+Aaron Elpis (Aaronelpis) is rapidly becoming a favorite author of mine! Haders picks up 5 years from where Elpis left off. Delkol is dead. Terico is dead. Suran is dead. Oh whoops..did I ruin Elpis for you? You should've listened to me and read the book then.
We pick up with Lanek, Suran's brother, who has taken over building and servicing airships and trying to pick up the pieces of his life. He is summoned to the royal Fiefs court by Rilv, the royal head of house. It has been discovered that there exists these Nexi stones, known as Haders, that were created in order to combat the power of the Elpis. It is Rilv's mission to find these Haders in order to take down Augurc who is running rampant throughout the land destroying everything and everyone. Upon the death of his brother, Delkol, Augurc now has half of the Elpis and has used it to perform even greater experiments on his subjects. He has also made Areo, lady vamp, a non-thinking, non-feeling, killing machine. Upon Lanek's arrival at the court, in walks Lynx...Mr, I killed Suran. Lanek loses his shit and threatens to kill him, but Rilv steps in and handles the situation with the telekinesis Hader she has. Lynx has become a double agent, but of course Lanek doesn't trust him and who could honestly blame him. Kitoh, the transforming eigni is also in attendance, and it is through his genius we were able to learn of the Haders. He has also developed an instrument that will very well destroy the Elpis. Thus, Rilv, Lanek, Kitoh, and Lynx set out on a journey to find these Haders. Oh what a merry journey this will be......
We also pick up with Borely who is now a vampire. He has been living with Jenba and Nivakil, Areo's brother and trainer, respectively. They are trying to teach him the ways of the vampire, but of course, given his previous history with vampires, he's not so keen on the idea of behaving like one. He drinks blood only when he absolutely has to and always only from a vial. He hasn't noshed on anyone yet, and he's really not a fan of using his vampire traits in battle.
Lanek and crew come to this tiny, remote, elvish town where Lanek is immediately made welcome given the fact he is an elf. It is through him that the others are made welcome. However, things quickly go horribly awry when Rilv learns the Hader they seek is housed in the shrine to their elvish deity. Come hell or high water, this lady is getting this Hader. Not long after she has obtained it, all the while battling the people of this town, a man shows up claiming to be the salvation of this small town. He can supposedly save these people because he too has two Haders. As it turns out, Haders cannot be used against one another. This man, Kechi, only wants the Haders Rilv has though and all out battle ensues. Most of the people in this village are killed and the good guys barely escape with their lives, much less the 2 Haders they now have. Lanek, of course, is devastated by all of this bloodshed. So many innocent lives have been lost, and Lanek isn't really sure if it's all worth it. He struggles to find the purpose in this mission, and he wonders at the sanity of Rilv. Has she become too power hungry? Has the use of the Hader warped her mind?
Meanwhile, the vampire city of Istal is overrun by Augurc, the Brotherhood, and these elite vampires who have lost their mind because they're so damn power hungry. Jenba, Nivakil, Borely, and a young child named Analicia, barely escape. It is during their escape they encounter Areo now that she has become an Augurc experiment. Borely and Areo fight, but rather than killing him, she hesitates and runs away. Once away from harm, Nivakil makes contact with Rilv who tells them they need to head to the port town of Limbo to find another Hader. This Hader is held by a pirate named Yeaf and it has the ability to summon any weapon out of thin air. It is during the battle of this Hader that Nivakil and Jenba sacrifice themselves in an explosion so Borely and Analicia can escape with their lives, and the Hader.
McGowan has this way of blending these multiple story lines together to make the story unfold without losing you along the way. He then brings it all together for the final culmination. Borely and Analicia meet up with Lanek and crew in order to take down Augurc. They're headed to the Fief city of Niez because their Hader map shows there is another one in the area. They are also being rapidly pursued by Kechi who is bat shit crazy by the way. This mofo hears a dead man in his head...like for real...the dude he hears is a skeleton who he intends to bring back to life with the Haders. Anyway, it turns out that Augurc is actually planning to attach Zein, a Shire kingdom that borders Niez. Augurc has this idea that ideal citizens are emotionless and that without emotion, there would be no wars, no factions, no disruptions, and it would basically lead to a utopian society. However, these guys prove him wrong.
A huge, bad ass battle begins with everyone being a little bit confused as to whose side everyone is on. No one knows where Lynx's allegiance lies, Rilv has lost her damn power hungry mind, Borely and Analicia have split up to find Areo, and Lanek just wants this all to be over so he can find a quiet spot to live in peace. Augurc has this final experiment that is supposed to be the ultimate weapon but it turns out it could actually be taken out with the power of the Haders. In the end, the good guys actually get a relatively happy ending and the bad guy kinda does too...
Borely is able to kind of crack the spell on Areo's mind by basically confessing his love for her. He doesn't say the L word but it's implied. Augurc basically gives up because he realizes his plans and ideals will never work. He takes full responsibility for everything that happened and he's placed in jail. Lynx uses one of the Haders to free his mind and return to being Turan again, even though he will never be able to forget everything he was forced to do while under Augurc's brainwashing. Areo comes and kinds...sometimes she has no memory of Augurc, sometimes it's all she thinks about, and sometimes she's normal Areo. They all settle in the same elvish village and they help the people to rebuild their shrine. The people come to trust the 5 of them and they vow to never let any harm befall the village. All in all...a happy ending!
I like the fact that McGowan gave me closure for everyone, but he has also established these 2 kingdoms, and let's be honest...peace doesn't last forever. He left it just open enough to be able to continue on with more in the future...and I really hope he does.This one was a bit darker than Elpis but equally as cool. Great descriptions of the battle scenes. A bit more details about the folks we met in Elpis, but didn't get to know too much about. All around two thumbs up and a job well done! I look forward to more great things!
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