A Cask-Aged Blade
The intense conclusion to the post-apocalyptic fantasy series inspire by The Witcher, The Last of Us, and Arthurian Legend.Unable to set the past behind him, Galahad plots to bring justice to the Unholy King. But when his fury draws the attention of an ancient danger, he must set aside revenge if he's to save New London from destruction.
It's time for Galahad to take up his cask-aged blade one last time, and stand as protector of the realm.
-Goodreads
Title: A Cask-Aged Blade
Series: Rainfallen #3
Author: Benjamin Aeveryn
Page Count: 450
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4.75/5.0
Date Read: February 4th, 2025
Opening
I may have taken a more than warranted length of time between reading books one and two from the Rainfallen series by Benjamin Aeveryn but after falling back in love with it I went right from book two (Secret of the Thistle) into book three A Cask-Aged Blade. I was simply chomping at the bit to find out how this story ended up. Not to mention I wanted to make sure I was caught up with this series before Venomborn book one releases early in 2025.
I really don't read series titles back to back very often. That should elude to how much I was enjoying this story if nothing else.
Pacing
The pacing of A Cask-Aged Blade follows along with the rest of the series. These books read very smoothly and easily. I do realize some of this just comes down to personal preference with the prose. Other than the fact they seem well edited with very few issues as far as typos go to trip me up. No issues with names of characters or places to cause me any issues either. The only brief struggle I had with names was closer to the end where some characters revert to previous names which took me a bit of time to wrap my head around but it still made a lot of sense to the story.
World Building
The world building was unique and interesting. The overall vibe eluded to this being a speculative future where the world has reverted to a more medieval technology but there definitely seems to be a history of a more advanced society which has become no more for reasons. This is a world where monsters and magical creatures have returned for good or ill. Add that to a richly described world with different regions as well as plenty of political intrigue and that is a great foundation for a story.
Character Development
The character development was also amazing in book three to wrap up this story. The overall character arc for several character across this series was a pleasure to watch unfold. I have begin to realize I'm a bit of a sucker for flawed characters. The only fine line I've seen with these characters is if they seem to be whining to much about those flaws or not. I didn't get that feeling with these characters. They recognize those flaws and for the most part continue to push forward and I believe most of them come out better off by the end.
Closing
My biggest mistake with this series was waiting as long as I did before getting to the second book. I really enjoyed this series as well as the finale.
I would recommend this to just about any fan of fantasy books in general. On top of that, anyone who likes at least a loose connection to old Arthurian tales and that rich history of a more advanced time compared to the current events that have become a more magical world and of course the heavy helping of political intrigue along the way.
Scoring
Pacing 4.5 / 5.0
Worldbuilding 4.75 / 5.0
Character Development 4.75 / 5.0
