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Rating: 
Summary: The Army of the Alliance
Review: Crusade, is the third and last book in the Empires Trilogy, and deals primarily with King Azoun IV's efforts in trying to raise an army to protect Thesk and the free city of Telflamm, from Khahan Yamun's hordes.
Picking up from where Dragonwall left off, the book sheds light on the Cormyrean king, masterminding and then leading the crusade in the defense of the entire continent following the invasion of eastern Faerun, Ashanath, Rashemen, and Thesk, by Khahan Yamun and the Tuigan horsemen.
Whereas Horselords looks at the story from the point of view of Koja and the Tuigan, and Dragonwall looks at the continuation of the same story from the point of view of General Batu and the Shou Lung, Crusade is written from King Azoun's and subsequently the West's perspective.
In addition, there are two parallel stories running: the king's relations with Alusair, his estranged daughter, and the adventures of John Razor, a fletcher from Suzail, as he takes part in the Crusade.
The plot as a whole is excellent! The book is so incredibly well written that the reader feels that they have been transported to another plane of existence and are actually present among the characters, seeing what they see, feeling what they feel, sensing what they sense. Moreover, James Lowder does a great job of presenting the distinct culture and civilization of the peoples of the Heartlands; Cormyr, Sembia, the Dales etc. Furthermore, he has done a great deal of research in order to provide such an accurate and lucid description of the difficulties and hardships facing people that have lost their homes and have become refugees as a result of war.
His solid grasp of factual detail makes him very capable of providing the necessary background needed to carry out the difficult task of writing Forgotten Realms novels, which is something often missing from the work of many Fantasy authors.
On the negative side, the book does have a few silly mistakes e.g. on page 29 "villainous neighbors to the north" should be "to the south," on page 37 "ancestors" should be "descendants," on page 71 "She close/chose to ignore" etc
Moreover, a better Cormyrean insurgency and opposition to the Crusade could be used, in the shape of the "Rebel Prince's" Selamber's supporters, or those wanting to end the monarchy, but the "green-clad" Trappers Guild??? And why? Because of taxes? This is still the "goodly" Kingdom of Cormyr and King Azoun would never raise taxes to the point of destroying peoples' lives or businesses. Along with the Trappers, the Tanners and Butchers are also opposed to the war, and again it is difficult to comprehend why. Indifferent yes, militantly opposed, probably not.
In addition, I am going to have to agree with the previous reviewer when he says that the gathering of the crusading army took too long in comparison to the actual showdown between the two armies. Furthermore, the final duel between Yamun and Azoun was indeed over without the magnificent climax that one would expect from "a clash of titans."
The book could have/should have been longer by 50 to 100 pages to include more detail relevant to the story.
Nevertheless, Crusade presents excellent insight on Cormyrean life, culture, politics, history, civilization, King Azoun and the royal family.
There are some wonderful scenes set at sea as well as some impressive battle scenes involving thousands of troops and the use of War Wizards' magic.
Together with Cormyr, The High Road and Death of Dragon (in that order), they make for a wonderful set dealing with the kingdom of Cormyr and the ruling Obarskyr royal family.
In conclusion, Crusade is strongly recommended to all Forgotten Realms fans. The Empires Trilogy should definitely be re-released, not to mention what a really great movie (or set of movies) it would make!
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Crusade
Review: It puzzled me at first. I read a 3 novel series all written by different authors. Each novel is from a new perspective. It seemed that after getting comfortable with one author and loving his contribution to the Empire series you have to do the same thing with the next. Crusade completes the hat trick in sneaky fashion. It's the type of novel that will resonate in your mind years after reading. There are just so many reasons to love this novel even if you are not a Forgotten Realms fan. However to a Forgotten Realms fan this is your sirloin steak. You have the cultural rivalry of Sembian mercenaries and Cormyr volunteers allied together. You have an army of Zhentarim Orcs as allied with an army of Dwarves. You have an assassination attempt on a King for because of the economic tow the Crusade he aligns would have on some business. What you end up with is a lot of hodge podge that James Lowder orchestrates as well as an author can. You could replace everything in this novel with another pile of hodge podge and it would still work. Lowder is gifted at giving a novel superb chronology. Cover to cover it's an involving ride that is above your head like a good work of fiction should be.
Rating: 
Summary: Final book a let down on several levels
Review: It really pains me to say this, since Lowder is a great writer, but this book is a serious let down on multiple fronts. As the final book in the Empires trilogy, this book was meant to be the big showdown in which Yuman and Azoun complete the conflict in a spectacular battle. At least, that is what I expected. It is what should have happened. In each of the previous novels, the Khahan (intent on conquering all of Toril) cuts a swathe across the face of the faerun. By the second book we are treated to a nice series of battles, and a big build up for the showdown with the western forces.INstead, what you get is 200 pages of build up to the final campaign. The entire book is made up of Azoun trying to gather an army together to stop the Tuigan horde, which while interesting, was not exactly fast paced. I think the same effect could have been accomplished with 100 pages. I really wanted a massive conflict, and was treated to a meager campaign. The showdown between Yamun and Azouns was likewise a letdown, it was intensely brief, and for all of the build up to how great a fighter the Khahan was he came across as little more than an average fighter. The one good thing about this book is that you get to learn the final fate of characters from the 1st two books, with the exception of Chanar (unless I seriously missed something). This book isn't terrible, but it doesn't live up to the other books in the series. Of course, if you have read the other 2 novels then this is a must read, just so you can find out what happened. If you haven't then skip it, you'll only be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Final book a let down on several levels
Review: It really pains me to say this, since Lowder is a great writer, but this book is a serious let down on multiple fronts. As the final book in the Empires trilogy, this book was meant to be the big showdown in which Yuman and Azoun complete the conflict in a spectacular battle. At least, that is what I expected. It is what should have happened. In each of the previous novels, the Khahan (intent on conquering all of Toril) cuts a swathe across the face of the faerun. By the second book we are treated to a nice series of battles, and a big build up for the showdown with the western forces. INstead, what you get is 200 pages of build up to the final campaign. The entire book is made up of Azoun trying to gather an army together to stop the Tuigan horde, which while interesting, was not exactly fast paced. I think the same effect could have been accomplished with 100 pages. I really wanted a massive conflict, and was treated to a meager campaign. The showdown between Yamun and Azouns was likewise a letdown, it was intensely brief, and for all of the build up to how great a fighter the Khahan was he came across as little more than an average fighter. The one good thing about this book is that you get to learn the final fate of characters from the 1st two books, with the exception of Chanar (unless I seriously missed something). This book isn't terrible, but it doesn't live up to the other books in the series. Of course, if you have read the other 2 novels then this is a must read, just so you can find out what happened. If you haven't then skip it, you'll only be disappointed.
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