Book Review: Paternus: War of Gods by Dyrk Ashton

​Book Review: Paternus: War of Gods (Paternus Trilogy #3) by Dyrk Ashton
 
This is the final conclusion to the urban fantasy Paternus trilogy and – wow!- it blew my mind in the best possible way. After loving book one (read my review here) and book two (read my review and interview with the author here), I couldn’t wait for the finale and I knew it would be EPIC – it certainly didn’t disappoint. 

​Quick recap: the Firstborn, the incredible creatures from myths, legends, folklore and fairy tales, are real. However, they’ve split into two opposing factions: the Deva (who protect humankind) and the Asura (who don’t, wanting to either erase or enslave humans). Peter, the father of all Firstborn, leads the Deva. His youngest daughter is Fiona Megan Patterson. Over the billions of years, the Deva and Asura have had two major battles, called the First and Second Holocausts – and they are gearing up for the third.
 
At the end of book two, many of the Deva have gathered in Norway, but there are more to be found – especially as there are different worlds to our own – and Peter’s eldest daughter, The Prathamaja Nandana, heads to Africa to find a few, taking Fi’s love interest Zeke with her. Zeke is developing certain powers of his own, but these kinds of powers aren’t always welcome. So Pratha is keeping a close eye on him.
 
Fi visits Asgard with Peter (or Odin!) to find more warriors of old there and embark on some essential training to hone her Firstborn skills. She has a run in with some ogres and meets The World Tree – the eldest being of them all. Moving from Norway to an invisible island on our world, the Deva prepare for war as time is running out, and we learn just who Peter is (or isn’t).
 
Meanwhile we follow the Devil, Baphomet the goat, an Asura who has escaped from the Deva, as he finds his way back to the Asura leader – Khagan (otherwise known as Satan), a dark sorcerer and scientist who once ruled the city of Atlantis and brought about its downfall, and his second, Kleron (Lucifer).
 
The mighty war is fought on Khagan’s world and the narrative changes perspectives from Deva to Asura as we follow the battle. This is expertly done and the pace never lets up as Fi, Zeke, Peter and the Deva fight with everything they have. There are losses (sob), there are surprises and there are turncoats. And it is nothing short of spectacular! But when the battle is done, it’s not quite the end. For that is still coming…
 
This novel kept me glued to the pages. A big part of it is the battle, but it’s so well portrayed that all the moving parts slot together and I felt like I was there and everything was happening in real time: so we’d see the action of one character and the corresponding reaction of another in completely different places on the field.
 
Absolutely the perfect ending to this trilogy and I recommend it to everyone who wants to laugh, cry, be awed and thoroughly entertained.
 
My rating: 5/5
 
Goodreads | Author website
 
* I received an advanced reader copy from the author which is why it didn’t have the front cover. Below is the front cover in all its beautiful glory.

​>> The first two books in my grimdark epic fantasy trilogy In the Heart of the Mountains are out now. Book three is COMING SOON! Melokai (#1) is available at Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Google Play Books and Barnes & Noble. Violya (#2) is available at Amazon, Kobo, iBooks, Google Play Books and Barnes & Noble. Read more about my books here. <<

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