The Lonesome Crown

<i> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJMYShD0sdd_bWR7gJyGq6Q" rel="nofollow noopener">Check out my YouTube channel where I show my instant reactions upon finishing reading fantasy books.</a> </i><br /><br /><b>One of the best fantasy books ever written, and an incredible conclusion to <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i> trilogy.</b><br /><br />I can't remember the last time I have been more hyped about reading a book than I was for <i>The Lonesome Crown</i>. Both of the previous books in this series are fantasy perfection, and with how much of a fan I am of Brian Lee Durfee (he runs an amazing YouTube channel that you just have to check out), my expectations for this book were sky high. And with high expectations often comes high disappointment - so I am beyond thrilled that not only were my expectations met, but they were inconceivably exceeded.<br /><br />This book absolutely rocks, and is the pinnacle of high octane, dark, bloody, epic fantasy. This is not a book you want to read if you are squeamish - but if you embrace the more brutal aspects of fantasy books, you will no find a better book anywhere than this one.<br /><br />While the story here was absolutely wonderful, the best thing about this book is the subversion of expectations. I don't think there is a single person on the planet that would be able to accurately predict exactly how the ending goes here, which characters progress from the "good" column to the "bad" (if they can even be labelled as such), which progress from the "bad" to the "good" - which characters become the focal point of the series, and which characters move from the foreground to the background. It's such a refreshing take on fantasy that I desperately wish more authors would utilize. <br /><br />The characters here went from "extremely liked" in the previous two books for me to "absolutely loved". And not just the characters we are supposed to like, but many of the characters that make - to put it lightly - extremely questionable choices. Two of the characters that really stand out for me are "Liz Hen", which sort of annoyed me earlier in the series due to her constant pessimism, to becoming one of my all time favorite fantasy characters here. Her extreme use of profanity is perfectly fitting for the drama that is unfolding in this book, and she is able to say the things that I am internally saying while reading this book - which is awesome and absolutely hilarious. Another character that will forever go down for me as an all-time great is the dog "Beer Mug". He is without a doubt my favorite animal companion I have ever read about, and you just have to read this book to find out why. Every scene that features this dog is elevated, and he's such a joy to read.<br /><br />The final battle that happens in this book is hands down one of the greatest battle sequences in all of fantasy. I don't have a page count on me because I got a digital copy of this book, but the battle must take up a good ~400 pages and it's gripping, bloody, unexpected, and incredible. It's hard to put down the book once the action hits it's high point here. It has one scene in particular that involves a quarry that is one of the most vivid and memorable fantasy battle scenes of all time.<br /><br />Suffice it to say, I highly recommend this book and this series to you. This series deserves all the accolades, and I deeply hope this author gets the recognition he deserves from writing this masterpiece of a trilogy.

<b><i>The Lonesome Crown</i> is a massive fiery, brutal, and unpredictable concluding volume to <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i> trilogy.</b><br /><br /><b> <blockquote>“One must cease trying to control every little thing. Let the rivers of time flow, let the waters run where they may, for what destiny is yours shall remain the same and polished from the journey.—THE WAY AND TRUTH OF LAIJON”</blockquote> </b><br /><br />This is the end of <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i> trilogy, one of the most underrated trilogy I've read. I started and finished both <i>The Forgetting Moon</i> and its sequel, <i>The Blackest Heart</i>, in the year 2019. Back then, when I first read it, I still thought this series would become a five books series. And it would’ve been so cool. The number five is crucial in the world-building and lore of <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i>. And then I heard it would become a four books series instead of five. And then, not long after that, I heard AGAIN that it would be crammed into a trilogy instead. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about this. A series designed to be five books long suddenly lost two proposed installments; how many contents will be cut out? However, as Durfee said at the end of <i>The Lonesome Crown</i>, this was done in order to make sure he could tell the entire story he wanted without waiting for contract renewals for future books/series, which in the publishing business is always up in the air. And most importantly, now that I’ve read <i>The Lonesome Crown</i>, this move felt like the right decision. A blessing in disguise. I never felt like anything was missing from the text. This novel is almost 1,100 pages long and close to 400,000 words. It is the biggest in the trilogy, and as Durfee said himself, none of his vision was sacrificed in the making of this novel or trilogy. Everything he wanted to write was successfully written and crammed into this huge trilogy. And I am inclined to say I loved this explosive conclusion <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i> trilogy.<br /><br /><b> <blockquote>“It will not be self-righteous blind faith in Warrior Angels that will save the Five Isles, the Vallè had said, but rather those with humble doubt, those who take it upon themselves to hone the strength of their own will and intellect and fight against the power of suggestion, fight against faith and blind belief.”</blockquote> </b><br /><br />The story in <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> continues a few days from where <i>The Blackest Heart</i> ended. And I personally think Durfee has realized many incredible feats with this novel. Without going into spoilers, <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> is a book about preparation, setup, and finally, the long-awaited Fiery Absolution. Fiery Absolution has been teased and prophesized since <i>The Forgetting Moon</i>. The twists and turns, the perilous quest, the epic war, the sacred weapons hunt, the deaths, the betrayals, and more. Everything that transpired in the previous two books and the first half of <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> was all a compelling preparation for the devastating time of Fiery Absolution portrayed in the last 35% of the book. I will talk more about the insane Fiery Absolution later. But first, unpredictability from using familiar tropes has always been one of my favorite aspects of <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i>, and Durfee did not dismiss this notion here. Right from the first chapter of this book, I was taken aback by finding out the identity behind the character in the gorgeous cover art (illustrated by Richard Anderson) of <i>The Lonesome Crown</i>. This kind of twist persisted throughout the entire novel. And even though familiar tropes were utilized constantly throughout the trilogy, it never felt like the story was predictable or less engaging.<br /><br /><b> <blockquote>“Scripture is naught but insanity and contradictions: love and hate, peace and war. For any man who claims to speak for god is insane. All the time. Every time. Thus religion is naught but allegory and fable, and in the end answers nothing, leaving the mind and soul bereft and empty when it thinks it is full.—THE BOOK OF THE BETRAYER”</blockquote> </b><br /><br />I did a reread of <i>The Forgetting Moon</i> and <i>The Blackest Heart</i> in preparation for this book, and I'm glad I did. The ordeals and developments the varying characters went through in shockingly only one year of the timeline were just crazy. I don't think I would be able to enjoy this installment as much if I didn't reread the previous two books first. Durfee keeps the story fresh and exciting by including not one book of prophecy but multiple scriptures. This created contradictions and obsessive clashes of faith with heavy consequences while at the same time keeping readers glued to the page, thinking about which one of these scriptures is the right one. War being waged in the name of religion and faith is not a rare plot device in epic fantasy. And I am sad to say it is also a common conflict and occurrence in our world. This shattering war brought forth by people acting as if they were the avenging words and swords of their gods resulted in the inevitable conflagration, The Fiery Absolution. It was all handled deftly. The ending was satisfying enough and fitting to the trilogy, and Durfee, at the same time, left room for a sequel series should he ever choose to do it in the future. It's not truly necessary because I am satisfied with what I've read here. However, if it happens, I will be intrigued to find out how the events in this trilogy shaped the future of The Five Isles.<br /><br /><b> <blockquote>“Our stories of today will be written down and twisted in the name of someone’s future ideology.”</blockquote> </b><br /><br />Before I discuss The Fiery Absolution and the action sequences, it is mandatory to talk about the characters and their development. It is worth writing a bunch of unlikable characters. I think one of the reasons why <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i> remains an underrated and underhyped trilogy is because <i>The Forgetting Moon</i> did not click with readers. It is understandable. Despite some loud opinions and demand for more morally grey characters, it is still, at its core, essential for many readers that the characters are still likable. The characters in this trilogy did not start off that way. Stefan and Beer Mug was the only truly kind-hearted and morally good characters throughout the trilogy. The rest, from the first book to the end, are doing their best to survive at every expense. There are no heroes here, except for Beer Mug, just survival. However, this is not to say the characters stayed unlikeable constantly. Starting your series with unlikable characters left room for rich character development and growth. That is what has been achieved here.<br /><br /><b> <blockquote>“We cannot change the past… We can only accept where we are right now and forgive what wrongs were done us and move on. If anything good can come of this Laijon-forsaken mess, it is that I have changed into a less prideful person. I hold no malice toward Nail, and I can only hope those I have wronged hold no malice toward me.”</blockquote> </b><br /><br />In <i>The Lonesome Crown</i>, the number of characters in the series with their respective arc has increased further. We have main or supporting characters like Nail, Tala, Jondralyn, Jenko, Ava, Liz Hen, Dokie, Hawkwood, Krista, Val-Draekin, Gault, Enna Spades, Stefan, Lindholf, Lawri, and more. It will require another separate review if I pursue explaining EACH character's arc in detail. It would be a very spoiler discussion, and plus, I don't have the time to do that right now. Let's say this instead, the character's arc of these morally grey characters is incredibly rewarding. I think, sometimes, it is more paramount for readers to feel invested in the character's journey rather than being fixated on whether they are lovable characters doing good or not. Plenty of characters I despised in the past two books became characters I am so invested in here. For example, I talked about the shift in my investment in Liz Hen in my review of <i>The Blackest Heart</i>. I mentioned how Liz Hen was a character I thought I would thoroughly hate until the end, and <i>The Blackest Heart</i> proved me wrong. Well, <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> proved me wrong further. Liz Hen became one of my favorite characters in the trilogy. And then, characters I thought I was going to until the end of the trilogy betrayed me. It is all so good and unpredictable. Redemption, renewed purpose, or an attempt at one, is there for the characters. And there is Beer Mug, one of the best animal companions in the entire fantasy genre.<br /><br /><b> <blockquote>“But it wasn’t until now that she fully understood the lure of forgetting, for this was the worst thing she had ever seen, and she wished to forget it immediately. A hundred thousand bodies buried underneath a hundred thousand more. Piled, stacked, crushed and torn asunder, then set aflame by dragon fire. It was death on a staggering scale.”</blockquote> </b><br /><br />Due to my growing investment in the characters, Durfee managed to make the blistering final 35% of the novel more gruesome and immersive to me. Time to talk about The Fiery Absolution. I've read more than 600 fantasy novels now. The Fiery Absolution has to be one of the craziest and most massive war scenes I've ever read. It is more or less 350 pages long of relentless carnage and savagery. And I am not exaggerating when I say the imagery Durfee portrayed in The Fiery Absolution made <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> one of the darkest and most violent books I've read. Honestly, some noticeable plot armor was involved, but I think they were balanced out but ultimate deaths for plenty of key characters. The explosive bloodbath instantaneously increased the death toll to exceed tens of thousands. Exactly. Tens of thousands of dead and burnt bodies twisted and smolders under the prophesized Atonement Tree. And then, there is also the crimson horrors of Tin Man Square. It is amazing. Nobodies, assassins, Valle, oghul, dragons, and the beasts of the underworld transformed The Five Isles into literal hell. It was, all in all, easily one of the finest war sequences I've read.<br /> <br /><b> <blockquote>“War is destruction. War is death. But once war is over, royals will again sit their broken thrones, villagers will return to their burnt villages, daughters will bury their fathers, and humanity will carry on and rebuild. Hope will flourish. The dead will sleep. Life goes on for the living. Just remember that when all hope seems lost.—THE CHIVALRIC ILLUMINATIONS OF RAIJAEL”</blockquote> </b><br /><br />I am amazed at Durfee’s talent to weave such a sweeping epic fantasy revolving around plenty of familiar tropes and twist them until unpredictability became a part of the series' main charm. This is an epic-scope trilogy about characters doing their best to survive against all odds in every circumstance. It is a story about blind belief and its irreversible consequence. However, though not touched upon as much as the other, I strongly believe <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i> is a series about finding the possibility of forgiveness and redemption after executing awful decisions and actions, whether forced or not. <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> is a climactic concluding volume to <i>The Five Warrior Angels</i> trilogy. I am grateful I took a chance on this series. It is a criminally underrated trilogy. And I look forward to reading whatever Durfee decides to write next.<br /><br /><b> <blockquote>“The only way peace and happiness can be had is if we do unto others as we would have done unto us.—THE WAY AND TRUTH OF LAIJON”</blockquote> </b><br /><br /><b> <u>Series Review:</u> </b><br /><br /><i>The Forgetting Moon</i>: <u> <b> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2751839409?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener">4.5/5 stars</a> </b> </u><br /><i>The Blackest Heart</i>: <u> <b> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2751839973?book_show_action=false&amp;from_review_page=1" rel="nofollow noopener">5/5 stars</a> </b> </u><br /><i>The Lonesome Crown</i>: <b> <u>5/5 stars</u> </b><br /><br /><i>The Five Warrior Angels</i>: <b> <u>14.5/15 stars</u> </b><br /><br /><b>You can order this book from: <u><a href="https://www.blackwells.co.uk/?a_aid=petrikleobooks" rel="nofollow noopener">Blackwells (Free International shipping)</a></u></b><br /><br /><b>You can find <u><a href="https://novelnotions.net/2023/01/02/book-review-the-lonesome-crown-the-five-warrior-angels-3-by-brian-lee-durfee/" rel="nofollow noopener">this</a></u> and the rest of my reviews at <u><a href="http://novelnotions.net" rel="nofollow noopener">Novel Notions</a></u> | I also have a <u><a href="https://www.youtube.com/petrikleo" rel="nofollow noopener">Booktube channel</a></u></b><br /><br /><i>Special thanks to my Patrons on <b><u><a href="https://www.patreon.com/petrikleo" rel="nofollow noopener">Patreon</a></u></b> for giving me extra support towards my passion for reading and reviewing!<br /><br />My Patrons: Alfred, Andrew, Andrew W, Annabeth, Barbara, Brad, Casey, Diana, Dylan, Edward, Elias, Ellen, Ellis, Gary, Hamad, Helen, Jesse, Jimmy Nutts, Joie, Kristina, Lana, Luis, Lufi, Melinda, Meryl, Michael, Miracle, Nanette, Neeraja, Nicholas, Radiah, Reno, Romeo, Samuel, Sarah, Sarah, Scott, Shawn, Wendy, Wick, Xero, Yuri, Zoe.</i>

this book is gonna be DOPE

This is the final concluding entry in the Five Warrior Angels series. It was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it did not disappoint. This book starts with an absolute bang and sets the tone that no one and nothing is what you expect, anything can and will happen, and this book is going to go hard in terms of battle and action. <br /><br />There really isn't much I can say about the 3rd book in a series without getting into spoilers, but if you've liked the first two books I think I can pretty safely say that you'll find plenty to love here. I think the thing I appreciated the most, apart from the crazy battles, are the completely unexpected character arcs and the way Durfee really explores some themes that leaves you questioning everything you thought you knew. This book has 3 epilogues and when I finished the last one I felt pretty damn satisfied and had an appreciation for what he was trying to say even though I may not have got every single answer I thought I might. I think kind of the point is no one really knows all the answers or has all of the details and how those things get interpreted and embellished over time to create myths and legends is kind of what the story is about. Of course it's also about the characters and their respective journeys and of course what happens in this fantasy world when shit really hits the fan. Those are great payoffs too.

Absolutely impossible to give this series anything less than 5 stars. Just an outstanding series and incredibly underrated. The fact that it doesn’t have at least 20,000+ reviews and a movie deal is beyond me. I can only assume poor marketing is the ONLY reason Durfee’s books aren’t getting more recognition because everything else is flawless. I still haven’t finished several popular fantasy series but as of right now The Five Warrior Angels is officially my #3 fantasy series of all time, behind ASOIAF and Memory, Sorrow and Thorn<br /><br />Brian, if you ever read this, PLEASE write a prequel series, standalone, novella…anything!

After really enjoying the first two door-stops in this series, I was eagerly awaiting for this one to finally be published; the concluding volume in the trilogy. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. At over 1000 pages, <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> is a monster of a novel, which really asks a lot from the reader. At first this developed nicely, picking up from the many cliff hangers from the preceding installment. The backbone of the story revolves around the contending prophecies regarding Laijon, the Christ-like figure who, a 1000 years previously, finally banished the 'demons' from the Five Isles, along with the five angels and their special weapons. The Five Isles have been at war for 100s of years over different interpretations of the legacy of Laijon and Durfee is not very subtle in likening this religious conflict to modern religions. I can roll with that. We also have the mystery of the five angel weapons and the 'angel stones' associated with each, who supposedly can only be wielded by the direct, blood descendants of the original five angels. Durfee did a masterful job here keeping the reader guessing regarding who these people actually are, with lots of misdirection and so forth. Finally, we have all the assorted prophecies regarding the 'Fiery Absolution' and Laijon's return, which is obviously where the series is going. Durfee had me primed to finally find out the mysteries and getting ready for an epic showdown. I started reading <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> expecting to be blown away, but alas, came away disappointed. <br /><br />There are spoilers below, so be warned. First off, this moved at a glacial pace. Given the exciting end to the last volume, this seemed to drag on and on. What really started to get on my nerves, however, was the increasingly implausibility of the story. I lost count of how many times Beer Mug (a dog), who was lost returned to our heroes just at the nick of time for a rescue. You can pull such a deus ex machina once or maybe twice, but over and over again? Please. Then we have characters who are not really warriors suddenly killing skilled soldiers left and right with aplomb, despite being wounded over and over. The endless battle scenes got tiring very quickly, especially as our rag-tag band of 'heroes' could never lose. We also had too many chance meetings of the characters. I felt Durfee was simply asking too much from the reader here. <br /><br />What really turned this into almost a hate read, however, was how Durfee seemingly dropped the ball completely regarding the aforementioned mysteries and prophecies. The start of <i>The Lonesome Crown</i> introduced <i>yet another</i> prophecy, one held by the oghuls and the fae Valle that involves the 'demons' and ridding the Five Isles of humanity. Ok, I can buy all the other prophecies were simply misdirections in some 'long game' by the Valle and the 'true' one is now coming to pass. That the angel weapons and their stones were really meaningless in the end and yet another misdirection? All the things that made the first two volumes interesting for me became simply sidelines to yet another story, one that I did not much care for.<br /><br />All in all, YMMV here, as I seem to be an outlier on this one. If Durfee writes some more, I will read it as he has a lot of talent, but the concluding volume and indeed the conclusion to this one left a bad taste in my mouth. 2 sad stars.

Full disclosure, I was given an early review copy of this novel by the author. I also gave early reviews of the first two books in this series and loved them. So. The final book!! OMG! A major (and i would wager probably controversial) plot twist and surprise from the book's very FIRST WORD!!! And then did Lonesome Crown go in SO MANY MORE directions I was not even expecting. This is both good and bad. I was delighted with the unexpected twists and turns and surprises, but also frustrated that many of my guesses and predictions were waaaay off. Who is Laijon returned? Who are the Five Warrior Angels? Do the magical talismans really work? Are dragons and demons of the underworld real? What is true? What is false? Who is the hero? Nail? Tala? Gault? Krista? Jondralyn? Liz Hen? Lindholf? Lawri? Hawkwood? Jenko? Ava? Seita? Black Dugal? or are they all villains in the end? The story arcs are top-notch and wildly unpredictable and unsettling and some characters just continue to make really poor decisions. Did you learn nothing the first time, folks?? The overall focus of this trilogy is one of resurrection. In each book there is death, loss, and rebirth of some kind...all the way until the very final moments and overall theme of the trilogy. That being said, fair warning, there are plenty characters who don't survive this story. In fact, the Fiery Absolution this trilogy has been building up to is one of the largest, most brutal, and relentless 400-500 page bloodbaths I have ever experienced. This predicted and prophesied final battle sneaks up on the reader like a thief in the night and suddenly you are in a whirlwind of fire and blood and dragons and demons-of-the-underworld and savage sabor tooth lions and blood-sucking oghuls and evil elves and evil dwarves and evil merfolk. Its pure excellently choreographed insanity! Characters that you never thought would become allies work together for survival while characters you never thought would part as friends become bitter enemies. The last half of this book is non-stop epic fantasy mayhem. There are breathless chases through forests and castles and oceans and tunnels and slave pits and gladiator arenas and a finale that conjures up a literal waterfall of blood, absolution, tragedy, hopefulness, horror, and redemption. Oh, have I mentioned 'blood' in this review yet? There is lots and lots of it. Waterfalls of blood! The thrill of it all is finally finding out who dies and who lives and is the ending happy or sad or tragic, and also the astonishing and unexpected plot twists and answers to MOST of the mysteries. I say most, because some are left unanswered, and this makes perfect sense in the world Durfee has created where secrets and mystery is the norm. An absolute homerun of an ending in my book.

The world building alone in this book and the rest is the trilogy is worth five stars. At last a detailed world which does not go into the minutiae of detail or pointless exposition. Instead the author allows his characters to fill in the blanks with a very useful quote from one of the religious texts at the start of each chapter which is actually meaningful. <br />In this type of epic fantasy the reader expects to encounter the usual tropes of the genre. However in “Lonesome Crown “ Brian Lee Durfee manages to takes the usual and develop it into something new. Religious tomes, magical weapons and even some of inhabitants of his world. The characters also spur the plot and as we are reminded by the author at various points “trust no one”. The narration is excellent allowing the story to unfold in its uniquely surprising way. Amazing read.

What a fucking EPIC series and a brilliant ending to the series. All threads get tied up perfectly and a masterful book to end the trilogy.<br />Well written characters (whether you liked them or not), loved the plot and pacing was excellent. <br />Series sums up exactly what I feel about religion; how words are taken out of context or used to suppress, oppress, hate or cause pointless wars and deaths. <br />I got this in the mail last Friday and spent Saturday and Sunday reading this; with very little sleep - this is now one of my favourite trilogies.

Whew! That was one huge book!<br /><br />One incredible one too. <br /><br />This is going to go down as one of THE best series I have ever read. <br /><br />All the boxes I need checked were. Massively epic. Prophecies of doom. Incredible battles. Fantastically described battles. Fearsome foes. Inspiring heroics. Fantastic characters. <br /><br />What I wasn’t expecting…to laugh so hard my eyes teared up. <br /><br />I mean we are in the middle of doom and gloom with only the end of days impending. <br /><br />And I’m laughing my ass off. Not just one chapter or interaction either. <br /><br />Such a delight and a series I will treasure forever. <br /><br />Kudos Brian. I am in awe.