The Art of Legend

, #3

Hardcover, 704 pages

English language

Published by Del Rey Books.

ISBN:
978-0-593-23769-4
Copied ISBN!
ASIN:
0593237692
Goodreads:
222104384
(1 review)

Once in a faraway kingdom there was a man prophesied to be the chosen one, who would defeat a great villain, the Eternal Khan, and save the kingdom.

But then the Eternal Khan died . . . and the prophecy was broken.

For Jian, the fated hero, this could have been a moment to succumb to despair. But instead, he chose to create his own destiny. He studied under Taishi, his curmudgeonly but beloved mentor, to become a great warrior.

With war on the horizon—and rumors of the Khan’s return brewing—a band of unlikely allies are also on their own missions. There’s Sali, a gruff warrior who is also forging a path different from the one her culture created for her, and Qisami, an assassin whose cold heart might actually be made of gold. And Taishi has gathered a band of other elderly grandmasters to help Jian live up to …

1 edition

Didn’t get in the rhythm and took a long time to finish

I don’t know if the fault was the book’s or mine, but it took me a lot of effort to pass the two-thirds mark, after which I started going faster.

The ending felt a bit rushed, with some hand-wavy explanations and too much luck to be credible. In a way it’s deconstructing the myth of the prophesied hero, the One, etc., but on the other it’s building a lot of expectations for a finale that feels too little.

Some characters get more developed, which is nice.

Subjects

  • Fantasy