The Memory of Souls (A Chorus of Dragons, #3)

WHAT IF YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HAS TO DIE?

Now that the city of Atrine has been destroyed and Relos Var's plan to free the dark god Vol Karoth has been revealed—the end of the world is closer than ever.

To buy time for humanity, Kihrin, Janel, and Thurvishar must convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual that will strip the vané of their immortality—a ritual that certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the ones bringing the news.

Worse, Kihrin must come to terms with the horrifying possibility that his connection to Vol Karoth is steadily growing in strength. How can Kihrin hope to save anyone when he might turn out to be the greatest threat of them all?

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• Dark epic fantasy filled with dry, irreverent sarcasm.
• Footnotes adding character voice, as characters “write” the book.
• Well-lived-in world filled with history, magic, and lore.
• Chosen One prophecies … except times four.
• A love triangle that can best be described as “it’s complicated.”
• Past lives and reincarnation that complicates things even more.
• Villains who aren’t quite what they seem.
• Anti-heroes and gray characters.
• Secrets and backstabbing galore.
• DRAGONS! Nine of them.

Many thanks to Tor Books and JeanBookNerd for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I’ve been meaning to read A Chorus of Dragons for a while now, but I just haven’t had the chance to sit down and do it. Especially since these are some chunky tomes we’re working with here. Preparing for this blog tour, though, I sat down and piggyback read all three books, and the journey has just been … phew. I need book four now, please. The wait is awful.

The Memory of Souls is book three of five in an epic fantasy series set in a world that’s dark and filled with secrets, where betrayal lurks around every corner, where even the heroes are villains, and where no one is promised a happy ending.

This review is so hard to write, because as book three, it’s just … more of the same from the first two books? Everything I loved about the first two (especially the writing voice and the banter) follows through in The Memory of Souls, so in that respect, there’s not really any new surprises. The plot, though? Well, that’s a different story. Be prepared to question everything.

This review will contain spoilers for the first two books, The Ruin of Kings and The Name of All Things.

Rather than a chosen trio, this book gifts us a chosen quartet, and it’s not at all the people I had imagined it would be.

Still, they’re the people we clearly needed, whether we knew it or not. Following affairs from the second book, we’re left with Kihrin, Teraeth, Janel, and … Thurvishar. Yes, the last one is a little surprising, and yet, it makes perfect sense. Where the others immediately click, though, Thurvishar appears to be just along for the ride, and I suspect there’s more to him than meets the eye. Certainly, we learn some things throughout this book.

Since the others are already pretty well known from the first two books, I particularly enjoyed getting to know Thurvishar better, now that his gaesh is broken and he can actually be … you know, himself. He’s gloriously nerdy and bookish, but also a master at spellcraft, so that’s a fun combination. I feel like there’s one scene in this book, in particular, that says everything you need to know about his character.

(MINOR SPOILER) While the group ends up drugged with a sedative/hallucinatory substance, Thurvishar basically creates a mini nobleman’s house in his cell, complete with stunning bas-relief on the walls and furniture … including a stairwell leading down into a dungeon, with little reading nooks along the way on the landings. Because even drugged, he’s clearly got his priorities straight. And drugs can’t mask talent.

I’m pretty sure that says everything you need to know about this character and perfectly demonstrates why I love him so much. He ends up being a much-needed counterpoint to the other three big personalities.

This book really starts the deep delve into the history of the world, pulling in the older generation and revealing secrets that had previously been long buried.

There have been plenty of teases in the first two books about the previous generation and how everything started, but they were just that … teases. In this book, we really get into the meat of the matter and learn how the gods were made and what Vol Karoth really is and how he was created.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from this book is that it’s trust no one. People lie.

Repeatedly. Splendidly. Usually not for very noble reasons. I loved the fact that the older generation, the ones that were alive when the gods were created and knew them before they were gods, are finally coming into play . First, they’re every bit as fun and jaded as you might expect from millennia-old humans. More than that, though, they all have secrets, and secrets make things more interesting.

If I learned only one thing from this book, it’s this: reincarnation complicates everything.

Not gonna lie; I absolutely love it. Our daring quartet all have previously lives that they’re starting to remember more and more. Past lives that have history with each other, of course. This was touched on in the previous books, but it’s really coming to a head as Janel and Kihrin, in particular, are remembering their past lives.

There’s an added layer of complication with the fact that the previous generation, the one I said has a larger role in this? Yeah, they also remember our Chosen Ones’ past lives … and had certain relationships with them.

Sometimes the interactions were positive, sometimes not, and sometimes romantic. Talk about complicating things. Especially since these reincarnations aren’t their past selves. I’m really looking forward how this comes into play even more in the next books.

I’m not normally a fan of love triangles, but this one is complicated and not as straightforward as it seems.

This isn’t as simple as choosing between two people you love. As I’ve said, past lives complicate things, since all three genuinely love each other. And in the case of two of them, they were married in previous lives. Like I said … this love triangle is especially complicated.

I appreciate this love triangle for several reasons. One being the earnestness that these teenagers bring to figuring out their love lives. It’s difficult under the best circumstances, and these are … not that. But also, their feelings for each other are genuine, which makes it all the harder to decide which path to take.

These aren’t some fickle whims of who someone likes better or who’s destined to be your soul mate, etc. It’s pretty clear that they’re all soulmates in some sense of the word. The real question is how that plays out in this life. Plus, in this world, monogamy isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be, same-sex relationships are a normal thing, and sex itself is just a facet of being alive and not a big deal.

I admit that I didn’t love this triangle at first, but the more I get to know the characters and see their romantic struggles, the more I appreciate the genuine complexities of it. I can’t even tell you who I’m rooting for. All of them? Can that be a thing? I’m just as confused as they are.

If nothing else, the one thing that’s become clear about this series is that happy endings are no guarantee.

Part of that, I’m sure, has to do with the fact that there are immortal humans or humans that have been alive for millennia. Hard to get a happily ever after over such a length of time, because something will always mess it up. That’s the beauty of the previous generations coming into play, though. Even the heroes and the “righteous” people are screwed in the end.

Nobody is actually “safe” in this book, and it’s so hard to tell who to root for or who’s “right” in all of this (if there even is any right or wrong). So when you throw in an additional helping of the danger being real … well, I’ve gained five years now reading these books and fretting over my darlings.

What if something happens to them?! They deserve to be protected, okay? The series in itself is chock full of action and danger so far, but it’s hard to take seriously when people are worming their way out of lasting consequences. But foreshadowing that happy endings are nigh on impossible? I have concerns, I’ll tell you.

About Jenn Lyons

Jenn Lyons lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, three cats, and a lot of opinions on anything from the Sumerian creation myths to the correct way to make a martini. At various points in her life, she has wanted to be an archaeologist, anthropologist, architect, diamond cutter, fashion illustrator, graphic designer, or Batman. Turning from such obvious trades, she is now a video game producer by day, and spends her evenings writing science fiction and fantasy. When not writing, she can be founding debating the Oxford comma and Joss Whedon’s oeuvre at various local coffee shops.

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