Master and Fool (The Book of Words #3)

Kyle

Rating: really liked it

Matt

Rating: really liked it
Prophecy, sorcery, politics, and war dominate the Known Lands though for many, they just want to survive. Master and Fool is the concludes J.V. Jones’ The Book of Words series that finds Jack, Melli, and Tawl working together to bring about the end of Kylock’s burgeoning empire.

The dark elements that Jones has been delving into through the series continued, but it felt that she really went hard on the classical fantasy tropes than in the two previous installments of the series. Jones also stealthily revises Melli’s arc by getting her pregnant by the Duke just after their wedding which gives her a pregnancy arc to deal with especially after she is captured by Kylock’s agents and his to endure his insane sadistic treatment of her until her rescue by Tawl and Jack. The two male protagonists’ finally meet—becoming insta-friends soon afterwards—and go on a road trip with Nabbler first to Larn then back to Bern destroying the first and saving the second as well as Melli via Tawl beginning the Knights of Valdis’ redemption. Kylock’s military genius—or the ineptitude of his enemies—is on full display along with his madness which is enhanced thanks to Baralis giving him a sorcery suppressing drug. The endgame was well written, though given the dark elements Jones had been weaving throughout the series if a protagonist had not made it after the final showdown, it would have worked just as well if not better.

Master and Fool finishes off the trilogy very well, but J.V. Jones’ decision to go with more tropes and putting in revisionism from how the previous book ended were enough to make this the “weakest” of the books though a very entertaining one.

Gene

Rating: really liked it
The prophesy, which was revealed practically in the beginning of the first book finally came to pass. Despite this fact it was not clear up until the middle of this book how exactly things will end: the world was too bleak and gloomy for ordinary happy end.

At this point I have to talk about the whole trilogy. The first book was really good; the series would have its place among the classic of the genre had the last two been on the same level. Unfortunately the second book was plain boring after the first one. The last one was a big improvement, and it came very close to the first one; almost, but not quite.

The characters varied from very interesting to annoying. Nabber is the best character in the series, bar none. He managed to stay interesting through all books, something everybody else failed. Tawl was good in the first book, completely boring in the second, and somewhat good in the last one.

Melli completely falls flat. I have yet to see the more annoying good character in a book. She always comes up as an entitled brat, even while being imprisoned. Speaking about being imprisoned, I think the main and the only purpose she served in the book was being a damsel in distress. At no point she did anything useful at all to try escaping. Instead all other good guys (and even not-so-good woman) kept rescuing her. It is not that the author cannot write strong women: Jack's mother IS a very strong woman; unfortunately she is only shown in flashbacks.

I really cannot say anything - good or bad - about Jack. He serves his purpose in the book well, but that is all. Bodger and Grift provide really good comic relief, if a little annoying at times. Baralis and Maybor are brilliant in the first book and fairly good in the next two. The head of knights would make a very good villain had he been given a POV in the book; without it his motives remain completely unclear through the whole series.

All in all, the first book was very good and this is what kept me reading to the end. Having finished the trilogy, I now also want to read the other fantasy books written by its author.

Coming back to this book, it was a great improvement of the second one, but not as good as the first one. I rated the first one with 4.5 stars, but rounded it down; I give this book 3.5 stars, but round it up, so the whole rating should even out.

Benjamin Thomas

Rating: really liked it
A terrific finale to the trilogy! When I originally picked up the first book in the set, The Baker's Boy I remember thinking this would be a bit of a risk. It appeared to be traditional fantasy, similar to so much of what was coming out in the '90s and it would require some investment of time on my part. I even referred to the title of the first book as implying this would be an 'assistant pig-keeper" sort of fantasy trilogy...more fluff than anything else. Would it be worth my time? Fortunately the answer was yes and I was happily wrong about that first book. I was quickly hooked on the characters, the setting, and the plot that was being developed right from the beginning.

Now, looking back on the entire trilogy, I am happy as a pig in mud. The promises developed in book one were thoroughly explored in book two and rose to a crescendo here in book three. There are a lot of plot lines and subplots that came to a head, as one would expect from the final book in a trilogy. But little of it was predictable. The suspenseful buildup was extremely well done and the characters, somehow, became even more real. One can see Ms Jones' progress as a writer throughout each of these books (her first three published novels) and her reputation is well deserved. I love it when I finish the last page of an awesome series and feel completely satisfied. I look back over the story days later and it brings a smile to my face. I just sit back in my chair and sigh with happiness. This is that kind of trilogy.

Laura

Rating: really liked it
AMAZING!!!
I loved these books! The ending was satisfying... I was scared the author was going to put a major horrible twist with some loved character dying.. but no!
Tawl <3 im glad you got all your heart desired!
I loved how everyone in the books all came together to sort out the problems and that this book was unpredictable, well written and kept me from going to bed at 7 and reading till late into the night... the type of book I carried around with me at all times...
Im sad its over, but it was very very satisfying :)
I love you J.V. Jones

Dan

Rating: really liked it
Fitting end to a really enjoyable series.

Barry Mulvany

Rating: really liked it
Odd books, still not sure what I think about them.

So stuff finally happened. Jack learns a bit about his powers but of course runs off before really learning much. Melli spends most of the book locked up. We finally get the meet up between Jack and Tawl that we've been waiting for over two pretty big books for and to be fair it was pretty awesome. We also get a lot more from Kylock in this book and he's even more messed up than I thought. Maybor has done a complete 360. Pretty much all the questions and mysteries we had are answered and resolved.

As I've said before these are extremely tropey books but they are a bit different than the books released at the time. The crazy amount of POV's was different but in this book that was toned down somewhat. Also the focus on the 'bad' guys was relatively unique from what I remember. I think one of main problems was that I didn't really like any of the characters, they were all annoying or out right despicable, and though I'm sure it was deliberate it made it hard to care about what was happening especially since it was all so low key.

My biggest problem was with Tawl, he's made out to be a literal shining knight but I didn't see that at all, and his final confrontation with Tyren was definitely not what I was expecting. It was actually probably more realistic considering the history between them but this relation between subverting expectations and then the next minute leaning into them so much really threw me throughout the series. Another case like this was Mistress Greal, she's truly horrible throughout the whole series, spends most of this book basically torturing Melli and by one good act we're supposed to love her and forgive her? It's the Snape argument all over again, I don't think one decent act makes a character more sympathetic if they've been assholes their whole lives.

I'll give it to these books, I've really thought about them a lot. Still not sure I like them but obviously there was enough here that I read all three of them. I've heard her later books get much better and there was enough here to make me want to check them out.

3.5 stars rounded up.

Please see this and other reviews at https://barrysbloodybooks.home.blog/

James Harwood-Jones

Rating: really liked it
Absolutely marvellous tale. J.V. Jones has been such a wonderful find for me. Totally love the characters within. The plotting and scheming villains to the noble disillusioned knight and our leads Jack and Melli. Highly recommended

Data

Rating: really liked it
Hurray! a trilogy that ends, before I got tired of the characters (and before they all died). A bit silly that I am so easy to please, but I just can't help myself sometimes.

Adam Koerner

Rating: really liked it
So I've officially finished the "Book of Words" trilogy.

Needless to say, I'm reminded why I love it so much. It really does engage me in an emotional way that doesn't happen too often. At the same time, I'm also reminded of how much the final book annoys me.

First off, there are a bunch of subplots that are introduced as solely filler. This author gets you to be emotionally involved with the characters, then introduces subplots that you just don't care about. At the end of the day, I ended up getting bored in a few chapters.

I also really didn't like the treatment of Melli in this book. She spends the whole 2nd book being built up as this strong and independent woman, and in the final book, she is basically torn back down and relegated to "damsel in distress".

All in all, I love the story arc, and fully enjoyed the trilogy for the third time.

Lanica

Rating: really liked it
I read this series when it first came out and am glad I have had time to re-read this year. I did love the first two books, but this one wrapped things up in a few ways that left me wanting more. Too neat, too many people survived with no reason, and the ending was not in any way connected to the possibilities created throughout the book.

I liked it. I didn't love it. I am very glad I read it. It is so detailed and there were so many threads...I had lost some of them in my memory and enjoyed experiencing them again over a decade later.

Marit

Rating: really liked it
Each installment in the Book of Words trilogy is better than the last. Jones takes stereotypical fantasy characters, a fair knight, a beautiful highborn lady, a nobody boy with earth-shaking magical powers, and turns them into real people with depth whom you grow strongly attached to. The plot is intricate but never cobweb-messy and the pace is kept up by Jones' switching to different viewpoints within chapters. The writing itself is not remarkable but more straightforward and no-nonsense. I recommend this trilogy for anyone looking for an intriguing, fast-paced fantasy escape.

Carrie Mudge

Rating: really liked it
The best of the series. A good plot twist kick starts the action, and the book proceeds at a quickened pace to its predecessors, with all the major characters becoming fully realised and even more interesting. A fairly satisfying ending - a couple of strands tied up a bit too glibly (the Knights' camp scene), but overall very well done. The only thing that was missing was resolution to the Kedrac sideline, he just dropped off the map. A wee additional epilogue, to link him in with Melli's ultimate situation, would have been the final tidy-up.

Ebi

Rating: really liked it
An engrossing conclusion to the Book of Words. J.V Jones breaks up a lot of tropes, but also uses a lot of them, so a mixed bag in that sense. Things don't turn out as you thought they might, but they turn out just fine. Isn't that what life is mostly about anyway?
Can't review it in greater detail without giving away spoilers, so I'll just say that the series is a good read. It won't change the way you look at things, it won't make you think too much, and it is lacking in depth, but it's a good trilogy to spend a week on.

Mike (the Paladin)

Rating: really liked it
The conclusion of the trilogy. I liked it. One thing I continue to point out, looking at a synopsis you may say that this sounds like "standard fantasy". the character types will be familiar...in this volume Jack must learn to handle his "newly discovered" magical ability. Seen it before, right? but these are still fresh. the characters are their own and they are good stories. Enjoy.