Book Review: An Autumn War by Daniel Abraham (Long Price Quartet #3)

An Autumn War is the third book in Daniel Abraham's epic fantasy series, Long Price Quartet. I have read the first 2 books in this series and really liked them. Long Price Quartet is one of the most unique and interesting fantasy series I've read. Most book reviews hailed An Autumn War as the best book in the series. So a week ago, when I turned to the first page in An Autumn War, I could hardly contain my excitement.

This book is a medium sized novel counting to 340 pages, and I read it in 4 sittings. What do I think of it? In short, this book is brilliant!

Today, I would like to share some of my thoughts about this book.

Synopsis:

The story in An Autumn War takes place 14 years after the events in the previous book, A Betrayal in Winter.

The plot follows the life of Otah Machi, now ruling supreme as Khai in the northern city of Machi. He tries to steer his people to a futuristic vision, where the city's commerce and defense would no longer rely on magical entities known as andat.

However, his efforts are to late.

An empire known as Galt, has long harbored ambitions to annex her neighbor. You see, for ten generations, andats stood as the only line of defense for Otah's people, warding off invasions from the Galts. But recently, a brilliant Galt general discovered a way to neutralize the andats.

Without the andats, the world is left at the mercy of the Galts. As the army of the Galts marches to the city of Machi, Otah and his old friend, the Poet Maati, must find a way to avert the fate of their nation from the brink of destruction.

What I think about this book:

Most book reviews praised An Autumn War as the best book in Long Price Quartet series. My opinion is slightly different. I think An Autumn War is just as good as the other books in this series, and each novel has its own individual strengths and features. Having said this, I found the pace in An Autumn War is faster than the previous 2 installments.

Until now, every novel in Long Price Quartet series were structured around political intrigues. In previous 2 novels, readers witnessed the build-up of tensions between two nations of different cultures. In this book, the tension finally erupted into the flames of war, consuming the people of both nations.

This war, is based on an interesting premise: 

One nation has the weapon of mass destruction but doesn't use it, and how it increases the tension and mistrust between two nations already in conflict. 

Daniel Abraham wrote about this war beautifully and tragically. The central plot is layered upon intricate characterizations. In this book, no character is depicted as obvious “good” or “evil”. Every character, from protagonists to antagonists, do what they have to do with the circumstances they are given, to help their own people. In other words, this book explores the stories on both sides of two warring nations, where the characters in this book are depicted realistically, and readers can easily connect with these characters.

For me, every novel in this series is a rewarding read, more so in An Autumn War. In the previous 2 installments, readers have seen how the characters erred in their decisions. There are consequences and prices to be paid for their errors. At the end of this book, the price finally rose from the culmination of their past errors, and struck them in the most unexpected and tragic way. 

Indeed, the ending of this book was a stunningly brilliant piece of writing. After I finished reading this book, I finally understood why this series is called “Long Price Quartet”. Yet, the story is not finished. I feel both eager and anxious about reading the next, and the final installment to Long Price Quartet, titled “The Price of Spring”. After the unexpected, but brilliant ending in An Autumn War, I feel anxious about what the future has in store for these characters, what other price will they pay? But at the same time, I simply cannot wait to find out how this series will conclude.

If you like epic fantasy, then I highly recommend Long Price Quartet to you. In the meantime, off I go to read The Price of Spring. Until the next time, happy reading!