The Battlemage by Taran Matharu

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 400

Publisher: Hatchette Children's Group 

Released: 4th of May 2017 

After the thrilling cliffhanger at the end of book two, we rejoin Fletcher and his friends in the ether, where they must undertake a mortally dangerous quest, all the while avoiding capture by enemies and facing foes more terrifying than anything they have yet encountered.

But this is nothing compared to what truly lies ahead for Fletcher, as his nemesis, albino orc Khan, is on a mission to destroy Hominum and everything and everyone that Fletcher loves.

What I Have to Say 

Apparently this was the last in the series? I'm surprised by that as I think they left a lot of stuff open. I guess enough was concluded, so perhaps they'll be a sequel trilogy or just a potential for tie in series or novels later on. It would be nice to see something from the other characters. The Dwarven characters especially are really interesting or something more from Sylva. I think Fletcher doesn't have much more to give, but I'd like to know at least in passing about how he does and whether he and Ignatious reach their full potential. 

I was looking forward to this book because of what happened at the end of the last book and I have to say I'm a bit disappoint. I wanted to explore more of the world the demons come from and see more of the different types of demons. There was a bit of that and I understand that the characters were concerned more about their survival and getting back to Hominum as quickly as possible, but maybe in the future it would be cool to get a book about people who go and explore. 

I think this was a good trilogy in general really. There were a lot of battle scenes towards the end of this book, though. They went on a long time and the strategies that Fletcher and his army were using were interesting, but after a while it was just too much. I was done with battles and wanted it to end.

 Also, I think the only thing that really sets this apart from other fantasy series was the issues of race. The Dwarven issues and the way the people in power were trying to set them up and force them into rioting and give them an excuse to round them all up hit me quite strongly. Especially in these political times, it's important to see how racism can be stirred up and incited by a manipulative power, especially when there are terror attacks involved. 

It's interesting that this series has so much to say about race and I definitely think that it's a good reason to read these books. 

My thanks go to Hatchette Book Group and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.