I forget who coined the adage: "don't put a gun in the first act that
isn't going to go off in the third act" but one of my favorite elements of this story was the numerous subtle internal callbacks that reward readers.
Chief among them--in my opinion--is Radovan's heritage.
I love that in Prince of Wolves we find out about the nobility
inherent in his heritage. There are even a few moments of tension--if
I remember correctly--in Master of Devils or the intervening short
fiction about the fact that Radovan resents that he doesn't get equal
standing to the boss despite being the "damn prince of wolves."
As readers I felt like we previously saw Radovan's heritage as a sort of
rounding-out of his character while the devil side of him seemed like
part of his more recent history.
In Master of Devils the infernal aspect of Radovan's lineage became
front and center, but mostly due to the mechanics of his infernal
transformation. Any thoughts I had about a greater purpose
to his devil-side was subsumed by his predicament in the second book, thus still making it important but sort of distracting us as readers with Radovan's ordeal under Burning Cloud Devil.
At the end of Master of Devils I liked that Radovan had lost that part
of him, but is seemed a little neat, making me wonder if there was
more to come.
What was so engaging, for me, in Queen of Thorns was that it merged
the two previous elements of its predecessors. Radovan's nobility
became just as crucial as his infernal lineage in a way I had never
anticipated. It went back and imbued the events in Prince of Wolves
with more significance, something that I love for whenever I read a series.
Also, unlike a comic book series that goes off the rails (alternate
universe after alternate universe, characters that die and come back
over and over, clones), the reveal of Radovan's role as the Infernal
AND Abyssal gate means that the Devil part of him is not only
ever-present, but can change depending on the possessing devil without
feeling like a trite and hackneyed re-hash of what's been done before.
Dave Gross has managed to preserved the dynamic of Redovan's infernal side while introducing a way for it to constantly renew itself.
Watching that develop over the last three books has been excellent, and Queen of Thorns is the payout.
Where Varian is concerned I've enjoyed the sort of downgrading he's
had from his more noble roots in Prince of Wolves. His promotion of
Radovan to friend and then "brother" is really great character
development in my opinion, and I like the fact that we watch his
personal relationships evolve from those of manners and etiquette to
those of true depth and resourceful cooperation. I felt that the
Varian of Prince of Wolves was more self-reliant because he was
embroiled in his own skill set, whereas in his conversations with
Zaldanavox we see him drawing on skills he himself likens to Radovan's
charms rather than his own highborn courtesies. I also like the way
we have seen over the total three books his own arcane pursuits become enhanced by his greater worldly adventures.
His discovery of the riffle scrolls was his own design, but his incorporation of the calligraphy into his spellcasting in Dragon Temple grew out of the menial indignities that in other circumstances he might never have been exposed to.
The fact that Varian's own diplomatic tangle with the dragon gets
summed up by Radovan as "just keep her happy," really underscores that
the two of them are finding themselves in each others roles more and
more.
Stepping outside of the writing to the work's interaction with the Pathfinder Game, I love that there are subtle payouts for the readers that are also heavy gamers.
I think Zuldanavox is a great example. As a green dragon, informed gamers know that they're lawful evil. Dave Gross doesn't need to find a way to translate that from "gamespeak" into "bookspeak."
In fact, I felt that by having Radovan say in the earlier part of the book that the difference between a demon and devil is that "you can make a deal with a devil," we not only get foreshadowing of his later
compact with Hell, but we as readers are also getting a prescient description of the relationship Kyonin must ultimately have with the Queen of Thorns.
Again: Gun, first act. Third act, boom.
I also think that one of the ways the story transcends typical
shared-world fiction is that the main characters don't feel steeped in
any single alignment.
The prince was treacherous, but because he believed he knew best for
Kyonin. Caladrel was not evil, or sociopathic, he simply chose the
wrong side and was willing to betray others for that belief. The fact
that even Zuldanavox is open to diplomacy for the common good of
solving the Witchbole Problem reinforces that the characters have more
complex motivations than "what would Chaotic Eeeeeeeevil do?"
And on a purely visceral moment of enjoyment: the moment where Varian undoes the riffle scroll to cast (I'm assuming True Strike) to split Caladrel's arrow before it hits Variel was AWESOME.
I saw it in my head almost like when Li Mu Bai deflects the hundred darts in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.
But even in just enjoying the action-packed moments the book really grabbed me. I was enjoying a slow and digestive read up until the battle in the City of Thorns began in earnest.
Then I couldn't put it down.
