REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: THE FORGE OF THE COVENANT (RAVEN SON BOOK 4) BY NICHOLAS KOTAR

Abstract: My least favorite of the series so far, but still enjoyable.  The narrative is tense and fast paced, with interesting twists, though I can’t say all the plot mechanics were executed as well as they could have been.  I did like getting a story focused on Lebia, and I like how this story connects with the previous book.  The ending is especially engaging as Kotar preps his readers for book 5.  I’m looking forward to where things will go.

Content warning (highlight to view): frightening images, violence

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We are back with another Kotar novella review, this time for his recently released series book 4, The Forge of the Covenant.  I actually wrote this about a month ago for an Amazon review, and I was planning to put it off a bit longer, since I’ve had so many Kotar posts so close together.  However, this post is done (with minor edits since posting it on Amazon), and the others I have in the works are not, so here we are.  By the way, as this is book 4 in a series, there will be minor spoilers for previous books.

The Forge of the Covenant opens on the daily life of Lebia, finally able to live in peace with her husband and children after death and plague destroyed the lands.  Outside the magical shell surrounding their island home, monsters roam, but at least it’s safe within the shield, and Lebia has found some happiness even in the midst of sorrow.  But something is not right.  Something is out of place, though she cannot figure out what until it crashes into her idyllic life, shattering what she understood and remembered and threatening the bit of happiness she has built with her family.  Now Lebia must fulfill the demand of a monster or else lose everything she cares about.

This is a packed novella.  Though only 87 pages, the space is used efficiently, just as much as in book 3 in the series, with plot, world, and character developments one after the other.  There is also a good bit of tension, making this another fast read in the series, for the most part.  Sections at the start take a bit to get going, but the dissonance between how the story begins and what I knew from previous books kept me going, wanting to see how events will develop.

There are a few things I did not like among those developments, one of the key ones more from a personal prejudice against the plot device used than anything else.  Here I must get into some spoilers for the sake of accuracy.  Time manipulation is a very difficult device to use, and while Kotar does a decent job, some of the inherent issues involved in it are not quite overcome.  The story remains enjoyable.  But there are cracks.

On the more positive side, I did like having a story focused around Lebia.  She has largely been a paragon character, morally speaking, and while I would have preferred she remained that way, the particular flaws added and the way her arc is handled is believable and well done.  I also liked how her story wove into the other books.  The conclusion was particularly enjoyable, with Kotar bringing in unexpected characters and using the kind of engaging descriptions usually reserved for the sirin scenes to bring gravitas and a touch of otherworldliness to the novella’s conclusion.

The Heart of the World ended on a tragic but hopeful note.  Now, with The Forge of the Covenant, Kotar begins the rise back towards what will hopefully be a victorious crescendo and climax.  Even though I can’t say I liked certain decisions Kotar made, I still enjoyed the novella and wait with anticipation for the finale of this particular series.