RECAP: Destroyer of Worlds, by Larry Correia

Saga of the Forgotten Warrior, book 3

The video is a reading of the text below. This is the third installment in a recap series, and you can find the others here: Book 1 | Book 2

Each book starts with a flashback to a significant event decades in the past. In this instance, we get a look at the feud between Devedas and Ashok, two men of similar skillset yet very different temperament. Ashok has power that he doesn’t want yet cannot shed, while Devedas is outwardly worthy of that power and cannot have it. His only avenue is to challenge Ashok to a duel and win his sword. Ashok naturally wins the fight, as he is the bearer of an ancestor blade. Devedas still harbors the same feelings in the present.

At the end of HOUSE OF ASSASSINS, our heroes shared in a victory over the eponymous wizard cult and rescued their prophetess, Thera Vane. While the main conflict is not over, they do get to rest and recover a little bit, and those with distant obligations will part ways with the main group to tend to what’s theirs.

In the Capital of Lok, the Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan is still scheming to have all of the casteless annihilated. He manipulates the government to keep things moving. While he is technically in an alliance with Devedas, neither man truly trusts the other. Devedas sees to the casteless eradication, and during one encounter he notices that the casteless and other rebels are fighting back with Fortress weapons (crude black powder rifles.) The Isle of Fortress is the only place where these weapons are made, and its geographical location across the water makes it impossible for Lok to wipe them out. Owning their technology in Lok is illegal, but hey, there’s a lot of that going on lately.

Ashok and Thera, the champion and the prophetess, take up a romantic relationship together as they lead the surviving casteless army to a distant stronghold, called the Cove. When they finally reach the place, secured by their friend Keeta, they learn that other rebels are waylaid by a plague and are not expected to live for long.

Among the rebels there is an Inquisitor spy named Javed who regularly checks in with Omand, using demon parts to magically communicate with his master. It is revealed that the plague is artificial, created by a magical pattern that Omand employed in order to mess with the rebels’ religious superstitions. The plan is to undo the plague at a key time, thus controlling the religious narrative and subverting Thera’s prophecies.

However, while Javed is away, Thera has a breakthrough with the Voice in her head and is able to see the necessary pattern to cure the plague. She implements the cure and people start getting better before Javed does anything, which further complicates Omand’s schemes. Worse, it proves that the Forgotten Gods have become more brazen in their involvement in the war.

As Devedas continues onward, his quest eventually leads him to a final standoff with Ashok, bringing their lifelong feud to a head. Both men deal out incredible damage to each other, fueled and healed by their connection to the Heart of the Mountain (see book 1), but when Ashok moves in for the kill, the Forgotten Gods once again intervene and spare Devedas’ life. As a result, Ashok is hurled into a nearby river and his body is washed away, while the rebels escape.

Elsewhere throughout the story, other characters cross paths: Jagdish, determined to return to his wife and unborn child, takes his haul from the House of Assassins and returns to House Vadal, where he is treated as a deserter and awaits sentencing. However, he anticipated this outcome and told his story along the way, drumming up popular support for himself, which puts Harta Vadal (the House leader) in a precarious position.

Rada and Karno, still on the run from Inquisitors and their assassins, end up in Vadal territory and are also taken in by Harta. In a piece of deft political maneuvering, Rada counsels Harta to take control of Jagdish’s story and tell everyone that he was a secret undercover operative with Ashok’s army, and that he did exactly what he was supposed to do, returning to Vadal with incredible wealth. This allows Harta to benefit from Jagdish’s popularity, and Jagdish is promoted to the head of a garrison.

When Jagdish finally returns home, he learns that his wife tragically died during childbirth while he was away, but that his child survived, and he now has a daughter instead of a son, as he had supposed. Later, when Rada and Karno seek to escape further danger, Jagdish takes them into his garrison, grateful for how they helped him.

The story concludes when Ashok wakes up on the shores of the Isle of Fortress, having floated across the waters to that distant land. A local suggests that his injuries and subsequent journey should have killed him, to which Ashok says that he’s starting to think he’s not allowed to die.

Stay subscribed for the recap of book four, TOWER OF SILENCE, coming soon. Book five, GRAVEYARD OF DEMONS, releases in November of 2024.