Right, I am now on holiday for the next week, so no more work making cream cakes for a few days, which means I can (hopefully) crack into the frankly hideous backlog I have of things to type up. Like the reviews of the last five novels I've read, all of which are piled up (neatly) at one side of my desk awaiting my attention. So without further waffle from me, let's make a start.
The Sea Devil's Eye by Mel Odom is a Forgotten Realms novel and the final part of the Threat From The Sea Trilogy, which details a war waged on the coastal realm sof Faerun by an alliance of evil undersea creatures (primarily the sahuagin), led by the villainous & mysterious Iakhovas. The book begins a couple months after the events of the previous book (Under Fallen Stars), and also after the short story One Who Swims With Sekolah (also by Mel Odom) which is included in the anthology Realms of the Deep.
We join the narrative as Pacys the elderly human bard is watching the sea elves fight (and lose) a desperate battle with the sahuagin at the site of the Sharksbane Wall, which has just been shattered (as detailed in the short story I mentioned). There he and Khlinat bear witness to the fury of the long imprisoned sahuagin, now freed from behind the wall to terrorise the Inner Sea for the first time in centuries.
Jherek meanwhile is still trying to recover an item he lost from the pirate Vurgrom, accompanied by the paladin Glawinn, the pirate Azla and the lady mage Sabyna. He is growing as a man, maturing, each of his companions (but primarily Glawinn) helping him to become what he needs to be, as all of them can feel the pull of destiny attached to him. This scares Sabyna, she is already confused over her feelings for him, and can't understand why he seems to keep her at arms length, even while obviously having strong feelings for her.
Elsewhere, the malenti priestess Laaqueel serves Iakhovas, but she is troubled having heard another voice calling to her, and not that of her God. This other voice speaks calmly, gently and shows her the truths that her master would keep from her, that Iakhovas is not what he appears to be.
To say any more than that would be to spoil the plot of what is a really gripping tale. I found myself always eager to find out what happened next. If I have a complaint, it would be the same one I've seen voiced on many other revies of this book, and that is that the finale is rushed. I feel another 40-50 pages would have made for a better book. As it is after 3 books of plots, slow and steady character growth, romance, and much derring-do, the main villain is disposed of in a really short fight. Also the big reveal of what he actually is, was a bit of a let down (especially since the front cover completely gives it away!).
All in all, I'm going to give this book 4/5. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and some of the characters I would very much like to read further stories about (particularly Glawinn, who is one of the best written paladins I've come across in any novel).
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