Review Detail

What Worked: Originally the Ascendence series was written as a trilogy. At the very end of the third book, the plot skips forward a year to give the characters happy endings and wrap up their stories. This fourth book in the series was written several years later and gives King Jaron and his friends a high-stakes adventure taking place within that missing year.
In one way as the reader, we know things must work out well because of how the third book ended. Yet, to raise the sense of danger, a friend of Jaron and a supporting character is killed when Jaron and his Pirate crew and friends are taken captive by the Prozarian race previously believed to be extinct.
During his captivity on the island of Belland, Jaron keeps assuring Captain Strick that they should go ahead and surrender because he will defeat them. She is the closest person that has ever seen through Jaron’s bravado to the core of his fears. She uses his friends and fears against him to some success.
His friends have grown surer of themselves since Jaron first met them, and they chafe under his secretiveness. In their desire to protect him from himself and the Prozarians, it is often unclear if their actions help or hinder Jaron’s own plans of escape.
With his friends’ plans undermining his own plans, Jaron is less sure of his success than ever before. It turns out his brother, Darius, is not as dead as believed. Darius is sure in his birthright as eldest son that Carthya is truly his kingdom to rule. Jaron learns devastating secrets about his family and is fully willing to turn the throne over to his brother, but not while Darius is under the Prozarians power. This leads to a weird state of flux where Jaron is still acting as king while not fully convinced of his right to lead. He must take a hard look at himself and make the best decisions he can to keep everyone alive and free.

Final Verdict: Part of what makes this series so worth reading, again and again, is the way Jaron goes from utter disaster to big reveals of strategy that save the day. It makes for a quick-paced read that is hard to put down until the very end. Jaron/Sage is one of my favorite characters to read. His wit and strength of character are very endearing to the reader because of the utter fury he causes his foes and friends alike.