Review: THE RIVER GOD (Book of Never #3), by Ashley Capes

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Never’s adventures have reached their third installment, in an intriguing series of short novellas linked by the main character’s quest for his origins as he travels around a world that appears on the brink of a catastrophic war – one that for the moment is composed by many single, and worrisome, skirmishes and political schemes.

In the last chapter, A Forest of Eyes, Never learned more about his link with the mysterious Amouni – god-like people from a far past, probably a more advanced one – but for every answer he finds, more questions appear on his path and to delve deeper into the mystery, he departs with friends Luis and Elina in search of his brother Snow.

This journey affords the reader a wider view of the world, a place where remnants of previous civilizations are scattered all over: what’s interesting here is the unspoken question about the nature of those long-gone people, because their good or evil disposition seems to be more a matter of point of view than hard fact, which adds to the huge amount of mysteries the reader has to wade through.

I enjoyed enormously the long boat ride of the three travelers, and the glimpses of the different kinds of terrain and homesteads they encounter on the way – not to speak of the attempts on their lives or the dangers, like the killer dragonflies (yes, you read that correctly!) that appear at some point.

The sensation of many plots at work, together with the many-layered riddles centered on Never, adds to the need to grasp some answers, that is not confined to the protagonist alone.    It can be a frustrating journey, sometimes, because you’re given a glimpse of light, only to be thrown in renewed darkness just a moment later, but it’s an intriguing one and after all, to quote Never himself:

“Life would be boring without trouble. Trouble keeps you alive, stops you taking things for granted. Makes you savour every moment.”

I couldn’t agree more…

 

My Rating: