What if you were imprisoned for all eternity?
I requested an eARC of The House of Always via NetGalley without realizing it was the fourth book in a series, and I didn’t make it around to this book before the publication date. I put myself on the hold list for the audiobook via Libby in an attempt to finish, but alas I’m throwing in the towel at 46%. I’m giving this book an optimistic 3 stars, and I do feel I’ve read enough to give an opinion on it, but please keep in mind that I am not a returning reader of the series.
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About the Book
The House of Always
A Chorus of Dragons Book Four
by Jenn Lyons
Published 11 May 2021
Tor Books
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 523
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For fans of Brandon Sanderson and Patrick Rothfuss, The House of Always is the fourth epic fantasy in Jenn Lyons’ Chorus of Dragons series that began with The Ruin of Kings.
What if you were imprisoned for all eternity?
In the aftermath of the Ritual of Night, everything has changed.
The Eight Immortals have catastrophically failed to stop Kihrin’s enemies, who are moving forward with their plans to free Vol Karoth, the King of Demons. Kihrin has his own ideas about how to fight back, but even if he’s willing to sacrifice everything for victory, the cost may prove too high for his allies.
Now they face a choice: can they save the world while saving Kihrin, too? Or will they be forced to watch as he becomes the very evil they have all sworn to destroy
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My Review
My Rating: 3 Stars (DNF)
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DNF at 46%
I requested an eARC of The House of Always via NetGalley without realizing it was the fourth book in a series, and I didn’t make it around to this book before the publication date. I put myself on the hold list for the audiobook via Libby in an attempt to finish, but alas I’m throwing in the towel at 46%. I’m giving this book an optimistic 3 stars, and I do feel I’ve read enough to give an opinion on it, but please keep in mind that I am not a returning reader of the series.
The House of Always follows eight immortal beings trying to save and destroy each other in equal measure as they hop through memories, realities, planes of existence, etc. It has a Greek mythology flavour with lots of great LGBTQIA+ representation and very engaging dialogue.
With that said, there’s so much jumping around, so much “then the world changed,” with a large cast of POV characters. I can’t keep it all straight! I’m sure jumping into the series this far in doesn’t help, but I doubt everyone who has read the previous books is following this easily. Not every jump seems to serve the plot, and while there are eight important characters I feel like I got to now somewhere between 3 and 5 of them well. I’m not even sure exactly how many.
If you’re familiar with this series, or if you’re willing to read the earlier books first, Lyons is a strong writer and this book seems like it’s probably a pretty great ride if you know what’s going on. If you’re like me and you haven’t read the series, don’t try to jump on the train here.
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I hate it when I don’t know a book is a sequel before I start reading! How disappointing.