Rise of the Seventh Moon: Heirs of Ash, Book 3

This book ends one of the most interesting stories that I have ever read. The end of this book does drag on a little but it is worth it. If you have not read any of Heirs of Ash books give it a try. Rich Wulf did a very good job creating this story.

Rise of the Seventh Moon by Rich Wulf is the third book of the trilogy titled; Heirs of Ash. The first book in this trilogy is Voyage of the Mourning Dawn: Heirs of Ash, Book 1 (Heirs of Ash) and the second is titled Flight of the Dying Sun: Heirs of Ash, Book 2 (Heirs of Ash). If you are considering reading this novel, and have not yet read the first two, you really need to read those first. Events that occur during this novel relate heavily to events from the first two books and a reader could be easily lost if they don't have that base of knowledge and understanding. That's not to say this is a bad book, it is just that Mr. Wulf builds off the first two books and some things won't make sense unless you know what happened before. The plot of this book does a very good job at tying up most of the plot lines from the first two books. There is definite closure on the main points, as well as a few of the subplots. Contrary to some series I have read, there is a definite end, and as a reader, that is something I appreciate. Mr. Wulf also leaves the door open for a couple pieces that could continue, yet he does it in such a way that it feels natural, not something to where he is forcing a larger story. Fans of this trilogy will be happy to know there is a finality to the Legacy, a finality in the battle with Marth, Zamiel's storyline is also concluded. I did feel the beginning of the novel was a little slow and sluggish. However, this can mostly be attributed to Mr. Wulf `reminding' the reader of several key elements that previously occurred in the first two books. I can see how this would be a benefit a reader that had a large period of time between books. To me, it felt a little much, but maybe I am not the average reader either. Overall, I think the plot was very well written and seemed much more succinct than book two. The characters of this novel, much like the first two books, are fantastic. All the characters that one would expect to return from the first two books are back; Seren, Omax, Tristam, Arthen, and many more. One thing I particularly enjoyed about the characters is they all seemed to have their own voice and were different from each other. Without question, each character had their own motivations for actions and they stayed true to that not only through this novel, but the series as a whole. Also, there were no clichéd characters. Every character seemed fresh and unique. In my review of Flight of the Dying Sun, I said I was disappointed in the fact that there seemed to be so little character development. Mr. Wulf has alleviated that criticism with this novel. There is a tremendous amount of character development that was simply a joy to read. I enjoy novels where there is significant character development and this was near perfect on that account. This is an odd trilogy to review. The first book I enjoyed quite a bit, the second book I did not care for. In fact, the second book I even mentioned it felt as though it were written