Book Review: The Tower Broken by Mazarkis Williams

The Tower Broken by Mazarkis Williams

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 3 of Tower and Knife Trilogy

Publisher: Jo Fletcher (UK: November 21, 2014)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars 

Finishing a series is always a little bittersweet, isn’t it? I find this is absolutely the case with Mazarkis Williams’ Tower and Knife trilogy. Of course, I’m thrilled to have finally reached the stunning conclusion to find out how it all ends, but I also know I’m going to miss this world and its characters.

It is also a wonderful thing to see an author’s skills grow and evolve as time goes on. Though I think I’ll always be a little in love with Williams’ beautiful writing, I was admittedly much more taken with these last two books in the trilogy than I was with The Emperor’s Knife. All three novels had their own individual strengths, but in general I found Knife Sworn and The Tower Broken to have much better flow and greater complexity than the first book.

In fact, I now find myself at a dilemma. The last two books have both been very strong, and I really can’t decide which one I liked better. The Tower Broken, having a much darker plot and effectively raising the stakes, obviously appealed to me a lot. After the events of Knife Sworn, the fate of the world is teetering on the edge, threatened by a malignant force moving itself across the land and devouring everything it touches. The storm moves ever closer to the city of Cerana, and Emperor Sarmin finds he is powerless to do anything to stop its path of destruction. Things are definitely heating up in this one.

On the other hand, I LOVED the chapters about Grada, Nessaket, and Rushes from the last novel. Having the narratives of these three female characters was one of the best things about that book, but in this one they have once again faded back into the background, giving other characters the chance to step into the spotlight. Mesema and of course Sarmin both have their own chapters, but this time we also meet the fruit-seller-turned-mage Farid as well as Duke Didryk, whose point of view adds even more mystery to the already shadowy plot line.

While these new perspectives brought a heightened sense of intrigue and tension to the table, I still missed Grada, who has become the Emperor’s royal assassin, and even found myself wondering after Nessaket, Sarmin’s mercurial mother. But most of all, I missed following Rushes, the poor slave girl who has gone through such an ordeal in the course of these two books. I won’t deny I was a little disappointed to see so little of the three of them in this novel, but fortunately I was able to get over it quickly, because Williams does such a good job making all her characters interesting. Much like the series, I felt that many of the protagonists especially Sarmin and Mesema have finally come into their own. The transformation of their relationship was the highlight for me in this one; by the end I could see where the author had wanted to go with the two of them all along.

I also think I would be remiss if I ended this review without making mention of the magic in the Tower and Knife world. The first book introduced us to the complex dynamic between mages and spirits, with the former harnessing their abilities by imprisoning the latter into their bodies, then sucking them dry of the energy required to power magic spells. We get to see a lot more of that here, as well as insight into the concept of “pattern magic” which is central to this entire trilogy. I think it’s great how the last book ends with a much more detailed look into the mechanics of this system, because I’d always felt the story needed it.

So the the trilogy may be over, but I would read any future books by Mazarkis Williams in a heartbeat! Pulling off the final installment of a series is always a doozy, but it was done well here, even if everything wrapped up a little too neatly. I would still take a “complete” and satisfying ending like this over an open-ended one any day. Ultimately I think Williams made all the right calls, and at the end of the day served up an impressive conclusion.