Can she stick the landing?

Rachel Bach “Heaven’s Queen” (Orbit, 2014)

Now we come to the final book in Bach’s Paradox series.  The first two volumes, Fortune’s Pawn & Honor’s Knight, have developed a universe of action, intrigue and romance.  Deviana Morris is a strong kick ass heroine who just may be able to save the universe.  Because by Heaven’s Queen, those are the stakes – all life in our universe! Can Bach stick the landing, or will this series end on a sour note?

Bach wisely choses to forgo adding additional elements to the story in the final volume.  While many of the mysteries of the series were solved in the second volume, now we are watching things play out.  Will Devi lose her autonomy?  Will she be destroyed by her disease?  Is she the savior of the universe?

I’m happy to say that Bach does a great job managing the characters and the plot in order to reach a tidy conclusion.  While readers may or may not be pleased with the outcome of various events, they will not go away angry at dangling threads or unresolved character arcs.

Heaven’s Queen is a great conclusion to an action packed, romance filled series.

Did you ever want a suit of super armor?

Rachel Bach “Honor’s Knight” (Orbit, 2014)

For whatever reason, I somehow never got around to reading Fortune’s Pawn after its release in 2013.  While it didn’t take the world by storm, there was some good buzz about it, and so I decided to try out the sequel.

Wow.

There’s lots of talk about books in the middle of a series.  They get baggy and saggy and bogged down in trivial concerns.  Too much scope without enough action.  

Bach seems to have found a way to avoid those problems.  Leave a bunch of unanswered questions in the first book.  In book two,  start answering questions while creating new questions.  And double down on action sequences just so no one gets a chance to get bored.

This book was an absolute blast!