Hello everyone. I read the fantasy book series, the Moontide Quartet, and absolutely loved the books. The magic system, the scytale, the conflict between two continents, etc., so naturally when I heard there was a sequel series I was all for it.
However…. Reading through the first Arc of Empress of the Fall, I had to push myself to stay engaged. And the first chapter of the next Arc feels like a massive deus ex machina due to the new threat in the shadows. The part where the invaded continent wants revenge is all well and good, and makes sense, but… The other layer to this conflict makes no sense with the info I have at this stage in the book.
So the Merozains have been formed with the ability to use all branches of magic equally, and are full strength mages to boot thanks to the Scytale, right? And yet, along comes this guy who claims he's just as strong as this brand new order with a brand new way of doing magic, because he somehow possessed a demon instead of the usual reverse of getting possessed? This is so out of left field that it makes no sense in this stage of the story! It feels like the author shoehorned in this new super-powerful threat for the sole purpose of having someone who can go toe to toe with the Merozains, without actually setting up and earning that threat level. It's severely off-putting for me as a lore buff.
I don't care if the rest of the series gets spoiled for me at this point, because I'm on the verge of DNF'ing the books. I just want to know, is the Sunsurge Quartet worth continuing? Do they explain this new threat better later in the books, and if so, how? Does it make sense for why this new threat could have come out of nowhere with no advance warning and is able to manipulate everything from the shadows? Or are these kinds of issues and inconsistencies going to continue throughout the whole sequel quartet?
by Zhon_Lord