Review of Fall of Thanes by Brian Ruckley

There may be nothing more divisive in fiction than a fantasy series’ final volume. The reader, having invested hours and hours and hours of their time and imagination into the story, starts to have relationships with the world and its people, and naturally starts to have hopes and expectations. More importantly (if the series is any good), there is some overarching sense of tension that has been building throughout the series, and only the final volume remains to resolve it—to provide the massive catharsis readers have been led to believe will occur. For better or worse, the author’s ability to deliver on this expectation in the final volume often determines the overall series’ success. Running the risk and pulling through with flying colors is Brian Ruckley’s Fall of Thanes (2009), final volume in the Godless World trilogy.

With the failure of the Blood Haig’s assault on the Black Road as well as Aeglys’ ability to recruit despite his psychosis, the end of Bloodheir did not bode well for the people of the Godless World. Fall of Thanes sees this downward spiral reach depths of madness the reader could not have predicted. All across the land, a shadow clouds people’s minds, and subsequently their judgment. The allegiance between the Inkallim and Black Road falters. Court politics in Vaymouth draw knives internally. And Orisian, with K’rina the empty na’kyrin in tow, continues to try to find his purpose in a land smoldering with war and destruction.

If there is anything that the volumes in the Godless World series to date have offered the reader is a keen sense of injustice and tragedy. Fall of Thanes doubles down on this in a way that gives the reader the chance to have the catharsis they expected. Ruckley continues to kill characters, and this being the final volume, there are a number of primary players who go down. Nothing manipulative (e.g. in the vein of Abercrombie), each characters’ demise (and sometimes survival) fits their personal arc, as well as the overarching narrative. With the last page turned, the reader will think to themselves: that was satisfying—gutwrenching and emotional, but satisfying.

And it’s this “gutwrenching” sense of tragedy where the Godless World excels. There are strong arguments to be made this is the epic fantasy version of The Iliad. While the images of battle and conflict are visceral, the personal stories remain emotionally relevant. The senselessness of the conflict comes through, even as readers are given the opportunity to be invested in the personal stakes. Kanin, for example, is a character that was introduced in Winterbirth as an ego-heavy warrior bent on conquest and revenge for historical offenses. He brings utter devastation to the people of the Blood Haigs. But as the series goes on, a sense of sympathy is built for his strength and determination. He is not Achilles, but his role in Ruckley’s story is relatively similar, i.e. a tortured soul promulgating violence.

It’s been strongly hinted throughout the two novels to date, and Fall of Thanes confirms it: the trilogy’s worldview is perennial and cyclical in nature, much more than linear or progressive, i.e. Iliad-esque in mode. Where most fiction in the 21st century tends to align with the technical and moral progress humanity has been making the past century or so, Ruckley’s series occupies a more traditional philosophy, one wherein humanity is doomed to repeat itself, life indeed a precious thing and not to be taken for granted, and indeed often tragic.

If I had one tiny, small niggle with Fall of Thanes it would be that the denouement is a touch too short. I wish Ruckley had either lengthened the epilogue or added content to the final chapter. It’s possible the weight of the story, which is already heavy, would be felt more acutely with an additional 10-15 pages in the wrap up. To be clear, what exists does wrap everything up cleanly, it just seems a few more pages would have not felt so abrupt a finish.

In the end, it shouldn’t be surprising to the reader if they feel real emotions, a tugging at the heart strings, as they read the final pages of Fall of Thanes. The grand climax Ruckley has been building toward occurs in a subtle swirl of madness, and resolves itself in highly satisfying, gutwrenching fashion. The characters who have become so close, for good and evil, leave a longing in the heart. And that is a huge indicator of the book, and series’, success. I’ve made mention before, but it’s worth repeating: the Godless World trilogy is the shorter, more consistent, more Homeric version of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Both writers have a more historical than fantastical view of their individual narratives, but Ruckley’s is every bit as good, if not better for actually being complete and keeping the course. If you have read the first two books in the Godless World, rest assured Fall of Thanes meets and exceeds the expectations created by Winterbirth and Bloodheir, putting itself in the hunt for the tip-top best epic fantasy series of the 21st century.