tells the story of the various wars against the demon dactyl Bestesbulzibar. Having finished Ascendance with Aydrian Wyndon, now Aydrian Boudabras taking the throne of Honce-The-Bear I was expecting the next book, Transcendence, to pick up where that left off. Instead, it goes back in time by a few years and covers what had happened to Brynn Dharielle after she had left Andur’Blough Inninness in her quest to free her fellow To-Gai from the Behren who had recently conquered them. Having left the Touel’Alfar with Bellimar Juraviel as her companion she travels through the belt-and-the-buckle mountains where they run into the Doc’Alfar, cousins to the Touel’Alfar, and gain a new companion in Cazzira. She shows them how to navigate through the mountains using the Path of the Starless Night where they get separated. Brynn manages to escape the mountains while gaining a ranger sword named Flamebringer. Bellimar and Cazzira are taken captive by a dragon named Agradeleous, who they slowly manage to befriend over time. Brynn continues to To-Gai where she works on inciting rebellion amongst the To-Gai-Ru against the Behrenese conquerors where she is eventually joined by Pagonel, a Jhesta Tu mystic from the mountains of fire. Eventually, they all come together in their work to overthrow the Behrenese.
So, I was totally surprised that the story did not continue on with the Aydrian storyline, mostly because of the massive cliffhanger that the previous book ended with. That being said I thoroughly enjoyed this side-story about the adventures of Brynn Dharielle and definitely expect them to intertwine in the last book, which I hope to read soon. One of the things that was really interesting is the introduction of the Jhesta Tu as they are more along the lines of what I expect when I think of the mystical monks using the power of Qi as that is exactly how they operate in this world. It makes an interesting contrast against the actual monks introduced earlier in the series that are followers of the Abellican church and gain their powers through the use of magical gemstones, without which they are often powerless. I feel like adding this really helped to flesh out the world of Corona. The previous books were all based in and around Palmaris and the Wilderlands to their north, which is a completely different part of the continent than To-Gai and Behren where this story takes place. It also fleshed out To-Gai and Behren though by providing insight into their cultures and traditions by detailing how the To-Gai culture was forced to change under the rule of the Behrenese and by detailing how the Behrenese faith worked by discussing the Chezru Chieftain and the various Yatol leaders. Overall, I enjoyed the read as it was a good book and good continuation of the series, even if slightly sidetracked from the main storyline and earns four out of five stars.
If you happen to enjoy reading fantasy than I would wholeheartedly recommend that you try this series of books. It is a great series to read and has a fascinating storyline. Unlike the other books in this series, you could probably read this book as a stand-alone but I would still recommend reading the previous works in order to have a better background of the world and some of the characters, such as Bellimar Juraviel. In my opinion, it would be suitable to adults but also young adults and older teens. I would be careful about suggesting it to younger readers as it is intended for older audiences and does have quite a bit of violence present in the books. If anyone decides to try it, or any of the previous books in the series, let me know what you think in the comments. As always I am curious about your opinions.