Book Review: God's Last Breath by Sam Sykes

This is the final book in the Bring Down Heaven series by Sam Sykes. This is quite an epic conclusion to what is an exciting trilogy consisting of The City Stained Red, The Mortal Tally, and God's Last Breath. I started reading this book after Sykes' clever marketing strategy on twitter. Even if you only casually follow him, you realize he is a funny character and you end up genuinely curious about his books. It worked and it was worth it; this is some of the best fantasy I've read in a while.

So without further ado, let's get on with the review. As always, I try to avoid spoilers for this particular book, but spoilers for prior books in the series may be unavoidable.

Overall Impression
An epic conclusion to an epic fantasy series. There is some pretty intense action and end-of-the-world vibes in this book. Combined with the excellent cast of characters and an interesting setting, this makes for an enjoyable ride for fans of the genre. Sykes has made a very neat, character-driven trilogy that is sure to delight long-time fans and newcomers alike.

Plot
The plot picks up shortly after the conclusion of the prior novel, The Mortal Tally. That one ended with some crazy stuff and I was curious to see how everything would continue. The plot wastes no time in showing you that. Things get worse and worse before they get better, for pretty much everyone involved. You can practically see all the threads bringing everyone together for a final showdown.

Characters
Many of the same characters we met in the prior books make a reappearance here, like Lenk, Kataria, Gariath, and Asper. I feel these four form the crux of the story with plenty of time spent going back and forth between them, though other main characters like Dreadaeleon and Kwar have major parts as well. One of the more interesting aspects is how these friends have, thanks to events in the prior book, turned to enemies. You cheer for Asper in her chapter, but then you switch to Gariath and want to cheer him too even as the two of them fight each other. This makes it difficult to really tell who is 'right' and this moral grey-ness is a recurring theme throughout the main conflict.

Setting / World Building
The setting is pretty much unchanged- it's still centered around the city of Cier'Djaal and the surrounding desert. However, in this book we get to learn a bit more about the aeons and demons. There are also some characters that call themselves the Renouncers that appear to be neither gods nor demons (to the best of my knowledge), but are old enough to remember when they were more prominent in the past. They are mysterious and the bits you learn about them and what they've been up to are tantalizing. Of course, you learn a lot more about Khoth-Kapira, his plans for the world, and the extent of his powers. Interestingly you also learn about Lenk's heritage, which was something I did not expect. It answered some questions while raising new ones. The one thing I wished I had a clearer answer to is: where are the gods? They were more actively present in the past and their absence is a critical part to some of story threads. I guess that's the whole point of this trilogy, but it left me wanting to know more about events in the distant past.

Final Thoughts
This was an excellent conclusion to a great trilogy. Great, complex characters, interesting premise and setting, and a plot that keeps the story moving forwards, this one checks all the boxes. While parts can be violent or grotesque, there's also some good humor scatter all throughout to ease the tension in what is otherwise a fairly grim scenario. This series was a great read and I can recommend it to fans of the genre or anyone who is looking for a good character-driven story.