Book Tour | The End of Dreams by Marcus Lee

March 2nd 2021

Hello Fantasy Book Nerds

It's my turn on the Blog Tour for The End of Dreams by Marcus Lee . The tour has been organised by the fabulous Storytellers on Tour. So far there have been some fantastic bloggers involved in this tour and I hope you can check out their reviews too. Today, Beneath a Thousnd Skies and Out of This World SFF Reviews are also reviewing The End of Dreams as well, so if you want to have a look at these other fantastic reviews follow the link.

One of the other things I need to mention is that if you want to read the first book in the series, Kings & Daemons. It is currently on sale at the whopping price of 99p

Now before we get to the review, I just want to mention that the cover art for the book is done by Jaqueline Abromeit, who has done all three of the covers for The Gifted & The Cursed. I think that this one is my favorite of the three (although they are all brilliant) and this captures the tone of the book

So if you are not familiar with the book, here is a bit about it.

Book Blurb

As Daleth the Witch-King and his horde ready themselves for the final battle, a small alliance prepares for a desperate last stand.

However, the alliance is weak and fractured, led by a king interested only in retaining his wealth and a lord commander consumed by his thirst for revenge. With a seemingly unbeatable army before them, invisible foes amongst them, and broken hearts between them, the alliance appears destined to fall.

Yet in these dark times, her light almost extinguished, a peasant huntress is soon to be queen. But if she can find what was lost, she might prove to be more powerful than two kings combined.

This war will bring about the end of dreams, but for whom, the gods have yet to decide.

Review

With The End of Dreams, Marcus Lee's The Gifted & The Cursed comes to a close.

When it comes to the last of a series of books, we know that there will be an inevitable conclusion and the series will end. It's always bittersweet when we get to the final chapter of a series. On the one hand, you want to see how it all ends. Will good triumph over evil, or will there be a twist of events that will somehow change the outcome and give us an unexpected ending that we didn't see coming. There are a multitude of ways things can end, but end they will. And so it comes with The End of Dreams.

However, whilst the ending is important, it is not the be all and end all. The most important aspect is the journey to get there. Therein lies the joy! And, oh, what a journey this is.

The book starts immediately from where we last left our main characters. Taran, Rakan and Yana are escaping from the fortress of Tristan's Folly. Whilst Maya is fulfilling her obligation to Tristan that she made to keep Taran alive.

It's pretty fair to say, that at this present moment in time, mostly everyone is not happy about the current situation that they find themselves in. Well, except for Yana, who is quite happy that things seem to be going according to plan. In that Maya is off with Tristan and she has time to see her wily plans of making Taran her own come to fruition.

In amidst this, Taran has made the stupendously wise decision to continue to wear the amulet of the Witch King and repress all his emotions pertaining to the current state of his relationship with Maya. You know that isn't going to end well, don't you! However, Rakan tells him this and he completely ignores this advice. Suffice it to say, Taran walks a pretty dark path, believing that the most appropriate way to deal with the Witch King is be like the Witch King.

Meanwhile, Daleth is currently holding up, injured as a result of the events at Tristan's Folly. However, he is not entirely idle in his God given right to dominate the whole world and suck off its life energy so that he can live forever and sets off a series of plans so that his victory can be orchestrated.

Maya, on the other hand has decided that although she is not in the best place, what with Tristan wanting to get his wicked way with her (in more ways than one), she feels that the best course of action is to defy Tristan at every given turn and also make the best of her situation by doing what she does best, caring for others and thus telling them the truth about Daleth and his army.

I think that tells you enough about plot without giving too much away.

I have loved this series as whole and with each book, it has gone from strength to strength, and the End of Dreams is no exception. Marcus Lee delivers plots and subplots, weaving each one delicately to reach the final ending of what for me is a memorable series of books.

Again, he shows inexplicable skill in mounting tension, introducing new characters and subsequently completing this journey.

What I like about, Marcus Lee's writing is that he wears his heart on his sleeve. He loves epic fantasy in all it's forms. He is able to write about romance without it turning into mawkishness, he can write about other relationships, such as Rakan's care for his son and make it believable and he can satisfy even the bloodthirstiest of readers like me. That's a pretty good balancing act to perform if you ask me and he does it with style.

Now we have to talk about characters. Marcus Lee writes fantastically believable characters that are worth getting attached to. From Maya, with her beguilingly innocent view of the world to the despicable Tristan. Yes, I say Tristan, because whilst Daleth is the big bad, he's a smidgen less odious than Tristan, who I virtually hissed at every time he entered the stage.

One last thing that I have to mention, is that surprisingly, amongst all the plot and the characters, Marcus Lee manages to squeeze in some pretty awesome world building with the introduction of the Horse lords, which to me, reminded me of a mix between the Rohirrim, the Mongol Hoardes and the Knights of Solamnia and I thought were a welcome addition to the book.

So, we come to the close and I must say that this is a satisfying ending to a memorable series.

Author Info

Writing hasn't always been a serious hobby for me ... but it has always been there, lurking in the shadows, serving me well when called upon.

As I look back over the years, I realise I was guilty of writing many short stories, as well as poetry, and I'd like to think, that even if they were never intended to be published, they were nonetheless warmly received by the intended recipients.

Then in 2019, I was inspired to write not just a short story, or poetry, but a book. Then, suddenly, one book turned into a trilogy and a labour of love, and it was a love I wanted to share with the world.

So, here we are. The pandemic that put my career in sport on hold also gave me the opportunity to lavish time on my alternative hobby, or if demand dictates my new career.

However, only you, the reader, will decide whether this trilogy, which is still a work in progress, will be the first of many. I genuinely hope so.

Who knows, now these creatives juices are flowing, I might just keep on writing anyway.

Epic fantasy has been my favourite genre since I first read The Odyssey and The Illiad as a seven-year-old. Now it's my turn to see if I can bring another world to life in the imagination of others.

Website: https://www.marcusleebooks.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarcusLeebooks

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Marcusleebooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1361488.Marcus_Lee

Newsletter: https://www.marcusleebooks.com/contact

So, as always, thank you for visiting the site and if you want to look at the others and what is coming next on the tour, here's the schedule