In the Ruins

View other editions of In the Ruins.
View books by Kate Elliott.

Reasonble continuation of the story, but still only half a novel. - Rated
In the Ruins picks up the storyline from the end of Book 5, The Gathering Storm. The long-foretold cataclysm has come to pass and the continent of Novaria has been devastated by the return of the Ashioi. However, whilst the Ashioi argue amongst themselves about what attitude to take towards humanity, the kingdoms of Wendar and Varre once again fall into bitter infighting whilst their old rivals in the east, particularly the Arethousans, advance their own plans.

In the Ruins (***) is actually the first half of one novel, chopped in half when it got too large to publish in one volume. As a result it is the least self-contained of the seven books in the series, lacking any kind of climax or resolution. Despite this, the established storylines tick along nicely and we start seeing how some of the less-prominent storylines that the series has followed are starting to come together quite nicely for the conclusion.

Another page-turner volume! - Rated
This 6th Volume follows on directly from the 5th. The story storms straight into the plots and threads of the previous book with great pace and surprises. The whole book still provides unpredictable choices made by leading characters and unexpected events that shape the whole story in a way that sets up the final volume brilliantly....a real cliffhanger that all fans of this series will enjoy.

Without giving too much away, there are interesting developments after the return of the Ashioi in the aftermath of the great spell worked at the end of the last book; Sanglant as heir to his father's kingdom tries to fill his father's shoes, and in turn that provides a new slant on his relationship with Liath. We find out what happened to Alain and his story in particular is intriguing and not completely certain to the reader yet.

There are some fascinating movements by Queen Adelheid and Antonia emerges again and becomes Skopos, joining forces with Adelheid....and they acquire some VERY surprising prisoners!
Not so surprising is the fact that Hugh has survived, but he again proves to be unpredictable. Plus there are chapters showing the state of play of characters such as Ivar and Baldwin, Stronghand, Sapientia, Theophanu and Blessing, et al.

The book is as fast paced and full of plots and sub plots as the other 5 books in the series. Fans will thoroughly enjoy this book. To other readers, I highly recommend reading the other 5 books first to get acquainted with the book's mythology and characters. FIVE STARS!