The House of Always

The Memory of Souls was one hell of a rollercoaster. The Memory of Souls was BEAUTIFUL. The Memory of Souls had set my expectations so high that I was absolutely pumped to know what happened next. Unfortunately, the wild ride slows down with this one.

Plot

This entire book, as stated in the opening pages, takes place entirely within the lighthouse at Shadrag Gor. I can't explain why, and you'll have to read through the book to understand how everyone got there.

This is a battle ended in an eyeblink, in the beginning of an inhalation, in that space between surprise and the wineglass shattering against the cold stone floor. A battle that had and has and will take place entirely within the mind and entirely within this inviolate and sacred space, the Lighthouse at Shadrag Gor. And whether we do our jobs well or poorly, it is a battle no one else will ever know happened. Not unless we tell them. If we even can.

Unfortunately, I do not know how to describe what really happened in this book. I mean, sure, a lot of events took place, but they didn't feel really relevant to the central story. Krakens and dragons and magical lighthouses make appearances in this book, but most of the time, I was just waiting for something important to happen.

The House of Always wasn't slow. It was just boring. In the aftermath of the ending of the previous book, Kihrin is now trying to reason with Vol Karoth, while Janel and Teraeth spend a lot of time being angry at him for pulling this stunt (can't blame them for that). Galen, Sheloran, and the gang are running around doing something or the other. Once again, the entire story is told through flashbacks. This structure is made even more jarring by the fact that the previous book had such an AWESOME ending, but this time around, the plot barely moves ahead by a couple days.

Kihrin's plan to heal the broken, angry Vol Karoth with the power of love and friendship felt quite childish. I found it very naive to read that a lot of the narrative centers around this very theme. For such a dark, gritty, novel, it came off as out of place and not convincing enough. Kihrin only served as a catalyst to trigger most of the flashbacks of a series of random events, but most of these events felt like filler and did not really lead to any development of the plot and characters.

This book made me realize why I loved The Memory of Souls so much. I missed the vané politics, Valathea and Khaeriel, the plotting, backstabbing, and double-crossing, and the race against time to prevent Vol Karoth's escape. I missed the tense battles, the fights with Relos Var, Suless, and Xaltorath. I even missed the Eight Immortals and the drama they brought with them wherever they went. Even though half of them are still alive this time around, I missed the dynamics from the previous book. You will find nothing like this in The House of Always.

The book does have a climatic element at the end, but it still feels pretty weak compared to the previous books (including The Name of All Things, which had a pretty rocky start.) The payoff at the end does not really justify the 500 pages which come before. Plot-wise, I feel that this book seemed to be the weakest of the series.

Characters

One thing I do not enjoy about this series as a whole is how characters just appear in some books and don't show up in others. I had a similar problem with the lack of Dorna, Ninavis, and the Jorat side characters, and Therin, Khaeriel, and the vané side characters, none of which show up in this installment. I find this really jarring when I'm invested enough in characters, only to find that they have been discarded and then brought back two volumes later to advance the plot.

Something similar happens this time as well. Characters we met only once in The Ruin of Kings show up again. Even after Thaena's death, death isn't as permanent as you would think. Not fun.

Kihrin and Vol Karoth

I love my Quuros prince, his snappy humor, and his heart of gold. And none of this really gets a chance to shine this time around. Kihrin gets far too few appearances to really count. I really wanted to see how the sacrifice he made in the last book would affect him, but there was barely any of that in this installment.

Vol Karoth was a hollow place just under my sternum, like the gut twist of loss that scrapes one's insides clean and leaves only stupefaction in its wake. He lurked in the back of my throat, in the unbidden sting of tears with no cause, in the creeping sour taste of malice under my tongue. Vol Karoth was empty and dark and endless. A bottomless cup that could never be filled.

Teraeth and Janel

The book starts with Teraeth in a pretty bad place. He's still struggling with the aftermath of the Ritual of Night and Thaena's death. It has left him pretty unhinged, and it's heartbreaking to watch. I did enjoy how he slowly came to terms with what happened with him and his mother, and his strong bond with Janel and Kihrin, which remains one of the strongest points of this series.

Janel, slowly realizing what Kihrin did, goes into just the kind of rage I'd expect from her. Although she does have some unexpected twists thrown her way, it did not feel like the best use of her character. Janel is a spitfire, and it is painful to watch her being mostly a passive character in this part.

To defeat Vol Karoth, you're going to have defeat—" Janel chewed on the inside of her lip.

"Myself," I said.

"Yes," she said. "I suspect so, anyway."

"Good luck with that," Teraeth said.

"Asshole, you're supposed to be supportive."

That is what the problem with this installment is - our main characters do not get enough time to continue being the main characters. I got here due to them in the first place, so no, I do not enjoy watching the people I've come to know and love spend 500 pages cracking jokes and mostly doing nothing.

Other characters

The side characters, most of which I didn't really care about, get way more screen time. Even in The Memory of Souls, I was more than a bit bored with Talea and Xivan's plots, and it doesn't help when they are popping around everywhere in The House of Always. The same goes for Qown, and I cannot figure out, for the life of me, what makes him so interesting to everyone else.

Thankfully, the sensible Galen, Sheloran, Thurvishar, and Senera save the book. I love Thurvisher and Senera's academic arguments, and Galen and Sheloran's platonic relationship. We do get quite a bit of D'Talus politics in the book, so that's a win.

Worldbuilding

We do not get a lot of exposition or memory diving this time. A large part of this book takes place in Shadrag Gor and the Blight. I had my expectations really high after the last book, but this one was a step-down.

Writing Style

This book has a similar narrative structure to the previous books. Once again, the entire story takes place in the present and then narrates the past through flashbacks. This structure did not work for me in The Name of All Things, and it does not now. I would have really preferred to just read it as it happened instead of having it narrated just so that the characters could keep commenting on it.

However, the writing does have its highlights. The dialogue remains as snappy and witty as ever, and there are some really good lines in there. The book has an air of impending doom, of the world about to end, and the characters and their thoughts reflect it. I was particularly moved by the opening letter in the first chapter, and it really sets the tone for the book.

But know this—even though I have lived a life as full of thin, small regrets as a cherry tree is full of petals in spring, this will be my largest: that I could not be there with you, right then, to share the space between never and always while waiting for the sun to rise.

In Conclusion

The House of Always was a big book. It felt huge at times because it moved too slowly for it to have enough payoff. I still feel that parts of it didn't feel relevant and could easily have been cut down or changed in favor of character development and exposition.

The Name of All Things, which had a slow start, still got wild past the 50% mark and gave us a solid ending. Unlike that book, this one really does not get much better, not until the very end. With such a strong predecessor, Lyons had set my expectations really high. However, despite some strengths, this one fails to deliver the brilliance of the previous installments. Here's to hoping that The Discord of Gods picks up steam!