#Review - The Fallen Usurper by Jon Monson #Fantasy

Series: The Final Heir # 2
Format: Kindle, 335 pages
Release Date: November 13, 2023
Publisher: Castle Peak Publishing, LLC
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Epic Fantasy

A usurper without a throne. A soldier turned emperor. A mage struggling with purpose.

Mere weeks have passed since the Usurper’s defeat at the hands of the Final Heir. With Mahzun’s whereabouts unknown, his empire—forged in blood by the Eternal Blade—fractures at a furious pace.

Severely weakened, Mahzun flees back to the Northern Wilds. In the land that cradled him during his youth, he seeks rest and revenge. Unfortunately, all he has are vague and mysterious instructions from the ghostly apparition of his oldest enemy.

Ekarath transitions from resistance fighter to emperor, discovering that defeating the Usurper was only the beginning. New perils are coming to challenge his rule. With them will come unexpected allies.

Zahara struggles with her purpose as nobles plot and the other Heirdoms descend into rebellion. Friends plan her future as Ekarath’s wife, while the world feels far too chaotic for romance. Fortunately, an ancient power beyond her comprehension has its own plans for her.

Jon Monson's The Fallen Usurper is the second installment in the authors The Final Heir trilogy. This book picks up a few weeks after the ending of The Final Heir. This book revolves around three key characters: Ekarath, Zahara, and Mahzun, aka the Usurper.  

Severely weakened, Mahzun flees back to the Northern Wilds. In the land that cradled him during his youth, he seeks rest and revenge. Mahzun sees his victims and begins following the instructions of a voice. Although not knowing the source of the voice, he feels that the voice is a holy calling that he must follow. Unfortunately, all he has are vague and mysterious instructions from the ghostly apparition of his oldest enemy who is allegedly killed during the battle of Segova. Or is he?

Ekarath, now the Heir of Creation and Segova, transitions from resistance fighter to emperor, discovering that defeating the Usurper was only the beginning. New perils are coming to challenge his rule. With them will come unexpected allies. He can see the threads of destruction, and restoration, but when Shajarat, the timeless tree that represents the magic in the land, shows signs of damage from Mahzun's war on the realms, he must rely on people who he both trusts, and out of necessity to ensure it doesn't die.

Zahara, who for a brief time in her life, war the named Heir of the realm, now struggles with her purpose as nobles plot and the other Heirdoms descend into rebellion. Friends plan her future as Ekarath’s wife, while the world feels far too chaotic for romance. Fortunately, an ancient power beyond her comprehension has its own plans for her. An ancient power that sends Zahara to a far off land where she will encounter the Usurper himself, while also finding a bit of her own magical prowess in order to save herself, and others. She has visions and learns more about the history of the lands and the magic they hold. Her quest results in an unexpected bond with Mahzun and new insight on the war against the heirs.

*Thoughts* 2023 was the year of exploration new authors and attempting to finish older series for me. I was happy when the author contacted me and told me that the long awaited finale to the series would be soon releasing. I am happy that I take notes so I remember what took place in the first installment and why these characters matter. I see huge character growth coming for Ekarath, as well as Mahzun. Zahara may become the most powerful mage in all realms as it seems that magic, and the ability to create powerful artifacts that enhance making is above anyone else. I don't want to gamble on taking a guess on what is going to happen in the finale. I will just say that this series doesn't get the love and respect it needs from book nerds around the world. 

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#Review - The Final Heir by Jon Monson #Fantasy

Series: Unknown
Format: E-Galley, 299 pages
Release Date: January 17, 2022
Publisher:  ‎Castle Peak Publishing, LLC
Source: Publisher
Genre: Fantasy

The world is free. The world is mine.

Some call him the Usurper, the Destroyer of Worlds. Mahzun calls himself the Savior of Man. A decade of war has brought him to the precipice of victory.

Zahara, a prodigious mage, is destined to wield the Power of Creation and put an end to the Usurper. But when that power mistakenly falls to Ekarath, her best friend and elite soldier incapable of casting the simplest of spells, destiny must be questioned.

Will the Usurper complete his victory? Or will Ekarath find the strength to be the hero he wasn’t destined to be?

The Final Heir, by author Jon Monson, is the first installment in a yet to be named series. The series follows three main characters from Zahara, Ekarath and Mahzun, aka the villain of the story. 17-year-old Zahara is formally training to become a mage. Ekarath is a young man who is training to become a specialize soldier known as Hundiin who is supposed to protect Lord Dimitri, the last remaining Heir. Mahzun, aka the Usurper, has been fighting for the past 10 years to rid the world of the remaining Heirs. 

Zahara, from the region known as Karajaani, which was conquered 5 years ago by the Usurper, is ahead of most people her age thanks to training she received from her mother before she passed. She's also a minor noble. Zahara was ready to take her final test to become a full fledged Mage until the Usurper waged war on her home. She's grateful when she's asked by Lord Dimitri to travel with Ekarath to find Farban, his spy master, deep in the heart of the forest. She's shocked even more when she's named heir to replace Dimitri. But it is Ekarath, not Zahara, that the power of the Heir has found a home with.

Ekarath, who heroically fought against the Usurpers army, is shocked that the Power of Creation has found its way to him, rather than his best friend Zahara who is a powerful mage who can easily access magic called draoad. Ekarath has to learn the three basic types of power from Destruction to Illusion to Restoration while Zahara has to fake being the heir for fear that Ekarath will be easy pickings for the usurper if he is caught before he is ready.

Mahzun calls himself the Savior of Mankind, but along with the name Usurper, he's also called Wild Man, Primal Key, and Destroyer of the World. Mahzun claims he is fighting a war to liberate humanity from the tyranny of the Heirs. There was once 7 heirs decreed by the Creator, but with the fall of Dimitri by his sword, Mahzun feels as though his 10 year war has finally come to an end even at the cost of his own body which has aged decades. Until the Power of Creation decides to find a new host. Mahzun doesn't see himself as the villain. He sees himself as a hero who is getting revenge on those who has suppressed people for generations. 

Here are my regrets: The reader is literally dropped in the middle of a very complex world that is at war and expected to understand how everything works and who everyone is without the benefit of at least a bit of explanation. Mahzun is the character mostly formed by the author while Zahara and Ekarath are left to dance around from scene to scene until an encounter with the Usurper is all but doomed to fail. The ending was probably the best part of this book but it also leaves many, many unanswered questions pertaining to a certain character who seems to hang around for no apparent reasoning except to torture one of the characters. 

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