The Teeth of Dawn
The Five Penalties #3
By Marina J. Lostetter
ISBN 9781250258779
Author’s website: www.lostetter.net
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar
Summary
The Teeth of Dawn concludes the riveting and mind-ripping epic fantasy trilogy from acclaimed author Marina Lostetter, where a rebellion struggles to tear the mask off the illusions and enchantments of a society shrouded in layers of mystery.
After barely surviving their encounter with the Savior, who has shaped the rules and realities of Arkensyre for generations, Krona and the other members of the growing rebellion see only one chance of overcoming his free and enlist the ancient gods he caged to augment his own power.
But it’s one thing to believe in gods. It is quite another to meet them.
And it’s not only the Savior who wants to hold fast to the illusions that govern all the lives in the valley, the Grand Maquis, his agencies and the elites of Arkensyre will do anything they can to snuff out change.
To remake the world, first you must break it.
Review
Lies.
The scriptures were lies, the magic source was a lie, and the savior is a liar.
Lies.
What else can it be a lie? The valley, the Gods, …the world?
Lies.
The Teeth of Dawn starts three years after the events of The Cage of Dark Hours. The war in the valley has started and the countries are fighting among themselves. During this time, Krona has been creating her army with survivors of those who know the truth and others who have been reunited with their vargers. At the same time, Krona and her friends have been looking for the temples of the other three gods: Time, Nature and Knowledge. As they find the temples of Emotion and Nature, the other two still elude them and they cannot open the temple of Nature.
As the story of Krona and valley unfolds, another story of twin siblings from unspecific time and place is told. Hailwic and Zoshim, who are Kairopath (time) and Physiopath (nature) respectively, are in a very high magitech city running from the law as Zoshim type of magic is frowned upon and becoming illegal.
Both stories happen at different times and locations, but with enough time, they will collide and save each other.
This has been one of my favorite series in the last five years. I have been a fan of Marina J. Lostetter for a while, but the Five Penalties series has been my favorite. Coming to an end, Teeth of Dawn brings this series to a close and ties up the secrets and plot lines that came to light in the previous books while also presenting new information to keep the reader hooked.
In this last installment of the Five Penalties series, we continue to meet new characters. During the previous book, the Cage of Dark Hours, we met the Savior/Absolon and the order of Thalo, Juliet and the others. This time we meet Hailwic and twin Zoshim, the citizens of the city of Radix and their dictator Friend Uphrasia. Their story is a whole different world but with the same ideas of trying to free themselves from an oppressive regime, but with the magic being the same as what Krona’s world was stolen.
The search and rescue of the gods was the main focus during the first half of the book. Without spoiling, their revival and the truths they gave Krona and the others change the battlefield and save the valley.
For fans of the series, Hintosep returns with her blazing guns and Jerome gets what he deserves.
Like in many of Lostetter’s books, in this one we continue to move back and forth through the POV of the characters and it gives us different glimpses of events happening throughout the narrative.
The Teeth of Dawn concludes the Five Penalties trilogy. If you are a fan of Fantasy and Science Fiction, I recommend that you pick up this trilogy now that it is complete. In it, you will learn about a dangerous world where the only habitable place is a valley where time and magic are stolen from the citizens at their birth, and indestructible monsters roam the outsides of the valley.
