Enjoyable continuation of the Three Worlds Cycle, if you liked the previous books I'd recommend keeping reading the series. ( )

After 120 pages in the company of complete idiots I gave up. Shame really: the plot had promise but the characterisation and storytelling was so naive.
Sorry :( ( )

This is the next book along, set a decade after the Well of Tears tetralogy.

Nish has been in prison throughout, Irisis is dead, and most of the rest of the world is under Jal-Nish's iron fist as God-Emperor. Maelys, hitherto unknown, and her family conspire to break Nish out of jail and to set him up as the Deliverer, the redeemer of the people according to his pledge given after Irisis' execution.

There is a lot of angst and agonising. There's more betrayal and treachery. There's quite a lot of weird stuff happening out there that isn't explained that well in the book - but that's not that uncommon for Ian Irvine and it will doubtless be cleared up later.

I quite enjoyed this book, hence the 4 stars, but it took some getting into. I think that's because I was expecting to fall straight back into a familiar world, but with the God-Emperor, the disappearance of most forms of magic and the like it was more like finding a not-quite-familiar world and that sense of it being not quite right made it harder to find out about than if it was a new world altogether. ( )

This is the first in a new Irvine trilogy, Song of the Tears – and it was also sold as ‘Fate of the Fallen’. I enjoyed this – as I have all of Irvine’s work. I’d had this one fro some time in Mt TBR – it was the arrival of the second book that prompted me to sit down and read both.
After ten years of servitude, Nish is about to be released from the blackest prison of his corrupt father, the maimed God-Emperor, Jal-Nish Hlar. Using the sorcerous Profane Tears, Gatherer and Reaper, Jal-Nish has crushed all opposition and is remaking Santhenar in his depraved image.
The oppressed peoples of the world see Nish as a messianic figure, the Deliverer, who promised long ago to return and cast down his father. Unfortunately, Nish has no choice but to repudiate that solemn oath, for he's a broken man, powerless and alone. Even worse, his father is trying to seduce Nish into becoming his lieutenant and, faced with the unbearable alternative of another ten years in prison, Nish isn't sure he can resist the temptation.
The one person who can help him is little Maelys, a shy, bookish dreamer forced by duty to use Nish for an ignoble purpose. But Maelys is the last woman he wants, and she carries a secret that is more likely to destroy Nish than save him.
Maelys is an interesting character – at times exciting, and others irritating. Nish, too has his moments. Sometimes I could slap him. But the world is realistic and engaging, and the story gripping. The complex cultures, detailed geography, and the palpable weight of history provide a solid background to an intense story … this stands out as a labour of love with some truly original touches. ( )