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The third novel in the Godserfs fantasy series.
"The End Times have arrived." If you've read the first two novels in the series - SILENT HILL and AMONG THE FALLEN - then there's little doubt that you'll be diving into A BREAD IN THE HEAVENS as soon as you can. It continues the story nicely, the characters continue to grow. It builds to a pretty good ending, too.

Not my favourite fantasy series, but still a pretty enjoyable one.

<em>A Breach in the Heavens</em> concludes N.S. Dolkart's Godserf's trilogy. This trilogy took me by surprise and carried me on a mostly thrilling adventure.

Phaedra is a sorceress and has one goal in life - to keep the world of humans and the world of elves apart. That shouldn't be so hard, right? Except...if it was easy, there wouldn't be a story here. When the sky trembles, it looks like Phaedra's life work might have been for nothing.

There is such a fine line when writing a series of this sort ... how much story do you repeat from the previous books for those new readers who haven't read anything prior to this as compared to retelling too much and boring the readers who have been with you all along? In this case it feels as though almost a third of the book is making sure the reader is caught up on the story. It's not total nostalgia - there's a fair amount of moaning and complaining going on as well. It was almost like a YA novel full of angst.

But Dolkart's strength through the first two books has been a series of action moments surrounded by strong, unique characters and he gets back to that once he's done brooding and the majority of the book easily reminds us why we enjoyed the series in the first place.

I miss the coming-together camaraderie that really hooked me in the first book, but there were more signs of it here than in the previous volume at least.

The emphasis here was clearly on Phaedra and her mission and I lost track or caring for a couple of the other characters that I'd initially grown attached to. Some of it comes together, some of it doesn't quite so much, but overall it's a remarkable trilogy.

For those who enjoy fantasies with elves - these aren't like any elves you've read about before.

Looking for a good book? <em>A Breach in the Heavens</em> finishes off the Godserfs trilogy by N.S. Dolkart. It's still got plenty of action and thrilling story-telling but falls just slightly short of being the outstanding book it could have been.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, though Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The sorceress Phaedra has toiled for over a decade to keep her world separated from that of the elves. But despite her efforts something has gone very wrong, as mysterious skyquakes increase in severity.

From the first book in the Godserfs trilogy, Silent Hall, N S Dolkart has written an epic style fantasy which peers intimately into the main characters’ psyches. A Breach in the Heavens, the final book in the series, continues this theme of intense introspection as the characters attempt to find peace with themselves and those close to them, whilst chaos reigns in the larger stage of the world around them.

A Breach in the Heavens is therefore best not approached with the usual expectations of a fantasy plot full of set piece battles and action, with less active more reflective bits in between. Make no mistake there is action, but the internal battles are as important as the external ones. The characters are constantly questioning themselves and being forced to reach deep inside themselves to resolve their doubts. Amidst all the fantastical beings, the human element is very much in evidence.

This is a jigsaw puzzle of different personalities, all of whom need to slot into their right place if their world is to be saved. They can only do this if they work through their issues and establish what they can and can’t live with, as well as where they fit in the scheme of things with all their flaws and quirks.

For this reason, A Breach in the Heavens has to be approached as a meditative character study. The type of book where you need to take a break to assimilate the section you have just read before starting out again. In other words exactly what you would expect from a richly textured read.

You would think a study this intensive should take up a vast page count, but in a cunning organisation of the reading space time dimension, the author achieves this in less than 400 pages. That makes this final book in the series an interesting proposition when it comes to an author daring to take a novel approach to fantasy writing.

The continuation of a fantastic series. Dolkart writes smooth, easy prose but manages to fill it with authentic emotion and resonant 'big' ideas.