Review for "The Fiend and the Forge (The Tapestry #3)" by Henry H. Neff

In a perfect world, I would stay... But this isn't a perfect world. You were born to lead this place and these people. I was born for other things.



Rating: 3.75

We are finally raising the stakes at Rowan Academy! This book definitely feels like a turning point, a new beginning if you will, for the series. Not only has Max lost so much, he also has so much more to lose. He's also getting to the point (age is kinda funky in this series, who knows if he's aged 3 or 5 or 10 years since the beginning of the first book??? Either way he is definitely maturing) where he is finding out who he is. During his whole journey, he's been asked the question, by himself and others, "Who am I?", and he is now discovering and accepting his true identity.

You are the child of Lugh Lamfhada. You are the sun and the storm and master of all the feats I have to teach. You are these things because you must be.

Honestly, I don't know with Chosen One trope I like more, the "I'm super BA because I trained for it and am actually the best" or the "I am the fiercest warrior because fate wills it so and I just have to deal with it." Clearly this story exhibits the latter. Max's physical development, in terms of how quickly he trains, is the best and most feared/famous warrior ever, and can win in battle against anyone, is a little implausible for me I will say. He's fought some bad guys like a couple of times and suddenly every demon in the world knows who he is and fears him? And he's better than every other Agent, all of whom have devoted their lives to training? Eh...

That being said, Max's strength in battle is extremely entertaining. This book is a blast to read because the battles are so interesting and creative. I loved everything about Max's time at the farm house, and I loved the contest of champions bit too (especially the appearance of the Myrmidon!). Neither of these fit super well in the story, but I still thought it was fun.

The one thing that has always kept the books in this series from getting higher ratings from me are the characters. They just don't work at all. They aren't interesting, they aren't relatable to the reader, and they don't even have realistic or interesting relationships with each other. It's just a super bummer. Therefore, -0.25 for implausibility, -0.25 for uncohesiveness, and -0.75 for the characters. Considering all the aforementioned issues, the book still receives a relatively high rating from me because the plot continues to intrigue and entertain me, which is the main goal of a middle grade fantasy series IMO.