Books 1-3, Tears of Blood

The book has just the right amount of mystery, love and battle to keep you turning the pages. To send you into another time, another place and forget about what is going on here in the real world. So ready for the next book!

Fantasy at it's finest! The series grabbed me from the beginning and never stopped, especially when it went beyond a linear path. I was pleasingly surprised when the plot line I assumed would be taken became unpredictable. The characters are well developed with the right amount of suffering and compassion. There's even a small homage to Game of Thrones which made me smile.

These books typify the downside of self-publishing.
The story is satisfactory, with an imaginative plot and a (mostly) coherent arc. The characters do their jobs. But ...
The writer needed an editor. From the beginning of Book 1 to the end of Book 3, one is barraged by grammar errors, pronoun confusion, wrong words, verbosity and clunky writing.
One expects these things in a first or second draft -- but not in a "finished" product, offered for sale. There is no justification for asking people to spend money on an unprofessional production.

When I first started I prepared myself for the a typical fantasy adventure. An adventure filled with incredible feats of heroism against insurmountable odds with action being the base line to the novel and the actual story a distant second. I was wrong. The story is fantastic, the characters entertaining, and the world created believeable. A surprise along with the story line was some of the humor thrown in at the prefect time. One of the best series I've read in a long time.

do not get this series!!!! i cannot stress this enough. the first 3 books are awesome then you get to the 4th book and it builds and builds... When you get to the end of this series in the 4th book you will see that you have wasted ever ounce of anything you cared for any of the characters or the story itself. M.R. Forbes is a bad no... HORRIBLE writer if you even want to call him an author. I will never ever ever purchase another book from this person again... he carries so much promise and in the end you will say "are you kidding???" and believe me you will say it and then the note he writes in the end is so...... "sorry it didnt end the way you wanted it to but wasnt it a great adventure;;" are you kidding me???? i feel like a victim after the atrocity!!! Luckily i didnt pay for the first 3 because the 4.99 i paid for the 4th book was like being raped...

Tears of Blood Books 1-3 is not the end of the story. At first I was disappointed but then when I realized I get to read another in the Tears of Blood series it kind of softened the disappointment. These books are well worth reading. This author is kind of a master at naming his characters: Eryn Albion, Silas Morningstar, Talon Rast. Really cool names for excellently fleshed out characters. The only problem I had with series so far is the editing. Every time I came upon a typo I promised myself I was going to ding him with the stars and give him four instead of five, but I just couldn't. The story is just too good. It well deserves five stars.

The only thing I didn't like was not having last book to read. Burned through first three in two days. Not having last book is only reason I rated 4 instead of 5. The practice of releasing stories piecemeal is the norm but is my greatest complaint.

The grammar is poor, the author needs an editor. There's a lot of controversy over the series ending. The ending isn't the problem. Rather, the writer over reaches their ability. The characters lack depth and the romance is unbelievable. Worst of all the series twice as long as it needs to be. I look to the greats like Terry Brooks and the Shannara series. The whole Tears of Blood could have been condensed down to one of Terry's books without losing anything.

I don't expect a lot from Kindle unlimited books, but this was a real surprise. Well written, good plot, good twists, I couldn't put it down. I eagerly got the 4th and final book in the series. The ending is unbelievably sad. I felt I wasted time and energy getting to know and love these characters. So, if a sad ending doesn't bother you, read this. it's good. I would have given this 5 stars if it had another ending, but as it was I felt I'd wasted my time reading 4 books.

After reading all 4 books in the series I can say that although the plot was outstanding and the action kept me wanting to read more, I was disappointed in how many times I was distracted by misused words and improper grammar. If the author used an editor or someone else to check it over he needs to fire them. If not for these issues I would have given him 5 stars.

I am disappointed with the ending, regardless if I like the writers style if I want to see a world where the bad guy wins all I have to do is watch todays news. and to really top it off to quote one of the most depressing writers of the 20th century to justify said ending. I won't read this author again.

One is held in suspense through the series. It is an easy read, without the sorts of repetitive story lines that plague the fantasy genre. Two frustrations do unfortunately repeat themselves when reading. And they are "sins of omission" to coin the phrase and thus perhaps too personal a preference.
My observations lead me to these frustrations. The poor transitions between the various characters' activities means we grapple with more pieces than might be easier to get the global shape of; secondly, the overuse of "keeping the reader in suspense without supplying enough information is irritating"; failing in detailing the boundaries of political dangers mean we battle with plausability ratings as we the reader are either too dumb to figure certain statistics in the same fashion as most of the populace aren't too self aware or critical in their reasoning. The consequences of these mconcerns is limiting of our speculative interaction. Moreover, insufficient richness of description is another factor in world-building which could do with improvement in order that our attention might be held even as the pace of the story changes.

Were the incessant, at times seemingly purposeless and thus unduly fatiguing (boring?) travel for both reader and unwitting character improved upon by providing the (reader) greater insight into this unique and painful world. Likewise suspense and energy might be improved upon were there be "a reveal" of more of the story "device" played by the elusive and evil Jeremiah.
The moral dilemmas facing each significant character is well framed, sensitively explored without becoming overly "pop psych" in its tone.
My point of greater concern is that one ought to have "a story" closure, by book 3, surely? I felt shortchanged by that final page.

Were we given access in a more unifying fashion to info on the science magic and tech of the times, and a better sense of who the enemy really is, impossible an idea as that might be when living within a time of tyrannical chaotic change as if evolution can be halted and new alliances struck between the living and the virtually living, between the collectively conscious and the individual conscience, between the made and the grown.

I hope for a greater portion of the rather terrifying dimension dwelling "demons" problem to be felt, not only described. I began to tire of the informationless mysteriousness surrounding Him.
Although the spaceotemporal ordering of Truth, Fact and Reality appear to be His realm and thus beyond the reach of either mortal or immortal man and machine.
And as with all despots it matters not at all be this Reality a physics, mathematical or philosophy of physics understanding - 'a multiple concept congruent with the quantum many world's paradox'.

When one person seeks to subjugate ordinary folk and eliminate the extraordinary the issue becomes one of human nature's potential for self-liberation, a treatise on the psychology of catastrophic change. And an intense foray into potential futures on the cutting edge of the cusp between life and death where the synergistic resonances of the good and the right, of freedom and justness meet in a weave of super-positioning in the weft of emergent song.

The dynamic is whether a change or augmentation of our material physical form gives rise to a consciousness inconceivably human to us now. In the emergence of novel ways of being human the writer then subjects each firm and consciousness to temporal shifts. Yet he offers us no solace in this plausible World, other than to demonstrate how love and care, a sense of belonging, and the truth are often enough to build revolutions on. Forgiveness is experienced physically, given conditionally through the non virtual engagement with the Other, and by means of loving the good. It is this bigger picture which shrouds The Promise in arcane shadows, and derives from it the deeper issue of action taken on behalf of others by individuals ostensibly For The Greater Good.
The books demonstrate how our protagonists battle this spiritual dilemma, physically thank God, fortunately seeking to liberate by means of collective Will, thus divesting their minds and world of the sorts of "mysteries and truths" only those with vested interests would impose so viciously on ordinary folk.

I've not been as clear in my arguments and comments as might be required for usefulness I know as a prolific reader that the Unknown Truth is always risky device to employ to this extent.

One imagines horrific sacrifice, and base cruelty, and the madness a human mind succumbs to when outliving it's time. One imagines deep regret, and consequentiality so profound an entire world is propelled onto a different evolutionary trajectory - which in that one small moment of spaceo-temporal shift it is impossible to determine exactly when this change occurred, or how a geometry so entirely juxtaposed to our known esoteric animal Natures' remains untarnished , that we are compelled to re-examine our notion's of what human consciousness is, and how and what it thus derives it is to be human and condcious and alive.

Awesome read!! If you love a story-line that moves and doesn't get bogged down into too much description and inner dialogue, you will love this fantasy series. Forbes gives me enough information to ignite my own imagination so that he doesn't have to take space away from the bigger story.

I was captivated by the book. I still don't understand the story properly, but I am going to purchase the follow-up. I am intrigued by the mysteries and background stories, and if you like mysteries this is the series for you. Loved it.