Book Review: The Eternal Kingdom

The Eternal Kingdom by Ben Peek, Children Trilogy #3

A nation in fragments
On the shores of Yeflam, Ayae struggles to keep her people together. She acts as liaison between the camp leaders and the immortals who could save them. Zaifyr's immortal siblings have arrived - but they have their own unfathomable agendas and Ayae is caught in their power games. 

An army on the march
Heast has returned to his role as Captain of Refuge, a mercenary unit that answers the call of lost causes. With help from an unexpected source, Heast and his band of mercenaries could turn the tide of war - if they live long enough.

A world in danger
Bueralan Le is trapped in the company of the new god, Se'Saera. Though he fights to prevent her from unleashing her forces on the world, he is bound by blood to her darkest creation. The future of the world may depend on his choices.

When Ben Peek first came out with The Godless I was awestruck. It was an amazing experience to read. The details of the characters and the world. It struck me, it was a true pleasure. The Eternal Kingdom is the epic conclusion to the the series that Ben Peek started back in 2014. 

A lot of events, from the first book on have brought the story where it currently stands. But there is just one thing lacking the final drop that sets off the final chain of actions. There are in essence still three different story lines, that of Ayae, Heast and Bueralan. 

Ayae is the protagonist of the story, in the first book she grew into her powers and that marked her forever. Since then she has hahd to grow up very fast and navigate through this difficult world. Her task now is to protect everyone, not only the mortals but also the immortals. Now with a lot of the gods having broken through in the last book, everyone is on edge. The other storylines come from Heast and Bueralan. Who also face their own demons. 

All in all there are a lot of events in The Eternal Kingdom that I had not dared to imagine when I read The Godless. Ben Peek has become a bit ruthless is showing quite a few plot twists in the story (not meaning in a negative way) but he will definitely catch your attention with these actions. When you look at the events and at the overall it all falls together nicely as it should be 

One point where The Eternal Kingdom and the whole The Children Trilogy stands out off is the way that Ben Peek narrates his story. I wouldn't want to call it brilliant as there is always room for improvement but it is near that. The way that the dialogues flow it just fits. In the first book I mentioned that for me it felt like I was thrown in the deep end of everything, there were some obscure things where the elaboration on them failed. This feeling has gone away. After two stellar books it finely comes together in an epic conclusion. What also greatly helps for me for getting in the right mood is those little clips from the book that you have before every part of the book. They add a lot of flavor to the story, making you think back or forward, how it impacted the whole story or how it can or will impact it. 

With The Eternal Kingdom and the whole The Children Trilogy, Ben Peek made a name for himself. If you like engrossing fantasy, touchable characters and a great story be sure to pick this one up.