Deathmarked by David Estes is the fourth book in his Fatemarked series. I’ve been preoccupied with other books but finally found the time to continue with this series. Although book three felt just like the middle of the road, Deathmarked redeemed itself in a very good way as I found myself enjoying it much more than the previous two in the series. Finally, we have the characters we’ve been following all throughout this journey come together for their fateful meeting!

“Most believe peace is the work of kings and their armies, but it is scholars who can change the world.”

Windy Sandes

I’m glad that I found myself liking some of the characters a bit more after finishing Deathmarked. Lisbeth for one was not interesting in the least when she was first introduced. Here in Deathmarked, the struggle we see her go through to control the death knights made me respect her character all that much more. Grey Arris got my attention in Soulmarked after not leaving a good impression in the beginning of the story but after Deathmarked, he’s earned it that much more. Regarding the Tarin and Annise connection, I still feel they are a bit worn out and the author should have included something fresh for them both instead of reminding us each and every time how glad they are to be together and that yes, they love to make out whenever possible. Where Rhea is concerned, my worst fears were confirmed with her character but luckily, the author managed to salvage it in my opinion. I’ll have to wait until after having completed book five before I give final judgement on Rhea.

“Peace should be simple. But would it be worth as much if it was?”

Roan Loren

Book five and the final in the series will definitely be epic and I can’t wait to start on it. There’s still some things I wished would have happened such as bringing the Horde’s arrival a book or two earlier to build up momentum. As it stands, I didn’t feel any hype when things finally got moving a bit. The author relies again on telling specific character backstory and history at the end of the book and I like that idea. We get to focus on that character’s history and motivation without getting distracted with the overall story itself.

Ladies and gentleman, you already know this but stuff is about to go down in the final book! Bring on all the chaos, death, life, dragons and fighting one can handle. Bring it all on as I wouldn’t expect anything less in the final conclusion to this epic series!