Tides of Winter by R.T. Lowe [Book Review]

Tides Of Winter by R.T. Lowe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Tides of Winter is the third installment in the Felix Chronicles. It’s still awesome, in fact I’d say that R.T. Lowe is getting better with each book. It’s shaping into a series that I’d love to see on screen. A sort of cross between Harry Potter at college and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (albeit without actual vampires, but plenty of monsters are slain).

Tides of Winter Review

Tides of Winter has a lot of parallels with the worst fears of Americans under their 45th President, although it must have been finished before the outcome of the election was known.

There’s the same three sided conflict as our previous stories, and this is strengthened. Several attempts are made to kill or woo Felix and Allison. We see a deepening of Felix’s bond with Allison, and learn more of her background and thirst to avenge her murdered parents. We also lose some characters, no spoilers, but it’s clear that R.T. Lowe isn’t afraid to kill off his darlings. In fact there’s a body count higher than Game of Thrones, although most of these are off stage consequences.

Clever and Subtle Antagonist

Lofton is still pulling all the strings like a master puppeteer. The New Government that Lofton has installed is hunting down and killing the monsters that Lofton created but blamed the old government for. In the course of events most of the Bill of Rights is swept away, judicial processes are streamlined and prisons emptied. Many of the serial offenders are quietly executed. Guns are outlawed and when people refuse to give them up and form armed enclaves they are carpet bombed.

Lofton also puts Felix is in a number of lose either way positions, but Felix is always reluctant to commit. He feels both Lofton and the Order are trying to manipulate him for their own ends. He reacts against it and tries to avoid doing what either of them want. This drives a chain of events that leads to him losing people that are close to him. By the end of the book Felix has realised that he can’t stay neutral and uninvolved. He needs to choose a side.

Twists and Turns

I’m avoiding spoilers, but there are at least three points where I was surprised by the action. Moments where I had a wow response. None of this was shark jumping stuff, but genuine twists that made sense when I analysed it, there were hints/clues planted earlier in Tides of Winter (or in the Felix Chronicles for one of them). It showed well crafted plotting and attention to detail.

If you haven’t already then I suggest that you go grab all three instalments of the Felix Chronicles and start reading them. It’s a fab series of urban fantasy.

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