In the end

So, after much delay, I finally got my hands on Edward Lazellari's Blood of Ten Kings, the third and final book in his Guardians of Aandor series.

It took me a few chapters to get back into the setting, as we catch up with folks on our Earth who are actually from another part of the universe, A part closer to the center of reality where magic is much more prominent. Also, as is discussed, the closer to the center, the slower time flows. (The actual analogy is that reality is like an onion, the closer to the center, the more magic there is and the more things become less material and more energetic.) Having forgotten who they all were due to a botched spell upon arrival, the heroes have lived 14 years on Earth with no memory of who they actually are, while roughly a week has passed in Aandor. The Prince of the Realm, who came to Earth as a babe, is now 14 and being trained by the Guardians to speak the language, how to rule, etc. Which isn't really easy for a 14 year old who wants to enjoy his childhood. Perhaps worse is Guard Captain Cal, who married Cat on Earth, having forgotten his betrothed, Chrys, back on Aandor. As we open, the same arguments from book two are replayed, as everyone tries to figure out when they should head back to Aandor and wipe the rival kingdom whose invasion of Aandor is what sent everyone to Earth in the first place out.

About a third of the way through the book, and after a few more Aandorians arrive, the point becomes moot as a dying Necromancer kills the Tree Mage Rosencrantz, sending most of the cast back to Aandor, whether they like it or not. (A few do get left behind, and we find out their fates later.)

As such, we get to see the Earthlings adjust to life in High Medieval fantasy settings even as the returned Aandorians bring Earth technology back with them unexpectedly, even if the magic of Aandor doesn't allow it to function very long. (Honestly, I found myself laughing as half the characters were using iPhones on Aandor to show pictures proving lineage. Good luck finding a charging port in High Medieval.)

Any rate, once we're back on Aandor, we end up following around a few different groupings of the Guardians as they get thrown into starting a rebellion. (I'm skipping a heck of a lot of narrative here, but it's kind of like watching modern folks find their way through a High Fantasy escape room.)

In the end, the day is won, and just about everyone has dealt with the revelations thrown at them during the transitions. We also get a few lessons in how magic and science can work together with some very fun results.

While this is a mostly satisfying end to the series, I also started feeling like maybe it should have been stretched out over two books, since parts of the rebellion and many of the revelations of personal info felt rushed, like everything that needed to happen was going to happen, but there wasn't enough room to particularly space it out. Also, when the bride meets the betrothed, the friendship between them is awesome, even if most of what they talk about fails the Bechdel test.

As a side note, this copy came from the library my dad ended up frequenting after he finished reading through the local library where I grew up. Part of me wondered if this would have been one he and I would have discussed, or if he would have dismissed it as too modern.