Trysmoon Book 4: Sacrifice (The Trysmoon Saga)

Fantasy Book Review

I did a previous review on the first book of this series and have waited until completing the last to do a final review.  I was incredibly impressed with the first book.  One of my big concerns in the first review was how powerful the primary protagonist, Gen, became and the heights he achieved early in the series.  This often becomes a big barrier to keeping the story interesting as the plot progress.  Fuller answered that challenge nicely by continuously throwing our hero under the bus both in matters of destiny and matters of the heart.

Any good series like this is always built first on the solid foundation of character development by using the relationships these characters have with each other.  This saga was rich with these.  One of the more interesting relationships was the love triangle between Gen, the Chalaine and the Chalaine’s mother, Mirelle.  This was something right out of any college kid’s fantasy.  Mirelle makes no excuses for trying to Mrs. Robinson her way into Gen’s pants.  She is obviously one of the hottest milfs out there so, really, she provides an ethical dilemma that only one of Gen’s character and dedication can manage to navigate through without giving up his own ethical compass.  This achievement is made even more extraordinary when you consider that the Chalaine is not giving up the goods in the first place.  This borders a little on the unbelievable until you make the conscious decision to just roll with it and accept it as part of the fantasy.

The relationship with the Chertanne is also an enjoyable one.  The Chertanne is the character that is supposed to be the savior and focus of the prophesy that bails mankind out of the upcoming apocalyptically bad time floating just over the horizon.  You learn, even in the first book, that he is nothing but an entitled little prick.  The slightly unbelievable thing about this character is his inability to evolve into someone with even one iota of likability. This is true even after he gets sent, quite literally, to hell.  The interesting thing about the relationship between Gen and the Chertanne is that Gen does a wonderful job of turning almost everyone with a shred of common sense against the personality failures of the Chertanne simply by being the polar opposite in both deed and word.  This is incredibly satisfying but a little naively idealistic when one considers the current breed of politician we are forced to stomach in our real world that thrive in a system that doesn’t seem to be able to hold any of these entitled pricks accountable.  I guess that’s why we read this type of fiction in the first place.

There are misses on the relationship side as well though.  I think the biggest miss is the relationship between Gen and his former mentor/tormentor the Shadan, Torbrand.  The Shadan is the ruthless lunatic that gave Gen his training and resistance to pain by keeping the threat of his friends lives over his head as he treated him like a practice dummy.  However, when the odds are against both of these gentlemen in a desperate last stand, they act like BFFs once removed without any of the former antagonism that should rightly exist.  I know Gen is the forgiving type, but come on.  There are other misses along the way too like the Dason relationship and the non factor that Gen’s former flame becomes as the book progresses but none of these are significant enough to make the story un-enjoyable.

The plot charges forward nicely throughout the entire series with only a couple of lulls where it looks like Fuller is looking for something for the characters to do.  But again, these aren’t enough of a slowdown to keep you moving with the characters.  The twists that Fuller continues to add to the prophetic paradigm as he twists the prophecy into something much more dynamic are well worth the read.  This makes the too simple good vs. evil dynamic much more interesting.  The closing chapters are also satisfying as the Fuller wraps up the closing lines of the prophecy as well as turning the love triangle into more of a straight line.

All in all, a good series well worth the time investment.