Some epic fantasy is all about the meticulous worldbuilding, others about the way it's written, and others love to revel in the plot.

This one just finishes us off in the trilogy by being bloody FUN. I may have mentioned in the previous books how much I love crusty old women taking up the sword and waging war and all, but this takes it all the way. The whole world is embroiled in a fight of mortals against demons and past enemies team-up.

Bt do you know what's best? The damn crusty language. It's like the whole book is full of Irish humor and insults and everyone is randy as hell. And it's written in such a way as it's positive and delightful. Celebration of life, as, you know, everyone's pretty certain of a nasty bloodbath. :)

So yeah, I had a fantastic time. Gibbering horrors, bright characters everywhere, vivid text. This is a trilogy that is a delight to read. :) Grannies and their demon dogs rule! :) ( )

A War in Crimson Embers by Alex Marshall is the third book in the Crimson Empire trilogy and when we last left off, the heroes had all been separated and sent off to face their own trials. Scattered over their vast star, each character faces tremendous difficulties as they fight their way back to each other. As each hero wins through and they reunite, they now face their greatest test as they must stave off an apocalypse and hold back the nearly immortal devils and monsters of Jex Toth.

This epic fantasy story is filled with danger and betrayal at every turn. As the mortals get set for the final confrontation with the demons, there are many dark twists and turns. As Cold Zosia tells the group, “Let’s save the Star, stay alive and get f__king drunk – in that order!” The author does not shy away from extreme violence and gore but does pepper his story with plenty of humor and spicy romances. With larger than life characters, bold language and vivid descriptions [A War in Crimson Embers] was an excellent closing to this inventive, brutal and fun fantasy trilogy. ( )

Flawed heroes, unexpected outcomes, insane magical battles and the words - oh my god the words, or maybe I should say "the sentences", because anyone can say a word, it's the stringing them together that seems to be the hard part.

Another crazy thing about these books. The cast seems to be "pan sexual" with one character having 2 dads, 1 character having a mom who's a man, characters of the same sex who were formerly straight deciding to experiment, bisexual characters, characters into S&M etc... . Okay so that's not so crazy BUT the crazy thing is that NONE of it is extra fluff to sell books. Every word of it adds to the story. There are no ripped bodices and penetrating manhood going on here. It's character development, it's part of what makes the characters more real.

So this is definitely one of my all-time favorite fantasy series, though it's a "different" kind of fantasy. It's definitely not "high fantasy" none of the usual LotR's stuff. it's too much fun to be "grim dark". It's like "grit fantasy" or maybe "High Def Fantasy" because there are heroes, but you're seeing every pimple, blemish and varicose vein on these characters, and though they do win their fair share of battles, they end up getting the shit kicked out of them more often than not.

Last note, if you're into audiobooks, I highly suggest listening to these. The narrator is absolutely amazing. ( )