Empire of Blood

(The Minotaur Wars: Volume Three)
by
Richard A. Knaak

Wizards of the Coast, May 2005, 341 pp.
ISBN: 0-7869-3733-5

Genre: Fantasy

World: DragonLance
Reviewed: 6/27/2005

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

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A triumphant roar went up among the legionaries. Battle horns sounded. Both elements of the attack moved forward again.

The catapults began an incessant barrage. Under the protec­tion of the siege machines, the soldiers closed ranks. Behind them, legion archers prepared to fire. To the south, ogres versed in the bow did the same.

Despite the carnage caused by the catapults, the rebels continued to shoot their arrows and toss spears down. Wherever they materi­alized, they came under an onslaught.

A soldier bearing the legion banner--a sinister red scorpion on a field of brown--materialized near the base of Mer'hrej Dur, waving the flag for all to see. The foot soldiers had reached the tower. Immediately, trumpeters blared a new, high-pitched note. The catapults ceased their fire, the crews turning them toward fresh targets.

Archers from both forces pushed in, harrying any figures they spied among the rocks and ruins

Like the quickening of the warriors' hearts, the drums beat faster, insistently. The battle horns cried louder. The lusty roars of minotaurs and ogres alike filled the air.

Then, from the very bowels of the earth itself, shouting rebels rose up and fell upon the ogres' unprotected rear.

Bastion led. The black minotaur dove into the battle. He sliced through the chest of an ogre with his sword then buried the blade into the throat of another.

The shocking turnabout left the ogres completely dazed. Their broken-tusked war leader perished in the first seconds, a heavy axe buried in his chest. Bastion slew the next who sought to assume command. The ogres fell into disarray. Swiftly becoming a wild mob, they followed their most base instincts and charged their attackers with no thought of working in unison. They cracked skulls, leaving life fluids spilling on the hard earth.

The rebels eagerly met them in well-ordered battle lines. Under Bastion's command, the front line formed a deadly row of spears. Behind the spears stood more fighters with axes and swords who slipped between the protection of the longer-reaching weapons to cut down other tusked warriors. The rebels methodically advanced, forcing their opponents into a confused throng.

Review

With Ardnor now on the throne, his mother, Nephera, finds herself without a god, as Takhisis has disappeared. When she is contacted by another god, Morgion, the god of death and decay, she quickly accepts his guidance. With her powers restored, she turns her eyes once again to Faros, the leader of the rebellion. Faros is also contacted by a god, Sargonnas, the god of the minotaurs. At first, Faros wants nothing to do with the god that turned his back on his people. Faros soon realizes that he needs this gods help as his army is struck with one plague of abominations after another. But still his army marches on toward Nethosak, the capital of the minotaur race where Ardnor and Nephera rule. Faros knows that his biggest fight is ahead of him just outside the city. Nephera's daughter, Maritia, leads Warhorse, the best trained fighters in the minotaur nation. If they can just defeat them, the city will be theirs and the reign of Hotak and his spawn will be no more.

Empire of Blood is the third book of three in The Minotaur Wars trilogy. This story takes place in the fantasy realm of DragonLance. It occurs just after the end of The War of Souls and some of the events that happened in that series are viewed in a different light in this series. Of course, the point of view is of the minotaurs, not Mina's.

This being the concluding book in the series, i was hoping for a little more action than the previous two books. I knew that Faros needed to defeat the evil Nephera and her son Ardnor. I knew that there were going to have to be a lot of battles with minotaurs killing minotaurs. But what I didn't enjoy was how long and drawn out the book was. Yes, the book builds in intensity until the last 50 or so pages, but again I was fighting to get through this book, like I did most of the series. For a fantasy novel, there just wasn't enough action, at least for my tastes. Maybe the fact that you don't really care about the main character as much as you should is part of the problem. Yes, he has seen hell and survived it, but it is the way he acts that turns the reader off to really liking him. The bond between reader and character never really forms until the end of the series. By then, it is too late. Overall, Empire of Blood by Richard A. Knaak is a fitting conclusion to a series that could have been a really great trilogy.

I rated this book a 7½ out of 10.