Review: If only they hadn't gone to war against Tiranor...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 15, 2013
A year later....the Vir Requis have lost 20,000 and are down to 30,000 people.  Seems like a lot? No, that's just the size of a small city nowadays.  They are repairing their city, reinforcing their battlements and armor, and training everyone that is of age and capable of fighting to the cause.  Unfortunately, all the seasoned veterans didn't survive, and this means the new soldiers are farmers and kids.  There doesn't seem to be much hope.They all know Solina is coming back with an even bigger army from Tiranor.  They have spies on the inside in the hopes of getting a better heads up then they have in the past.  The Vir Requis have reached out to all their old allies from Song of Dragons: the Griffins, the Salvanae, the men of Ossana.  All of these allies decline; we don't know quite why.  Have they forgotten over the centuries the struggle the Vir Requis have had to stay alive?  Do they not want to jeopardize the lives of their own race and countrymen?  Do they simply not care?  They abandon the Vir Requis in an hour of greatest need, trying to convince them that they have enough people to fight this war, and at the same time forgetting that these "warriors of Requiem" are mere children that don't stand a chance.So the war begins, and it's heart-wrenching.  Vir Requis are dying left and right.  There's no hope.  I thought part way through "why didn't they send all the mothers and children to live with the Salvanae or Ossana to ensure the survival of their race?"  It seems like that would have been an easy request to ask their allies. The Vir Requis always find a way though.  Even when trapped with no escape, a new solution ensues.While at first I was wondering "so what artifact will they find to help save the day?" I was very happy to know there was none.  Not because I didn't want the day to be saved, but because the story needed to be new and not the same cycle.  A battle. To the death.  With no chance of survival.  I think what makes the Vir Requis such a powerful race is the fact that they never give up even when there's no hope.  When things get tough, the tough get tougher.Now on to book three to know whether the Vir Requis will survive or whether their numbers will diminish again.**I bought this book as the combined trilogy**