Hero Falling

A sequel to "Steps To Deliverance" and a parallel book to "Faith Aligned", we get to see a bit more of what happens after you save the world, or at least a portion of it.  It follows Astelle, the half-Elohi former member of the Sisterhood, warrior nuns fighting to defend Basilea from the evils of the Abyss, after her defeat of the Abyssal invasion a few weeks prior with the Paladin Orion.

Rather than focusing on larger battles in the setting of the Kings of War miniature game, it focuses instead on a small group of adventurers.  Ragran, an aging barbarian past his prime, Z'akke, a salamander fire wizard with a secret, Valletto, a human air wizard who regrets leaving his family for another adventure, and Thesilar, an elf ranger with a bit of a chip on her shoulder.

Once again, Barber does an excellent job of weaving subtle hints to the game that the stories are based on without having them get in the way of the story.  Sure there are name drops to characters and adventures from the Dungeon Saga expansions, but if you aren't familiar with them it won't take anything away from the story other than to know there is more happening in the world than just what these characters have done.

There is a lot of character development, even for those newly introduced (including one of the villains (or is he?)), but not at the expense of the action, nor overshadowed by it, giving a nice balance.

I'm not sure what I missed from the title however - I seem to have missed what it refers to.  The easy way, of course, would be to have the main character die, or to have them turn to being a villain instead.  But (spoilers) neither of those happen.  

An enjoyable read, and another great addition to the growing volume of stories for one of my favorite games.

You can pick up your copy here: Amazon

Because it is all fun and games . . .