tl;dr : Bad Faith is a properly epic conclusion to a great irreverent fantasy series

Before I get further into the book, let us look at its precursors. Fool's Gold was great with its USP being irreverent humour. False Idols' USP was its world building and excellent characters. And now, Bad Faith has excellent storytelling & plot twists as its stand-out features. This series has been brilliant for a number of reasons and the primary one is how each book changes its tone so much while retaining the essentials - characters, writing, pacing, plot & world building. If for nothing else, you ought to read this series just to how masterful Jon Hollins has been in crafting this evolution in his books.

Coming to Bad Faith itself. It reminded me of Terry Pratchett's Small Gods quite a bit.

There are a lot of common elements with the previous books. There is balls to the wall action. Will Farrow's plans, even when they do not work, are properly manic and brilliant. Balur is, well being, Balur. The writing is excellent (did I not mention it before?).

There is far less humour here than in the previous books and this bummed me out quite a bit. I dearly missed this trademark humour, but, the author compensates for this disappointment by weaving a complicated plot with a lot of twists and turns. The story becomes grim and serious quite soon, which I admit, took me some time to adjust too. Some of the characters become corrupted by power with the consequences of their actions laid bare for all to see.

The climax was great and I definitely did not see the twist that was coming. The ending was mostly good (*cough* Small Gods *cough*) but I think Jon Hollins could have made it better by sticking to the tone of this book. There are some elements of magic hand waving that happens. And some characters (my favourite) do not get a mention at the end. But, these are minor quibbles in the greater scheme of things.

If you want to know whether I recommend this book, let me just share this. I had to savour each and every page and I forced myself to read slowly so that the book did not get over too fast. That's how engrossed I was.17 s Jennifer (bunnyreads)487 79

There is a certain scariness to starting the last book in a much-loved series. You ask yourself- Is it going to be as good? Are there going to be any cow related deaths? Is he gonna fuck up the ending? Are my expectations too high? DO I NEED TO DIAL IT DOWN A BIT?

Fool’s Gold won my love with its sometimes absurd predicaments and dark, crass humor.

False Idols resurged my love with its still dark humor and the character chemistry, and then went on to impress me with its tighter writing and a genius (I thought) move in characteristics/plotting, followed by one of the best closing lines I’ve read. (in the sense that it stoked me for the next book while reassuring me I didn’t need to hunt the author down to send him hate mail)

Bad Faith To put it simply was everything I hoped it could be.

So, after the fall-out of False Idols we find our group of friends split up.

Quirk, still trying to lead the good fight against Barph, befriends/cajoles a young dragon-Yorrax, into helping her, after a particularly bad attempt at striking back at Barph falls apart.

And Will, plans, along with Balur, Lette, and Afrit, to undertake a journey to the deep to find the magic that the gods used to build their world. And all of Will’s plans, they are wildly successful until they fail, and when they fail, it’s usually in the grandest style imaginable.

This time around is a little more serious, the tone and content a little darker than I expected- friendships are tested, there are bigger stakes, and bigger losses all around. Also, fewer absurd circumstances (if we don’t count wild pig riding) and fewer bits of humor as everything falls down the rabbit hole into the deep. To me, this did what a final book is supposed to do and that’s ramp up of everything to a hell of a bang at the end.

This book and series, as a whole, hit a lot of sweet spots with me, this one especially was a roller-coaster of emotions. It was fun, it was humorous, it was dark, it was action-packed but it could be sad and painful too.

To sum it up (which I am having a hell of a time doing without spoilers) What started out in book one, as a kind of crazy, campy fun, heist story, morphed by book three into something that at its heart is about family, friendship, pride, and revenge, and how much of yourself, your friends, and the loved ones around you, are you willing to sacrifice for your pride, or your revenge. It was at times hard to read and see the fall-out of those choices but when I closed my book at that last page, it was with a sense of satisfaction.


Other notes

*I did find some of the hilarious chapter titles helped keep a touch of that humor and light-heartedness going during some of the darker parts of the story. My husband, on the other hand, got tired of me reading them to him by about chapter thirty-seven.

*The ending was everything I would have expected of Will.

*There were no crazy cow shenanigans. What’s up with that? There…the only complaint I could think of.

*Mr. Hollins has gained me as a fan and now I’m going to work on converting the rest of the world. Mwaaahahaha!


I’ll end this by saying what I said in my review of book two- Go buy this series now! You won’t regret it


2018 fantasy-adventure fantasy-humorous ...more13 s Paul394 19

I waited four months for this book. This is obviously not as long as others had to wait but still, after the way False Idols ended I needed to have this book and four months felt a year.

I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

This is the final book in the Dragon Lords trilogy, a series I've found extremely refreshing in its use of colourful language, excessive amounts of violence and the frequent laugh out moments, usually while I'm on a commute to work. I'm happy to say that Bad Faith delivers all of this and a lot more.

It's quite hard to review a book that is the last in a series without spoiling anything but I'll attempt it by not really going into the plot. If you're reading this you should know what came before and where everyone is. If you don't then I recommend you pick up Fool's Gold and embark on a fantastic journey.

As I mentioned the series is very funny. This book certainly has moments of humour and the chapter headings are as whimsical and humourous as ever, but the actual plot is a much more somber affair. That's not to say it isn't enjoyable, it's not a negative point at all, actually, but the events that unfold don't often leave time for a lot of laughter to be had either with the characters or at their expense.

We see more of the world than has ever been shown in this book. There is also some really good backstory for my outright favourite character which pleased me no end.

Speaking of characters, one who has been a favourite of mine became one of my most despised throughout not only the book but fiction in general. Whether the shift in opinion was intentional or not I'm unsure but the way Hollins (Wood) made everything change was excellent.

A decent story can make you laugh, a decent story can make you appreciate the tale. A really good story makes you emotionally invested and I really was, more so than even the first two books. Bad Faith took me through the ringer in terms of emotions. I was angry, I was sad, I was horrified, I was dumbfounded. Sometimes within a few pages of each other.

As I reached the finale I wondered how a conclusion to not only this book but the trilogy as a whole would be achieved. Again I wasn't disappointed. I found it to be very clever, consistent with the rules and laws that have been set up within the confines of the story and overall to be very well executed. What takes place after the ending could possibly polarise opinion but I personally was happy it ended the way it did.

I can't praise and recommend this book and this trilogy enough. It has everything I could want from a fantasy series. As well as all the above there's also magic and dragons (Look they're in the title of the series) that I haven't even touched on. It deserves to sell so incredibly well and become as well known as the established series in the genre.

You'll notice I haven't listed any negative points in this review. Every book has them. Right? I can't fault it in the slightest. If I found myself annoyed it was supposed to feel this way. At no point did I want to stop reading. Within three books Jon Hollins (Jonathan Wood) became one of my favourite authors and I can't wait to read more books by him.4 s Ned Ludd755 16

If there is just one fantasy book that should be celebrated this year, this is it! Jon is a master of his craft. He is also an expert at manipulating emotions. What is the point of the arts if not to illicit emotion? This is how epic fantasy should be written! This is why I adore the fantasy genre. 5+++4 s Trish807 13

4.25 stars

This the third, and final, installment to The Dragon Lords. I won't delve into specifics because of spoilers.

We follow Lette, Will, Balur, etc. directly following the aftermath of the previous book. Lette and Balur's characters evolve quite a bit, and Balur continues to be my favorite, whereas Will devolves (with good reason).

I was shocked with certain outcomes throughout the book and wished death on a certain somebody. I enjoyed the beginning relationship between Quirk and Yorrax (another favourite) and the tone of the book was much more serious than the previous two.

Overall highly enjoyable, humorous in areas, and surprising in others. The ending was okay, I didn't hate it, but it felt a bit of a cop out in regards to repercussions. Also, one area pulled me out of the story with the characters names mixed up and not caught on editing.

Would recommend the series to others.5 s Kyle Spielhagen18

Fantastic end to an amazing series now im sad.3 s Ric206

The ending was full of color, whereas the story seems to be all red. This type of fantasy often takes time to keep up with. Keeping certain things in mind throughout can make things a little better to comprehend what's happening. Overall a good read.jon-hollins3 s liv ??????293 63

’"Life," she said, "will continuously beat you down. Over and over and over again it will strike you in the face and smash you to the floor. Each and every one of us. Not just you. Not just me. And all we ever get to do, Will, is decide whether to curl up into a ball and give in to the beating, or get back up and meet it standing on our own two feet”’

What a fucking finale. Oh my fucking god. What a fucking TRILOGY.

What began as a silly little heist book about a silly little farmer and his silly little friends robbing a silly little dragon became one of the most immersive, fantastic and entertaining trilogy’s I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading.

What I initially thought would just be a quirky, funny, camp epic fantasy turned out to be a story of friendship, love, betrayal and doing what you think is right, no matter the consequences. I came to adore each and every character, even Will (and especially Balur). Every funny joke, every piece of dialogue, aspect of world-building and just pure emotion was engaging and wonderful. I woke up and wanted to read this series, and only stopped reading it when I actually had to. It has great representation, in its POC, LGBT+ characters and it’s gender-fluid / non-binary rep - the first time I’ve ever read a book in which a character uses neo-pronouns (zhe/hir for anyone wondering). It will remain one of the funniest series I’ve ever read, even if it did lose some of that in the final book (the humour in book 1 is truly unmatched). It even had a fucking Skyrim arrow-in-the-knee joke. Truly the peak of humour.

Overall, what is most important to me when reading a book is knowing that the author cares about their craft. I can truthfully say, without a doubt in my mind, that Jon Hollins CARED about this series. I know his entire heart and soul went into this, and it’s truly one of the most underrated but amazing fantasy series I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and I just know I will be remembering it for years to come. I implore you to read this trilogy, it deserves 10x the love and attention it gets.

And to conclude, as I must, here are my favourite chapter names, which I thought were particularly good in this book:
1. Look, Dragons are in the Series Name, Okay? (this one made me laugh for 10 minutes straight)
2. The Backstory I’ve Spent Three Books Getting Around To (also made me laugh for 10 minutes)
3. Never Go Full Lovecraft
4. Because We Haven’t Heard from her in Nine Chapters (another 10 minutes pissing myself)
5. Because Burning Everyone and Everything is Totally a Plan
6. As Unstoppable as a Runaway Steamroller Heading Toward a Kindergarten
7. The Pillage People (the more I read this one the funnier it gets)
8. The Things we do For Love (Game of Thrones reference <3)
9. A Break from your Regularly Scheduled Programming
10. Can’t We Have an Upbeat Chapter?
11. Reptile Dysfunction
12. The Eternal Fate of Smug Bastards
13. Catharsis Through the Medium of Punching Dickheads
14. Daddy Issues
15. This Hurts me as Much as it Hurts You (I assure you Jon, it didn’t, I cried for 15 minutes, dickwad - reading this chapter title made my entire stomach drop into the fucking Hallows)

In conclusion, Balur is one of my fave book characters ever and I’m in love with him, okay goodnight xoxocomic-fantasy fantasy-and-high-fantasy3 s Shaitanah306 29

I'm... a little disappointed. Yes, this was properly epic and some of the plot twists were awesome and the ending made me tear up a bit, but I feel a little cheated. This trilogy started as something I'd never seen before: a quirky, irreverent, hilarious and plot-twisty heist story. Then it spiralled down into the world-saving saga, of which there are many. I could do without the pathos and the senseless world-breaking. At some point, you can only go so far smashing things until godmode is the only thing that can fix them - and that's usually the most predictable outcome. Along the way I got a little tired of all the backstabbing and the poor characters' utter inability to get away from it because they're bound by common insanity. Of course I still love the characters (my love for Balur has especially escalated, and Will grappling with power was a fun train wreck to follow), but most of them seemed too exhausted in this novel to give much back to the reader. Quirk, whom I loved in the previous books, spent most of this one panicking about Afrit. Lette mostly propped up Will. Cois, who was a cool new addition to the main cast, ultimately didn't do much either. All the ex-gods except Lawl did nothing at all. Yorrax, the cool new dragon character, gave me hopes for a dragon that would break the mould of this verse, but nope, her very intriguing relationship with Quirk stopped being a thing early on.
I can't say I didn't this novel. I just prefer cool realistic fix-its to godmode solutions, though I have to say the final plot twist WAS pretty damn epic. I just wish everything that came before hadn't been so cheerless and Game of Thrones-.This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full review3 s Chris Evans903 41 Want to read

Woot! Can't wait for this one after that ending :Ono-audio3 s THE BIBLIOPHILE (Rituranjan)551 85

A crazy conclusion to a series with fun-filled adventure which is bloody and hilarious. The world-building was brilliant that takes the reader into a journey through the depths of underworld to the soaring heavens amidst the clouds. I enjoyed reading the book which is rife with wild twists and action in full-swing. I kept on laughing with a jolly frivolity all the while reading it. The ending was brilliant which reminds me of the sweet fairy-tales (the irony of it), that has the spirit of all-is-well ever after.

The characterization of the gods was pretty entertaining which added a change of dynamics to the plot of the tale. Barph was an excellently realized antagonist, a Bacchanalian anarchist at heart filled with destructive rage and tantrums. The gender-fluid character of Cois is an excellent creation of the author, and can be read as a symbol of the union of the male and female in one body that embodies love, desire, beauty and fertility. Also, the interactions between the characters feel more genuine here fraught with emotional turmoil, doubts, fear and friendship.

Jon Hollins meshes the passion of D&D games and epic fantasy with the fanciful heart of Terry Pratchett. There is beauty and ugliness in equal measure in the series. It is perambulating into a adventure in search of danger and fortune. It is a book that parodies the notions of order and chaos, greed and power, and laughs at the inadequacies of gods, humans, and dragons. Read this book and the series for the sheer fun of it.

2 s Khai Jian (KJ)512 56

The third and final book of The Dragon Lords series: Bad Faith. I had mixed feelings for this book. Firstly, the pros of this book. I loved the character arc of Will Fallows. Apparently when Barph / Firkins, one of the old Gods, betrayed the main characters (Will, Lette, Balur, Quirk) by killing and stealing their divine powers, Will devised another plan to bring themselves back alive from Hell (or the Hallows as described in the book). His plan involved infusing himself with powers from the Deep Ones (an entity who were much more older than the Gods). With such powers, he practically "unmade" the Hallows, which in turn, released an army of the undead, led by an undead general, Gratt. To become more powerful, Will had to be fed from the believes/faith of the people. When he became more and more powerful, the humanity part of him somehow was lost and made him cruel and emotionless. This whole scenario beautifully describes how absolute power corrupts absolutely. The concept and relationship between religion and faith were also highlighted throughout the series. It shows how fragile humans can be when faced with issues of religion and faith and to some extent, humans are willing to blindly follow their believes / religion. In short, we always choose to believe what we want to believe. I loved such a concept instilled by Jon Hollins in this series packaged with his usual humour element.

The main characters also managed to persuade the dragons (who were previously their enemies) to co-operate with them to topple Barph. But of course, the dragons had their own plans as well as the undead general, Gratt. Towards the end of the story, we then see the power struggle between the dragons, the undead general Gratt, Barph and Will which causes so much betrayal and conspiracies. This plot is definitely intriguing and to me, its the climax of the whole story.

At this point, I am definitely rating this book 5/5 star. But then, the ending of the story came. It fell flat. I am not spoiling the ending of the story but seriously, it left so many questions to me. The ending felt kind of a rush to me. Further, I really cant appreciate Quirk and Afrit's relationship. I don't get the "I want to break up with you because I can't stand the sadness if I lose you" reason and it made Quirk such a selfish and annoying character to read. I loved Quirk's character in the second book but definitely not the third. She was sort of sidelined in this story. Because of these cons, my rating for this book dropped to 4.5/5 star.

All in all, I think this series deserves more attention and it definitely is a fun journey reading it! 2 s Olaf77 7

Where the first book in the trilogy started as an improbable team stealing some dragon's gold, the whole trilogy ended in a battle of gods, old and new. This book series was first pitched (probably by the editor) as ocean's eleven meets guardians of the galaxy. I don't think this does the series judgement at all. This book series is more an exploration of faith and religion in a fantasy world than it is a heist novel. Faith and religion play an important part in every book and are the main driving force behind a lot of the events. If you're a fan of American Gods and Terry Pratchett Discworld novels (especially the ones who deal about religion Small Gods), this book series is more for you. I also the exploration of that theme.

Although the bickering between the main characters is also a fun part of the book, sometimes it dragged on to long in my opinion. I would recommend this series.2 s ShawnAuthor 15 books17

What a great trilogy!
This third book was a downer though compared to the high energy and humor of the first two books. And the dragons aren't as prominently featured in this one. In place of the humor is doom and gloom and long stretches of it made for a depressing read at times.

So yeah, I missed the humor and friendship of the main team, but damn this was a great series overall. And the ending brought back that sense of positivity and light in the world.
I need more from this author!fantasy-collection2 s David Miles229 2

The third/final book was much better than the second.

Overall the entire series was whimsical and fun - I’d recommend it.2 s Billy19

Can't believe I have finished these books. I just wish there was more because you just fall in love with the characters Will, Lette, Balur, Quirk, Afrit, and Barph.2 s Sierra Ramsey21 29

A good and colorful conclusion to a fun series. Bad Faith is a flippant end to a frivolous trilogy. Hollin’s still meets his quota for humor, even if it’s less humorous than the previous installments. Given the shift in tone to a grittier plot, I wouldn’t expect much humor. Everything remains balanced as the world of Avarra and the characters are explored and challenged. Overall, I would give The Dragon Lord series a 4/5 and recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, almost lighthearted read.2 s Vinay Badri697 37

A bit torn on how to rate the book - Given how the whole series has been irrelevant and flippant (and definitely humorous, of all kinds really), the turn that the series took in this book towards outright action and grittiness kind of caught me by surprise. The humor quotient is still there of course but not as much as in the previous books. So unsure on how to rate the book and ultimately the series. While things come to a satisfying end, in nature with how Will is and has evolved, the rating of the series is a question.

Definitely book 1 was the best of the lot but with growing darkness and a bit of dialing down of the humor, the series peaked right at book 1 and barely managed to maintain that level

Overall, a fun, irreverent series that definitely is worth a shot2018-read1 si3

Amazing

Brilliant ending to the trilogy, loved the way everyone was united but also torn apart at the same time, so many twists I wasn't sure what was going to happen next which I think is brilliant in a book :) well done Jon hollins and thank you1 Vinayak Malik426 12

Not the best book of the series but a good enough conclusion. I d this series because of how relatable the characters were in their behavior even though the setting is high fantasy 1 Nick Von Hoene35 1 follower

I love the visceral nature of Mr. Hollins books, they feel a grown up version of DND! This one doesn't disappoint. I really enjoy reading about Balur making people explode... 1 Sebastian H418 7

It was a very entertaining read, with lots of cunning plans gone awry, godhood and its corruption, even the rare tender moments between its protagonists (who were usually drenched in blood and other body fluids after a gory battle, of course).

But then it kinda took a nosedive in this readers' opinion when the author decided to fridge not one but two of its female protagonists, Quirk and Lette, as a means to show just how crappy Will's current plans were, and to push him in the direction that he needed to go with his final gambit. To have it all rolled back when Will finaly won and attained godhood for a while doesn't take away the bad taste this left in my mouth (it kinda even adds to it, to be honest: male main character screws up immensely, kills his beloved in a half-assed plan, gets the motivation needed to finally win, and then revives her for final smooches? Come on.) It's a shame, because Will's final con-slash-illusion is amazing and honestly took me by surprise.

All in all, a finale that appears to go with a bang but, upon closer examination, is more akin to a whispered, tired trope. 1 Spaz_OL102 1 follower

Jon Hollin's conclusion to his wonderful The Dragon Lords series does not always go where expected and is sure to upset some readers right up until the wonderful conclusion. Tones are a bit darker and more serious than the first couple books, by necessity I would say, but we still see the humor he's injected into these books from the beginning - I can't get enough of his chapter titles. Hollins shines in the development of each and every one of his main characters in this series ender. I can't wait to see what Jon Hollins writes next.20181 Nathan Woll456 6

The second and third books weren't as good as the first. The first book was a fantasy heist, while the second and third tried to make the series an epic fantasy. The third reminded me of Sam Sykes - it was filled with boring introspection, and characters questioning their motives for 50 pages. The plot doesn't advance for 200 pages.1 Bookwarrior267

This series is one of the best ever written. It was funny and sad and fun. It's a shame the series is over, but I hope Jon Hollins writes some more books.comedy fanasy1 Kaitlyn449 25

The first book was lightning in a bottle in so many ways. This book wasn't bad, but the tone has shifted so, so much that it feels plucked from a different series. There were still some laugh-out-loud spots, but they were few and far between compared to the first book. A lot of the relationship developments in the second book were put on hold for this one, or even backtracked.

The book still has fantastic chapter titles. It still features a large cast with unique motives and relationships. It still features outrageous quests and planning and improvisation.

The ending twist was fucking fantastic and I cheered out loud. The epilogue was very Harry Potter-esque and didn't sell itself to me. Bringing Barph back to life because he was just misunderstood and was totally fine now, we good just felt far too facile for me. aliens dragons sci-fi-fantasy Jeff Englert1 review1 followerWant to read

Dear Goodreads I doubt highly that you will even look at my review because I am not reviewing this book I am reviewing the fact that the first five or six for this book or exactly the same under different names I can say that I love the first two books of the series but haven't gotten this one yet but it kind of upset me just a little bit when I was trying to find on this book and I find your web page and the first five or six are identical I do hope this is not I repeat not a common practice for your website Sam Spencer447 3 Read

Willet Fallows, an improbable hero

At the beginning of this trilogy I knew a few things.
Will was a wuss
Lette would probably kill him in his sleep
Balur would be upset if he didn't get to watch
Quirk would call them all idiots

Will annoyed me...so much, at first
But, as with all of these characters, he has proven to be something more than one dimensional.

By the end, I kind of loved Will most of all. Rogue532 10

I read this 3 months ago and I'm not sure exactly where I'd score this on the scale. Happy to see the end of this trilogy, and it did do something different, but I feel maybe books 2 and 3 could have been squashed together?

Also they resurrected awful quick lol. KathleenB770 5

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