Review: The Wicked Day - Christopher Bunn

Series: The Tormay Trilogy #3

Genre. Fantasy

Published: 2011

Source: For review

Review made by Lis

The third and final volume of the epic fantasy saga that began with The Hawk and His Boy, and continued with The Shadow at the Gate, The Wicked Day tells the conclusion of the story of Jute. Tracking the kidnappers of Giverny Farrow, Jute and his friends discover the Dark is on the march. Tormay teeters on the brink of war, and the duchies look to Jute as their last and best hope. But there is an ancient evil waking that even all the power of the wind cannot hope to defeat.

Remember my earlier squee over the Tormay trilogy? I’m back with some major squee in tow for the third and final book in the series. Once again I apologize for it being late. While the book entertained me all the way from Paris to Singapore, I got caught up in backpacking and therefore a lot late in reviewing. 

But back to the book here. When I got my hands on the first book, I was suprised how good a story this was for fantasy. While that hasn’t changed, the conclusion of the series does live up to one of the fantasy genre’s traps: the black and white theme of good versus evil. While it was always there throughout the series it is never more pronounced as in The Wicked Day. Not that it bothered me too much. 

The Wicked Day focuses once again on Jute and his companions as the track the kidnappers of Declan’s (Ronan) sister Giverny Farrow. It become more and more apparent that Tormay is on the brink of a big ass, unavoidable, war and it shows in the story itself. It’s very moving and there is always something going on. The story moves from one action to the next, from one battle scene to another and let me tell you, the battles are epic! At the same time this also a niggle for me, because so much is happening. It’s like watching a hamster on speed. It’s hard to keep up. At the same time the writing flourishes, because it’s not always easy to write so many descriptive scenes without the reader getting bored of it. 

Like in the previous books we see more of the characters and how they grow throughout the story. In this third books they undergo most of the change. My favorite has always been Jute, but there were occasions in this book that I just wanted to hit him over the head with a frying pan. While still lovable, there is a long struggle for him getting the hand of his power. Fortunately for the reader, when he does, it’s awesome. 

What also had me sit up and take notice (which is hard to do in airplane seats) was that Owain got more page time and what a treat it was. It was nice to see more of him. 

It’s not easy to review this book without giving to much away. What I can say is that this conclusion was perhaps the hardest to write because everything comes to a head. This shows a bit in the story as well. There are minor issues in the continuity of the story and there may have been a little plothole. Though it’s not so bad that it takes the reader away from the story in irritation or annoyance. 

All in all, this was a fine conclusion to a series and very well done. It’s a series I can most definitely recommend reading. Even in a cramped airplane!