Kingdom of Bones: The Echoes Saga, Book 5

This series continues to get better and better with each book I finish. Truly did not expect it. This is a series of the ages. Highly recommend.

I am a fan of the Eragon series, and this reminds me of that. Only I think it is way better.

The many different creatures, people's, dragons/dragorns and places flesh out and deliver to the imagination so well that you can't help but want more of the story.

Much better, meaning, better in every way. Especially the characters' involvment in the story. Chraracters grow up from their arrogance and become much more. Im looking forward to Alijah, cause I don't know if he's going to be a good guy still or go down the Darth Vader path with all this brainwashing from the all-knowing Crow. That still grated at my nerves, the fact that everything goes the Crow's way, but oh well. The only character I've really never liked much since book 2 is Gideon. I have many reasons but first would be the fact that he has been given everything he has. Power= the blade is literally an automatic function, and it makes him the best warrior in the realm. "Oh you've trained for 400 years in the art of killing with a sword? Don't worry, this staff user, a 20 year old mage will beat you in a few twirls of his almighty sword, why? Cause yeah.", "Oh, you've been trained to be the deadliest assassin in the land, fighting off one of the most elder warriors in the world, an elf at that, first servant of Valanis? You've suffered countless years of torture and training to get at the level you're at? You've had to give almost 50 years of your life away for even the tiniest speck of power you hold? Don't worry, a 20 year old apprentice mage will top all of that off cause Yeah." Not only that, he even receives a dragon and the authority and fame that comes with it. He's so powerful and he still manages to be fairly useless. "Oh, I need to be in contact with one of the best chances we have at defeating the orcs, but of course, I can't, I left my only form of communication with them back at my personal isles." "Oh, I need to kill the most threatening man that I've faced so far, having failed at it two times before, the third time's a charm right? But nah let me first stare at the blade across his back and not die once again cause all of my character is based off on luck, if a little effort, I did have to walk across a desert okay?." He's literally the portrayal of the "Hero" that relies on everything that he has been given. Be it the Vitari blade, the dragon's senses or the very superior Mag'Dereth techniques. I just don't like it. You could argue Asher was given Pandora's stone, but to use it fully he had to give up his life, so no.All in all the book is really great, a stark difference in my opinion with book 4 (in terms of characters only, book 4 was great in itself). Thank you author for bringing this world into being.

Loved the 5th installment. Just as great as 1-4. Now it's time for the sixth. It felt like my heart was gonna jump out out of my chest when I read the battle scenes. I'm so anxious for the characters. It's so realistic! Author is great at making you feel like you're there right alongside the characters. I despise the Crow. He's a great Villain. Awesome story all the way round. Great job by the narrator. I listen in my car on my ride to and from work when I can't read.

OK, about my title, why are the Dragon idiots. I'm referring to their battle against the orcs ballistas. Flying gets you a good chance of getting killed by one of the explosive bolts. Not one Dragon thinks of flying high and dropping boulders on the orcs out of ballistas range. So many dragons died from explosive bolts. This ruined this book for me. Come on Philip, I'm sure one of the dragons would have said, let's drop large objects on their ballistas from way up high. OK, I had to say it. Other than that, it's a good book.^⁠_⁠^

Loved the ending, but the lead up was pretty awesome too. I thought I would be disappointed but boy was I wrong! Can't wait to read the next one!

Every book has a stunning plot. Phillip dives into a familiar world of Man, Elves, Dragons, Dwarves, Monsters, and most every other fantastic creature. While the main plot is generally common, (superpowered villains bent on destroying mankind) (evil Orcs coming back from their slumber) the sub plots and awesome characters really make the series great. What I like is that the author really doesn’t care to over-explain every piece of the plot to his readers. Many of the sub-plots ride into the main plot and very little time is spent on the overblown personalities that writers put in for their own ego. While the idea of rangers and Dragon riders is not new; I found that it was well explored without exhausting the topic. Or maybe that’s just the fantasy nerd within me. As someone who has read a great many fantasy books, I highly recommend this series. I really can’t decide who my favorite protagonist is, and there’s at least 20 of them.

Let's start with a personal truth: for me "Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien IS the definitive 'swords and sorcery' saga and no amount of politically correct rewriting by Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh is going to spoil it in my mind (BTW I love films and always will, been going since I was 4 or 5 and still going 60 years later). But you simply cannot beat a well written story.And now back to Philip's epic series "The Echoes Saga". Here is a story that has been thought about in a truly beautiful way. It's about the story and its telling, rather than just putting out another book for the faithful to buy. It's characters are all flawed in one way or another and the "baddies" are more than one dimensional. I think for someone like me, I want to believe that if life was different from the modern world we live in today, this would be that world ... and I hope that I would find my place in it. Not particularly as any "hero" but as someone who found his place amongst other peoples of similar but varying origins.I won't suggest you read this book, because if you're reading this review then it's likely you have already read books 1 to 4 and you already want to get to book 9 and see how it all pans out. What I would say is if you have stumbled across this review without reading any of the series, then give book 1 a go. It doesn't matter if you don't generally like the genre, if you like a good read with great characters and plenty of plot twists and turns, then this is for you.

This series of books are all page turner’s, from the first page you can’t put it down and you need to know what is happening, but Philip leaves you with a chapter on a momentous moment and the next chapter takes you to another of the main characters in a different part of story and then does the same again, he has become one of my favourite writers of science fantasy along with ‘Evan Winter’ and ‘Brandon Sanderson’, we are getting a lot of excellent upcoming young fantasy writers and these books are well worth buying, you won’t regret it.

When I eat out I often choose specific dishes, just as in browsing what to read next I choose certain genres. When a plate of your favourite food is placed in front of you and you take that first taste you know immediately how it compares to all the others you have savoured over the years. I have enjoyed all of Philip's books and kept returning when a new one is published, for I have yet to find a disappointing one, but 'Kingdom of Bones' fits into the Michelin star category. His character development, with clear distinctive voices, scene setting, description, mood creation, language control and plot development have continued to mature and it would be a fussy fantasy reader who wouldn't enjoy this novel. If you haven't tried a Quaintrell before give this one a go - it may be part of a trilogy but you won't find yourself puzzled by what has gone before - and I'm convinced you will become a fan too.

Genuinely love the books and the characters but I do feel like it’s being ‘influenced’ by a little too much by past work from other authors. I know it’s hard to keep things original as the genre has been so well trodden since Lord of the Rings but I did get feelings of De ja vu as far back as the hobbit even influences from Forgotten Realms right up to Fire and Ice where the ’Mountain’ seems a little too much like Sir Borin. I look forward to the rest of the books and like I said it’s hard to do something truly original as the template was cast decades ago and maybe I have read to much fantasy fiction over the years.

I’m one of those fantasy readers who chews through so many books I neither remember the name of the book I’m currently reading nor those I’ve read. I have a general rule... I don’t start a trilogy until the final installment is due out. I adopt this rule mostly because I don’t want to spend time re-reading a book after a break between releases.The Echoes of Fate and the Echoes of the Lost are exceptions to my reading habits. Not only do I know the names of all of the books but I am up-to-date with the saga and eagerly anticipating the sixth book. I know, I’m a Quaintrell fanboy.There’s something about Philip C. Quaintrell’s writing that resonates with me. His character and world building seem to tick every box a geeky fantasy reader like me needs. Dragons, Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, ‘Gods’, epic battles, fierce duels… I’m not even scratching the surface.I’m happy that the fantasy genre has a new young and talented writer that has a penchant for the kind of stories I enjoy the most. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed his books and I look forward to reading his future work - and you will too!Lastly, Paying £2-3 for these books is akin to robbery.