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The Third God

Ricardo Pinto

Why we're reading this: Epic fantasy with the 2 main characters being male lovers book 3
[close] Epic fantasy with the 2 main characters being male lovers book 3

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Dec 19, 2009 Bill rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorite-books-re-read, fantasy, gay-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I have been waiting a long time for this book— 7 years. The book jumps right into the story without any review of what happened before. A summary or review incorporated into the early chapters would have been a big help, as would list of characters and jargon. In retrospect, I wish I had re-read the 1st 2 books, but 'so many books, so little time...'

To be fair much additional information can be found on the author's website, http://ricardopinto.com/ , which I would have reviewed, if I had broadb ...more

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Jul 22, 2018 Andrew Peters added it

Shelves: gay-fantasy

Now that I completed Pinto’s saga, I can say that, altogether, it is a beautiful, engrossing, harrowing, disturbingly harsh, epically proportioned, and (sometimes flawed) work of art. What takes the series into vaunted territory for me is its exploration of ideas — subordination vs. domination, among others related to the human condition — as well as the originality of its premise, its living, breathing, terrifying fantasy world, which Pinto commits to big time, baring his soul in a dark, painfu Now that I completed Pinto’s saga, I can say that, altogether, it is a beautiful, engrossing, harrowing, disturbingly harsh, epically proportioned, and (sometimes flawed) work of art. What takes the series into vaunted territory for me is its exploration of ideas — subordination vs. domination, among others related to the human condition — as well as the originality of its premise, its living, breathing, terrifying fantasy world, which Pinto commits to big time, baring his soul in a dark, painful tangle of drives and emotions.

As dark as things get, the redeeming facet of the story is the hero Carnelian who stands against the atrocities of his Chosen caste. He’s not a self-righteous do-gooder in the style of the “one hero who can save the world.” Really, it’s the originality of his characterization which made me such a big fan of the series and made the story more approachable than other eye-shielding dark fantasy I’ve read. I’ll try to explain what I mean.

A lot of dark fantasy titles use a broken hero formula to build interest and use redemption as a theme; and I can get behind that approach in some cases. Here, it’s refreshing that Carnelian is never broken. He never wavers from his convictions. He sobs over where his journey takes him, and he’s afraid at times, self-doubting at times, even wondering if he’s been bested toward the end; but he doesn’t struggle with the right thing to do, only how to do it amid the huge obstacles in his way. I mentioned in reviewing the previous books that Carnelian’s defining characteristic is his compassion, and I just can’t say enough how lovely that is.

I found the trilogy satisfyingly even. Each book has a suspenseful story, from book one (what kind of man will Carnelian become when he has to succeed his father?), book two (how will Carnelian & his lover survive as fugitives among the barbarians their kind oppresses?), and book three (how will Carnelian achieve peace for the people in the world his kind has wronged?). This last installment reveals history that demystifies The-Law-that-cannot-be-broken, with some nice, unexpected touches. Things don’t get more epic than a story that envisions the literal end of the world, and in this case, that vision comes with big surprises.

And (view spoiler)

The flaws I mentioned are that IMHO the story is over-written throughout, but that was obviously forgivable for me as I sped through all three books in a few months.
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Jan 02, 2010 Suuanda marked it as to-read

Feb 11, 2012 Joseph-Daniel Peter Paul Abondius marked it as to-read

Nov 27, 2012 Alexandra marked it as to-read · review of another edition

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