The Void Ascendant

 Oh but this book is a punch in the gut. A GREAT punch in the gut, don???t get me wrong, but still a punch in the gut. Then again, could I have expected anything less, given what had happened in the first two books? 

Initially, this book read a lot more like a fantasy novel than the sci-fi/thriller-adventure feel of the first two books, mostly because of the drastic change in setting. I honestly thought that this was going to be more focused on court intrigue initially - at least, until a certain character shows up, whereupon the plot became more like that of the first two books, but flavored with a different kind of desperation this go-round.  Again, the novel turns on the relationship between Nick and Johnny, as it did in the first two books, though obviously things are much more different in this book than in the first two. Since this novel takes place seven-ish years after the ending of the second, the two protagonists have become very different people compared to who they were in the first two books. Throughout the novel, Nick???s intensely ambivalent feelings about Johnny come to the forefront, and his emotional journey as he grapples with the events of the past two books and the events of this one is both interesting and heartwrenching, especially given Nick???s situation at the start of the novel, and given the context of what happened at the end of the second book.  While Nick???s emotional journey was definitely a highlight of this novel, reading about Johnny was just as interesting, mostly because it elicits some rather complicated feelings about her, which are further complicated by the fact that it???s Nick narrating the story. It???s easy to sympathise with Nick, to outright SIDE with him, because he???s the narrator and the reader only gets his thoughts, his side of the story - but there are moments when the reader might find themself on Johnny???s side.  When that happens, it???s usually when the plot touches on the concepts of revolution and uprising, which form the base upon which the rest of the plot is built. This novel asks a very interesting - and very difficult - question: in the face of an utterly overwhelming force, does it make more sense to capitulate and appease that force in the hopes it doesn???t destroy everything and everyone one cares about, or does one fight back against a future of oppression and occupation? Some people might say that one must always fight back, even at the cost of one???s life; that makes sense on an individual level, as some people might be willing to make that sacrifice, but must one expect an entire country to do the same? The answer is more nuanced than what a lot of SFF novels (and historical novels, for that matter) make it out to be, and I liked how this novel tried to explore that.  Another thing I found interesting about this novel, especially given the two other books before it, is how, when it really came down to it, it was plain old trust that won the day: not magic, not gods, just trusting that another person would make the right choice. While there were a couple instances of literal deus ex machina (if the deus in that situation could indeed be considered such) in the story, they didn???t erase that final, basic fact. Helped it along, maybe, but didn???t erase it.  Overall this was a great way to end the series. Reading about how both Nick and Johnny had changed after the events of the second book, and seeing how those changes played out throughout this novel, was both fascinating and an emotional rollercoaster ride. And while I wasn???t entirely expecting the ending, it made sense in the grand scheme of things, and I appreciated that everything worked out in a good way - though I admit, I was expecting a far more tragic ending.