/lit/ - Literature

>>20835357
Priest of Crowns, War for the Rose Throne #4 - Peter McLean (2022)

A fun, fast-paced, action-filled conclusion to the series. Considering how lacking the series was in subtlety or complexity for the most part, I still underestimated how literal the series title was. It's driven home that this series is a memoir, which may explain the various swerves over the course of the series, but I think that's more of an excuse for the author not being quite sure what to do with the narrative or characterization. In that regard, I think this may have been the series where I most disregarded how nonsensical it was for just how much fun it was. It helped that the grimdarkness was the sort that I mostly laughed at, which I don't know if that was intended, because of how ridiculous it could be. That his authorial voice remains wonderful also was quite the boon.

Most of the problems I had with the previous books weren't present here, or maybe I just didn't notice them as much. That being said, this was easily the least fulfilling, most streamlined, but also the most engaging and exciting book in the series. There were times that I forgot that I was reading a book. In terms of being content for a good time, it excels. For anything else, not so much. If I were trying to rate these on anything other than my subjective personal enjoyment then assessing it would be far more difficult and likely require multiple ratings, which I don't think I'd ever do. That's unfair in a way to books that I think are better in other ways than sheer enjoyment and thus are on overall superior work, but oh well.

I think this series went about as well it could've given its various limitations and what it was going for. The irony is that if McLean writes another series after this one, his improvement as an author may lead to less fun and enjoyable works. I hope he doesn't try to go for something more serious. It may be rude, but I also don't really intend to read his prior works. I think this hits rather on target for a certain kind of enjoyment and I have concern that his other works don't have the same aim. I haven't written really anything about the content of the book because this is the fourth and final in the series. If you were reading to determine whether to read this final book, then yes, you should. If it's whether to read the series at all, well, you're a reason why I've written this as I have.

Rating: 4/5