Which is not to say it’s a bad book. The action is fast paced. Settings are still incredibly detailed and imaginative. But the emotional tension is flatter. The supporting characters become throw-aways, to be killed off to up the emotional stakes.

The plotline divides; the three brothers separate and each goes on a quest. Unfortunately, the quests of two of the brothers are too similar, with interchangeable dangers and settings, all very creative, but we sometimes lose track of where in the video game universe we are at the moment. Likewise, each brother is having trouble with his love life, and those conflicts parallel each other too closely.

The story is enlivened by the continuing inner conflicts of the three heroes as each is forced by circumstances to move in directions he would rather not and take actions he may be forever sorry for. Or not; that’s cause for some good suspense.

In all, I wished that this book was a bit shorter and contained more variety in plot and settings.

Recommended for fans of the rest of the series; I can already tell by how this book progressed that the conflicts are going to be more interesting in the next one.

(4 / 5)